30th smf, day thirteen, night of thunder

It was a dark and stormy night,
full of the sound of thunder...
inside and outside the Lucas!
All true, I promise!
A rainstorm was raging outside while Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder were taking the house by storm!
I do so love when the universe provides my punchlines!
(smile!)
I also love having a master storyteller on the stage!
Ricky Skaggs, who will be 64 years old in July, has a head full of the stories of growing up in Kentucky.
Funny thing is this: they sound like stories I could tell!
One line was about his mother telling him, "If you do that again, I'm going to knock you through that door and make you fix it."
(I think my favorite threat heard when growing up was, "If you keep doing that, I'm going to knock you into next week." Of course, those threats never materialized into action for either of us.)
He followed that with a gospel-style tune, "Mother's Not Dead, She's Only Asleep", then with a bit of bluegrass, "Travellin' Down That Lonesome Road".
Both were pretty lively for songs of loss!
Speaking of loss, he also shared a story of losing a talent contest. The little girl who won was a baton twirler and the prize money went to her. He won second place: a transistor radio.
That prize changed his life, he said. It opened up his ears to music he'd never heard, deepening his passion for playing and spreading the good tunes.
Hallelujah for that small blessing for him... and big one for us!
Was I "Bound To Ride" with "Sally Jo" and "Little Maggie"?
On a "Blue Night", listening to "The Ancient Tones"?
I was ready, willing and able... and so were my dancing feet!

Before they ended the set, a couple of gospel tunes graced the air.
That's not to say they were somber.
"The Shepherd's Voice" is the one that stayed with me, with its toe-tapping beat and lovely lyrics.
Too soon, the concert was ended...
time for an encore!
And what did we get?
"Down In The Valley To Pray", with sweet voices carrying the sound waves of that old standard, granted a new life in film!
What an uplifting evening!
i thank You, God!