Soldier of the Cross (Skaggs Family SKFR-CD 5001) was released on 14 September 1999 by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. Its fourteen tracks, recorded at Skaggs Place Recording Studios and Quad Studios in Nashville, open with “Battle Cry,” a seventeen-second shofar call played by Skaggs, and run through Lorin Rowan’s title song and Paul Brewster’s “Waiting at the Gate,” alongside older gospel material. Bill Monroe and Bessie Mauldin wrote “A Voice From on High,” Monroe and Howard Watts “Remember the Cross,” Bill Carlisle “Gone Home,” and Ira and Charlie Louvin with Eddie Hill “Are You Afraid to Die,” a track on which Billy Graham is heard speaking. “Were You There” and “Jacob’s Vision” are credited as traditional.
Two songs come from the Stanley Brothers: Ralph Stanley’s “The Darkest Hour” and Carter Stanley’s “I’m Ready to Go.” Ralph Stanley himself sings tenor, and George Shuffler baritone, behind Skaggs’s lead on “Jacob’s Vision.” Elsewhere the vocals are Skaggs’s lead with Paul Brewster and Darrin Vincent singing harmony parts. Instrumentalists across the album include Jim Mills on banjo, Bobby Hicks on fiddle, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Bryan Sutton and Clay Hess on guitar, Jerry Douglas on Weissenborn guitar, Mark Fain on bass and Kenny Malone on drums.
The album won the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 2001 ceremony.
Tracklist
- 1 Battle Cry 0:30
- 2 Soldier Of The Cross 5:19
- 3 A Voice From on High Source Recording 2:32
- 4 The Darkest Hour alt version 2:58
- 5 Gone Home Source Recording 3:13
- 6 The Joshua Generation 4:30
- 7 Waiting at the Gate Source Recording 2:41
- 8 Seven Hillsides 4:26
- 9 Are You Afraid to Die alt version 2:45
- 10 Remember The Cross 2:54
- 11 Were You There Source Recording 3:59
- 12 Jacob’s Vision Source Recording 2:27
- 13 Hallelujah I’m Ready alt version 2:31
- 14 Lead Me To The Rock 2:51
