In Kentucky Traveler, Ricky Skaggs, the music legend who revived modern bluegrass music, gives a warm, honest, one-of-a-kind memoir of forty years in music—along with the Ten Commandments of Bluegrass, as handed down by Ricky’s mentor Bill Monroe; the Essential Guide to Bedrock Country Songs, a lovingly compiled walk through the songs that have moved Skaggs the most throughout his life; Songs the Lord Taught Us, a primer on Skaggs’s most essential gospel songs; and a bevy of personal snapshots of his musical heroes.

For readers of Johnny Cash’s autobiography, lovers of O Brother Where Art Thou, and fans of country music and bluegrass, Kentucky Traveler is a priceless look at America’s most cherished and vibrant musical tradition through the eyes of someone who has lived it.

When six-year-old Ricky Skaggs was called up onstage to play mandolin with bluegrass master Bill Monroe near his small hometown of Cordell, Kentucky, a storied life in music began. With Monroe as a mentor, Ricky joined the Clinch Mountain Boys and became a professional musician at age fifteen. And when Skaggs moved into the world of mainstream country music he became a legend and a household name.

Kentucky Traveler tells the intimate stories of a career built on passion, drive, and faith in God. Sharing tales of his influences, and fondly recalling the instruments that have shaped his sound over the years and the friendships that have shaped his life, Skaggs paints a unique insider look at the evolution of bluegrass.

"[Skaggs'] career has been a matter of following a God-given calling.?He tells the stories of the first half of his life and of the rest, too, with natural enthusiasm, innate good nature, and an unflagging, positive Christian spirit."