On September 7, bluegrass legend Peter Rowan  will release his Compass Records debut, Legacy. Joining him on the album are genre giants Del McCoury . . . Good”). Rowan, a Grammy winning singer-songwriter, played guitar and sang vocals for the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, in the mid ’60s.

The spirit moved Ricky Skaggs to tears. Country music's nomad was working on a particularly meaningful song on his new album, "Mosaic," when he was . . . Grammy winner who serves as the primary songwriter on "Mosaic" -- takes him into the kind of lyrical territory he's never really explored before.

Ricky Skaggs led with four nominations for the 16th annual Inspirational Country Music Awards Show, it was announced Thursday. Skaggs was among five . . . in the musician category. Inspirational Bluegrass Artist nominations went to Cherryholmes, Lawrence Bishop, Rhonda Vincent, The Isaacs and Skaggs.

Last year, Ricky Skaggs issued "Solo (Songs My Dad Loved)," a bluegrass album on which he played every instrument and sang all the parts. A year . . . (Skaggs Family), with a Christian theme. Mr. Skaggs has long included songs of faith in his repertoire, as have many, if not all, bluegrass artists.

The first thing listeners will notice about Ricky Skaggs' new album is that it is neither bluegrass, where Skaggs has been a torchbearer for many . . . it fits most snuggly in the genre of Contemporary Christian Music. Skaggs has never been shy about his faith, but here it is right up front.

After apprenticeships with Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys (alongside the late Keith Whitley), J.D. Crowe and the New South and Emmylou . . . Christian CD, Mosaic, shows up as a bit of a surprise, it really shouldn’t be taken as such by anyone who has watched the genesis of his career.

Ricky Skaggs has recorded gospel albums in the past, but never anything like his new album, "Mosaic." Working with veteran Christian rocker Gordon . . . a reminder that, in a larger context, his career has often found him experimenting with his influences — and always following his creative heart.

When you’re planning your 15th annual music festival, you need to think of something big that will really wow your audience. Something that’s big . . . genre to greater levels of popularity in the past few years than the father of bluegrass music, the legendary Bill Monroe, could ever have imagined.