Ricky Skaggs "Highways & Heartaches"
Here’s some good news for Ricky Skaggs fans who have followed his career for the past couple of decades.
His Skaggs Family Records label is poised to launch the first in a series of Skaggs’ landmark country albums from the 1980s, when the artist was consistently riding the top of the charts with his blend of bluegrass and country music.
Highways & Heartaches, the first of the series to be released, will be available Feb. 24, publicist Rob Krauser said in a news release.
It will be followed by a string of award-winning albums from the ’80s.
“At the dawn of 1982, few might have predicted that Ricky Skaggs was about to become one of the most important country artists of the decade,” according to the press release. “But by year’s end, Skaggs had notched three No. 1 country singles and became the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry, ascending to his perch atop the country music landscape.”
He was credited by legendary guitarist and record producer Chet Atkins as “single handedly saving” country music.
The 1982 release of ‘Highways & Heartaches‘ was the start of a landmark run for Skaggs of 12 No. 1 country singles and 12 Top 20 country albums. Between the spring of 1982 and summer of 1983, Skaggs saw five different songs reach No. 1. In February 1983, he won the first of his 13 Grammys®, and two years later he would be the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year.
“Available for the first time in years on CD, the Feb. 24 reissue of Highways & Heartaches on Skaggs Family Records finds the artist embarking on an ambitious project to expand his legacy,” the label’s press release said. “Culled from the original master tapes, Skaggs will release all of his Epic Records chart toppers, including Waiting for the Sun to Shine, Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown and Country Boy.”
The platinum-selling Highways & Heartaches spawned three chart-topping country hits — “Heartbroke,” “I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could,” and “Highway 40 Blues.” The album features appearances by Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Buck White and Sharon White, and the songwriting expertise of Rodney Crowell, Larry Cordle, Bill Monroe and Guy Clark.
“The past year has been a stellar one as well for Skaggs, bookended by a Grammy® win for his gospel collaboration with the Whites, Salt of the Earth (Skaggs Family Records), and a Grammy® nomination for ‘Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute To 1946 and 1947‘ (Skaggs Family Records),” the label said.
In between, Skaggs released not only Honoring the Fathers, which Billboard called “nothing short of brilliant,” but also The High Notes‘ (Cracker Barrel), a collection of his No. 1 country hits re-worked with a bluegrass flavor.