Country Music Hall of Fame member Ricky Skaggs has broken a decade-long recording silence with “Say A Prayer,” a new single that its creator describes as a universal call to intercession rather than a political statement.
Skaggs, the Kentucky-born bluegrass and country veteran whose career stretches across four decades and more than 30 studio albums, last released solo material on Mosaic in 2010. That record’s sessions actually produced “Say A Prayer,” but Skaggs and his team deliberately held it back, waiting for what he characterizes as divine confirmation on the timing. Sixteen years later, he says the moment has arrived. The single is out now on Skaggs Family Records.
A Song Built for This Moment
Written by Gordon Kennedy and Ben Cooper, “Say A Prayer” layers country, bluegrass, and rock textures — sitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo all appear on the track — and features harmonies from Skaggs’ daughter, Molly Skaggs, on the chorus. Skaggs is emphatic that the song carries no partisan intent. “This is not a political statement,” he said. “This is a heavenly statement, a mandate, and an invitation.”
He frames the song as an anthem aimed at people across every nation, and credits patience — his word for the long wait since recording it — as essential to its impact. “We need to pray for our families. We need to pray for our leaders. We need to pray for all that’s going on in the world,” he said. “I’m hoping that, when people hear it, it’ll be something that gets in their minds so much that they can’t forget it.”
On the Road and Passing the Torch
Skaggs and his band, the Kentucky Thunder, are currently joining Dierks Bentley on select dates of Bentley’s Off The Map tour. Bentley counts Skaggs among his most significant musical influences, and the two perform “Highway 40 Blues” together each night. Skaggs has noted that one welcome development on this run is the increasingly blurred line between country, gospel, and bluegrass audiences — a convergence he sees as expanding both creative freedom and the reach of meaningful music.
His own entry into the business came through a chance encounter: as a young musician playing a small venue in West Virginia alongside Keith Whitley, Skaggs stepped in to perform when a Ralph Stanley show was delayed by bus trouble. Stanley and Bill Monroe both served as mentors during his early career, and Skaggs says he hopes to fulfill a similar role for younger artists today. His advice is direct — be an original, not an imitation. “I think it’s important to use the sound, and use the tone, and use the inflections that [God] put in your heart when He created you,” he said.
With “Say A Prayer” now available and the Off The Map tour ongoing, audiences encountering Skaggs for the first time alongside Bentley will have fresh material to discover from one of the genre’s most decorated careers.
