Hornsby and Skaggs rule

By Jane Norris

Published: September 4, 2008

Bruce Hornsby will bring his piano and his fluency in styles from jazz to rock to Broadway. Ricky Skaggs will have his trusty mandolin, his mastery of bluegrass, country and gospel and his top-notch band, Kentucky Thunder.

When the friends and fellow Grammy Award winners join forces Monday evening at the Paramount Theater, listeners can expect musical categories to step out of the way to show off a comprehensive collaboration. Hornsby calls the spirit of the resulting music “ebullient.’’

“It’s a joyful noise when we play,’’ Hornsby said with a chuckle. “Fast tempos. It’s really gotten my chops up playing with these guys.’’

Hornsby said he enjoys performing with Skaggs — and savors their friendship.

“It’s a very easy bond, a strong kinship we have musically and personally,’’ Hornsby said of Skaggs. “We’re like honorary brothers.’’

Each musician opens up his own songs and invites the other in. If you want a crash course in musicianship and truly listening to other performers, school’s in session.

“He sings a verse, I sing a verse,’’ Hornsby said. “He’ll sing my songs. I’ll sing his songs. It’s very collaborative.’’

Inclusion and collaboration have been important facets of Hornsby’s career since he first reached a national audience in 1986 with “The Way It Is.’’

Not content with merely having a rock hit with his song “The Valley Road,’’ he cut a Grammy-winning bluegrass version with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1989. He picked up his third Grammy for yet another collaboration — with jazz star Branford Marsalis on “Barcelona Mona,’’ an instrumental work created for the Barcelona Olympics. His skill at improvisation won him a spot on the piano bench with the Grateful Dead for more than 100 concerts.

“My approach to music has always been inclusive of so many styles,’’ he said. “My area that I’ve carved out for myself is this little playing field where I can throw everything in.’’

When the upcoming Robin Williams film “World’s Greatest Dad’’ is released, audiences will be able to see Hornsby and his family in one scene. Filming took place in Seattle at the end of July for the feature, in which Williams plays a Hornsby fan.

“I think I was pretty wooden playing myself,’’ Hornsby said. “I only had two lines, and then I sang a song.’’

His wife, Kathy, appears as a schoolteacher, and both of their 16-year-old twin sons will be extras. Bobcat Goldthwait is in the director’s chair.

Hornsby also has another collaboration in the works. For the Broadway musical “SCKBSTD,’’ a project with stage star Brian Stokes Mitchell, he has penned a dozen songs. Most of the script is done, too, he said.

“Stokes, as we call him, is a fan,’’ Hornsby said. “It’s going along really well. I’ve enjoyed the process, and I do like some of the songs. It has taken me to some different places musically.’’

But the project closest to his heart these days is a new music program at the University of Miami. Hornsby gave his alma mater a gift so the Frost School of Music could launch the Creative American Music Program.

The program, which eventually may become a minor, is designed to immerse young songwriters and performers in the diverse American musical traditions that have influenced the way music is written. Hornsby said he hopes to take more of a hands-on approach over time as his schedule permits.

Hornsby said the participants will study — and learn to play for themselves — the music of Robert Johnson, Bill Monroe and Jimmie Rodgers, to name just a few, and styles ranging from shape-note singing to spirituals to help writers know where they’re coming from as they move forward in their careers.

“That’s a big deal to me,’’ he said. “I try to put it all in there. I try to expose these students to all these songs they’ve never heard. I’m trying to keep the torch lit.’’

Young songwriters who’d like to consider enrolling can find details at

http://www.creativeamericanmu

sic.net.