I think a lot of people were watching to see what I was doing. I'd had so much success in country music, number one hits, platinum records, people were looking and wondering why I was going back to bluegrass and then when they saw me start my own independent record label, I think they went, 'Oh that's one of the reasons he's going back.' Certainly the major record labels of Nashville were laughing about it. But it was a great thing for me; it gave me the creativity I really wanted to be able to make the music I want to make. I think today it's a lot harder to get kids to practice then when I was a kid. I didn't have video games, Nintendo 64, like kids have now. I didn't have video games. Nintendo 64, like kids have now. There's so much distraction now. When kids come to see me in concert and ask for advice I say, "You can't treat this like a hobby. If you really want to be good, you've got to give it sometime. You've got to turn off the TV and games and really use your heart and mind and soul and create something cool with your instrument and in order to do that you have to spend time with it.' I do but the kind of music I'm playing now, bluegrass--gospel music is one of the threads through the fabric of the music. Gospel is very strong, intrinsci part of bluegrass so it's accepted a lot more. It's the most important. If I didn't have my faith, I couldn't make it. It's the foundation I stand on. I believe in the Bible, I readit, I pray. My mother taught me how to pray and I've never forgotten that. Faith, family and music are the foundation stones I stand on.
Ricky Skaggs: "I was redneck before 'Duck Dynasty""
I think a lot of people were watching to see what I was doing. I'd had so much success in country music, number one hits, platinum records, people were looking and wondering why I was going back to bluegrass and then when they saw me start my own independent record label, I think they went, 'Oh that's one of the reasons he's going back.' Certainly the major record labels of Nashville were laughing about it. But it was a great thing for me; it gave me the creativity I really wanted to be able to make the music I want to make. I think today it's a lot harder to get kids to practice then when I was a kid. I didn't have video games, Nintendo 64, like kids have now. I didn't have video games. Nintendo 64, like kids have now. There's so much distraction now. When kids come to see me in concert and ask for advice I say, "You can't treat this like a hobby. If you really want to be good, you've got to give it sometime. You've got to turn off the TV and games and really use your heart and mind and soul and create something cool with your instrument and in order to do that you have to spend time with it.' I do but the kind of music I'm playing now, bluegrass--gospel music is one of the threads through the fabric of the music. Gospel is very strong, intrinsci part of bluegrass so it's accepted a lot more. It's the most important. If I didn't have my faith, I couldn't make it. It's the foundation I stand on. I believe in the Bible, I readit, I pray. My mother taught me how to pray and I've never forgotten that. Faith, family and music are the foundation stones I stand on.