Arts Council
Ricky Skaggs Comes Home to the Kentucky Folklife Festival

Bluegrass music fans will have an opportunity to hear the legendary Ricky Skaggs at the Kentucky Folklife Festival in historic downtown Frankfort on Saturday, September 17. “A Tribute to Route 23” will begin at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Old Capitol and will feature a number of musicians with origins in Eastern Kentucky. The concert caps off the three-day Festival.

Skaggs, born in Cordell, Kentucky, was an accomplished singer and mandolin player by the time he reached his teens and has enjoyed a 35-year long career that began in bluegrass, continued through mainstream country and turned full-circle around to bluegrass.  With 10 Grammy Awards, eight Country Music Association Awards and multiple International Bluegrass Music Association awards under his belt, Skaggs has led the recent revival of this genre of music to greater popularity than his mentor Bill Monroe could ever have imagined.

The “Tribute to Route 23” concert will also feature singer/songwriter Rebecca Lynn Howard, Roger Cooper, Mitch Barrett, Carla Gover, Rob McNurlin, Lee Sexton, Ray Slone and the Tri-City Messengers. 

The Kentucky Folklife Festival will celebrate the living traditions of the people who call Kentucky home beginning of Thursday morning, September 15 through the Ricky Skaggs finale on Saturday evening, September 17.  Visitors will have a chance hear some of Kentucky’s finest musical artists in a variety of genres including bluegrass, blues, gospel, country, and salsa. Dance demonstrations, open street dances and dance lessons will showcase traditions from salsa to square to swing. A foodways section will tempt your taste buds from southern favorites to ethnic delights. Kids can make their own family folklore fun book, listen to storytellers, learn the Cuban way to play dominoes and watch artists from all disciplines create baskets, musical instruments, quilts and much more.

Admission to this concert and all three days of festival activities, concerts and Kentucky Historical Society exhibits and sites are included with purchase of a $4 Kentucky Folklife Festival collectible pin. Pins are available on site, or may be purchased in advance at the Kentucky Historical Society, 100 W. Broadway, Frankfort or Poor Richard’s Books, 423 W. Broadway, Frankfort.

For more information, call 502-564-1792 or visit the Kentucky Folklife Festival website at http://folklife.ky.gov. The Kentucky Folklife Festival is presented in joint partnership with the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Arts Council, agencies of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet.

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The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation.  Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $15 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.