Tulsans got to listen to some of the best fiddle players in the world Friday night as the National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted its 2018 list of honorees.

And to add to the entertainment, Ricky Skaggs and his band, Kentucky Thunder, gave a classic bluegrass concert at the ORU Mabee Center.

Skaggs, who was given a Special Recognition Award for his contributions to fiddle playing, admitted that even though he plays the fiddle, he does so rarely because his band plays it better than he does.

Skaggs gave the audience quite show playing the mandolin and the guitar. And even though he is 63, his singing still sounds like he is in his twenties.

Skaggs also told the crowd about visiting Tulsa legend Roy Clark, who is battling an illness. Skaggs and Clark swapped stories and jokes about Hee Haw and the wit of the late Grandpa Jones.

Skaggs accepted his award and thanked his father, who was an inspiration to him in his early musical career.

Also this week, Skaggs was named the 2018 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame in the category of “modern era artist.”

“I was totally shocked and I burst into tears when I heard that I was going to be the newest inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame,” Skaggs said in a statement. “When I came to Nashville in 1980, I came to play music and hopefully get a record deal. All of that happened, but I never dreamed that I’d ever be a member of this hallowed Hall.

The 2018 inductees in the National Fiddler Hall of Fame were Michael Cleveland, Jeff Cook, Violet Hensley, Bobby Hicks and Benny Martin.

Cleveland, who is nominated for a Grammy, brought his band and gave a spectacular display of fiddle playing that included at least one song he wrote himself. He and his band, Flamekeepers, dazzled the crowd with his rendition of the Orange Blossom Special – the first song he learned on the fiddle.

Hensley, who is 101, stole the hearts of the audience with her quick wit and her singing and fiddle playing. She lives in the Ozarks and still performs at Silver Dollar City.

Hensley played a fiddle she made herself in 1934. She has made more than 70 handcrafted fiddles. She played and sang with two of her daughters.

Cook, who is a part of the band Alabama, couldn’t come to the ceremony because he has Parkinson’s Disease. That has slowed him down but reports are that he is feeling better and he still performs some with the band.

Cook is one-third of the founding members of Alabama with cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry. Cook has served as vocals, fiddle and lead guitar for the band who has 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums, 42 number one singles, and more than 78 million records sold. In November of 2005, Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Alabama is one of the 20 best selling acts of all time.

Martin, a bluegrass fiddler, is a Grammy Award winner.  Martin played with the great Roy Acuff and had his own show on the Grand Ole Opry.

The Baker Family, a bluegrass band, performed in the lobby prior to the show.

Byron Berline, Jana Jae (the first lady “Buckaroo” in Buck Owens’ band), curator Guy Logsdon and others joined in the show’s finale (appropriately enough), Take Me Back to Tulsa.