Ricky Skaggs - (December 07, 2013)
This Concert will be held at the Shipshewana Event Center
This concert or show has concluded.
"In a collection of traditional Christmas songs done bluegrass style, Ricky Skaggs and his tremendous Kentucky Thunder band support The Whites and their kids, Molly, Luke and Rachel. They all sing like angels...great voices, rich harmonies. The picking is first-rate as well." -The Washington Post
"Take away the monitors and, it seems, this might be what it's like at the Skaggs family homes - a whole lot of music, and a lot of spontaneous enjoyment of homegrown talent." - Nashville Scene
Virtuoso multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs, celebrated musical clan, The Whites, and their families perform Christmas classics and brand new holiday gems, bringing together the love of family and the beauty of song.
A bus breakdown in 2003 left Ricky, his wife Sharon White, their daughter Molly and son Luke to entertain an Atlanta audience themselves, minus Skaggs' award winning band Kentucky Thunder. The positive reaction from the audience and the pure spontaneity left an impression on Ricky that wouldn't go away. An evening of singing Christmas music with extended family, Sharon's sister Cheryl, their father Buck, and Cheryl's daughter Rachel cemented the impression, leading to five holiday shows that winter.
Ricky elaborates, "Everyone at the Christmas shows kept asking if we had a CD of this music. At the time, we didn't. But as soon as we got off the road...we went right into the studio and started recording."
The result was A Skaggs Family Christmas, Volume 1, the first full-length recording from the family, featuring 13 of the songs performed in their show. A Skaggs Family Christmas, Volume 2 released in the fall of 2011, includes 10 more songs from their show and a bonus DVD from their performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium.
"We started singing these songs in our living room all those years ago, with no idea that we would ever take A Skaggs Family Christmas to so many places," explains Sharon. "We've performed everywhere from churches to symphony halls to the National Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington D.C., where we sang for President George W. Bush. The recording process, the performing and traveling has been so much fun! It has been such a blessing to share all of this as a family."
Now in its eleventh year, the Skaggs Family Christmas tour offers the variety you'd find at any gathering of friends and relatives, each with his or her unique personality and taste...yet different vocal and instrumental elements flow into a single statement of love, friendship, and faith.
"We believe family is one of the greatest things about Christmas," Ricky writes in the album's liner notes. "God gave us His very best gift in Jesus Christ and we wanted to keep Him the focus."