By Karah-Leigh Hancock
VALDOSTA — Bluegrass and country music legend Ricky Skaggs and his backup band, Kentucky Thunder, performed at Wild Adventures Saturday night.
Skaggs, who received notoriety as a country singer and even the 1985 Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year, began embracing his bluegrass roots in recent years. His bluegrass music is what he promoted in his show at Wild Adventures.
The singer, songwriter and producer looked a lot different than he did in his country days. Instead of the short, clean-cut look that Skaggs endorsed just a few years ago, he came out on stage in an oversized buttoned-up shirt with long, loose gray hair.
Skaggs performed all bluegrass songs, only performing one of his country hits, “Highway 40 Blues.” The biggest letdown of the night was when he didn't perform what could be known as his biggest hit, 1985's “Country Boy.”
Instead, Skaggs performed many songs from his most recent albums, the Grammy Award-winning “Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947” and “Solo (Songs My Dad Loved) that was released last week.
The next and last concert in the 2009 Wild Adventures concert series is Poison lead singer and reality television star Bret Michaels on Oct. 10.
