One of the Best
By dperry
I had the amazing gift of playing in Ricky's band, Kentucky Thunder, from the fall of 1992 to the spring of 1993, and was able to play many of these songs with Rick and an incredible group of musicians on stages from Europe to San Francisco to the Grand Ole Opry. Although country music was not exactly my forte when I joined the band (long story), I came to develop an avid appreciation for the genre through playing amazingly intricate songs like "Country Boy" and "Life's Too Long", and also fell in love with its pure beauty and simplicity while playing "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could" and "You've Got A Lover". Until you get inside this music, you can't digest or understand its' greatest songs' impact on the popular American songbook of the 20th century. Rick, it was a fantastic ride 15 years ago, and made me so much more of a musician today than I could have ever been without that opportunity. I count those months submerged in some of the best country writing ever as important to my developement as a musician as my many years of classical and jazz training.
As far as this collection goes, don't hesitate - get it now! From the lyric hilarity and irony of "Heartbroke" to the instrumental virtuosity of "Country Boy" to the wonderful pop sensibility of "Same Ol' Love", there are few country singer/instrumentalist/songwriters, if any, who hold even a birthday candle to Mr. Skaggs. Truly the best!
