Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Bring Bluegrass, Country Hits to Pope County Fair

by Julian Spivey

Julian Spivey Photo

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder brought some good old-fashioned bluegrass music to the Pope County Fair in Russellville, Ark., on Saturday, September 13.

One of the most accomplished and award-winning musicians in the history of both bluegrass and country music, Skaggs has been a professional musician since his teenage years and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Kudos to the organizers of the Pope County Fair for getting such an esteemed musician out to their annual event. Having seen country hitmakers Shenandoah at the event two years ago, I can certainly say these organizers do the finest job of any local county fair in Arkansas when it comes to delivering entertainment.

It was mostly a bluegrass affair on Saturday night, with Skaggs and his incredibly talented band of musicians all showing off their prowess on their respective instruments. Skaggs took turns on mandolin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and fiddle throughout the 90-minute set.

Skaggs mentioned the evening was the birthday of one of his mentors and influences, Bill Monroe, multiple times throughout the night, though the birthday of the “Father of Bluegrass” was actually four days prior. Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder performed multiple Monroe songs during the set, with Mike Rogers taking vocals on his most remembered standard, “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” and Skaggs taking lead on “Used to Be.”

Among the group’s own bluegrass numbers played for the crowd at the Pope County Fair were “Lost and I’ll Never Find”, “Blue Ridge Mountain Home”, and a few instrumentals here and there, I’m not sure of the titles for.

When it came time for Skaggs to play some of the biggest country hits of his career, the audience, which was bigger than I expected for the beginning of the show, coinciding with the end of the Arkansas Razorbacks football game, had the biggest reception.

He performed five of his 11 career No. 1 hits on Saturday night, beginning with “Heartbroke,” from 1982, about halfway through his set. This led directly into 1984’s No.1 hit “Honey (Open That Door).”
Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder got a few couples in the crowd up to two-step during his performance of “I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could,” a No. 1 from 1982’s Highways and Heartaches.

My all-time favorite Skaggs song, and the highlight of Saturday’s set for me personally, was his 1983 No. 1 hit “Highway 40 Blues,” which I believe to be one of the 100 greatest country songs ever recorded.

There was one more tribute to Monroe during the evening with Skaggs’s 1984 No. 1 “Uncle Pen,” one originally written and recorded by Monroe, that appeared on Skaggs’s Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown.
Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder ended their set with the gospel tune “Shepherd’s Voice,” off his 2010 gospel album Mosaic, and the bluegrass standard “Shady Grove,” which they recorded for 2001’s History of the Future.