Ricky Skaggs Essentials

Few—maybe none—can play and sing like Ricky Skaggs, whose lightning fast pickin' and clear, Kentucky-bred vocals established him as nearly unrivalled in country and bluegrass circles. Since the mid-'70s, Skaggs has shaped down-home odes to family fiddle players (“Uncle Pen”), breakneck celebrations of simple living (“Country Boy”), and bouncy road tunes (“Highway 40 Blues”). It's astounding that despite the banjo, fiddle, and mandolin virtuosity in his cover of Ralph Stanley's “Little Maggie,” it's Skaggs' vocals—a mix of grit and clear-eyed mountain soul—that steal the show.