KENTUCKY TRAVELER My Life in Music With KentuckyTraveler_i_xiv_1_338.indd 3 6/5/13 4:33 PM kentucky traveler. Copyright © 2013 by Ricky Skaggs. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Harper Collins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales pro- motional use. For information please e- mail the Special Markets Department at
[email protected]. Lyrics to “Somebody’s Prayin’” by John G. Elliot. Copyright: © 1985 Universal Music—Brentwood Benson Music Publishing (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission. first edition Designed by Sunil Manchikanti Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Skaggs, Ricky. Kentucky traveler : my life in music / Ricky Skaggs with Eddie Dean. — First edition. pages cm ISBN 978-0-06-191733-2 (hardcover)—ISBN 978-0-06-191734-9 (pbk.) 1. Skaggs, Ricky. 2. Bluegrass musicians—United States—Biography. I. Dean, Eddie, 1964- II. Title. ML420.S5866A3 2013 782.421642092—dc23 [B] 2013013572 ISBN 978–0–06–191733–2 13 14 15 16 ov/rrd 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 KentuckyTraveler_i_xiv_1_338.indd 4 6/5/13 4:33 PM This book is dedicated to my mother, Dorothy Skaggs, my father, Hobert Skaggs, and my musical father, Bill Monroe. They taught me how to pick and sing and honor God. KentuckyTraveler_i_xiv_1_338.indd 5 6/5/13 4:33 PM Prologue Martha, Kentucky: Summer 1960 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren.