With a thorough knowledge of bluegrass and vintage country music, Ricky Skaggs helped bring back a sense of tradition and history to that scene during the 1980s. Skaggs has lent his guitar, mandolin, and fiddle talents--as well as his high-lonesome voice--to a host of country music greats including Johnny Cash, the Stanley Brothers, and Emmylou Harris, and has also proven to be a successful solo artist despite a penchant for the less commercial threads of the genre. After being dropped by Atlantic Records in the early '90s, Skaggs started the Skaggs Family label to release his own albums and nurture the careers of other traditionally minded country artists.