Ricky Skaggs , Kentucky Thunder, the Sam Bush Band, Mountain Heart and the Mark Newton Band will play Fredericksburg Summerfest at the fairgrounds on Saturday

EMILY GILMORE

Date published: 8/26/2004

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

On the Web: Visit http://haymaker.net for ticket information and other concert details.

LAST YEAR's show by Alison Krauss and Union Station at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds was so successful that the folks at Haymaker Productions decided to make it an annual tradition.

This year's Fredericksburg Summerfest will feature prominent bluegrass acts Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, and the Sam Bush Band, along with up-and-comers Mountain Heart and Fredericksburg's own Mark Newton Band. It will take place Saturday at the fairgrounds.

Proceeds will benefit the Dreamfield Foundation, which raises money for the George Beals Leadership Foundation and the Dr. Jocelyn Leighty Rodgers Scholarship.

Skaggs, hailed by some as the savior of country music, got his start in bluegrass at age 15, when he backed Ralph Stanley. He moved on to play with Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe and the New South and The Country Gentlemen.

The acclaimed mandolin picker led his own group, Boone Creek, for a couple years in the '70s. He began to make the transition to country music when he joined Emmylou Harris' band in 1977.

"I really enjoyed working with her and I recorded an album at that time, which was a little bit bluegrass and a little bit country," Skaggs said by phone from his bus on the way to Atlanta.

Skaggs played with Harris until 1980. The following year, he moved to Nashville, where he churned out hit neotraditional country tunes until the mid-'90s, when country music started taking a commercial turn.

"The rock 'n' roll, pop influence of country music wasn't where my heart was," Skaggs said.

After bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe died in 1996, Skaggs stepped up to fill the void. He started his own record label, Skaggs Family Records.

The switch to bluegrass made his lifestyle simpler and brought about a bluegrass renaissance, boosted by the soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou" in 2000.

Skaggs has won Grammy awards as well as several International Bluegrass Music Association awards. Every album he has released on his label has received a Grammy nomination.

He wasn't setting out to revolutionize anything, it just happened.

Skaggs credits his success in part to people who rooted for the underdog when they realized a successful country artist had begun to pursue a less profitable bluegrass career. But he recognizes his role in opening doors between the two genres.

Still down-to-earth after achieving so much, Skaggs appreciates the respect he has earned from his peers just by playing the "real music" he wanted to play.

His latest CD, "Brand New Strings," will be released next month, and he has several projects lined up for next year.

When he isn't traveling, he's in his studio producing his own albums and those of other Skaggs Family Records artists, including Mountain Heart, which also will perform at Summerfest.

Date published: 8/26/2004