“Missing Vassar” is an instrumental written by Ricky Skaggs for his 2006 album “Instrumentals,” a record of all-original tunes that won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. The title is widely understood as a tribute to the fiddler Vassar Clements, who had died the year before the album was released.
Clements was admired for the jazz-tinged, improvisational fiddle style he brought to bluegrass, and the tune stands as a quiet acknowledgment of his influence. As a bluegrass instrumental it is a brisk, up-tempo feature for the band.
This recording features Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, his band of accomplished bluegrass players, performing the tune on “Instrumentals.”
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