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One might think that bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs, after winning his 12th Grammy last month, would be using the little statues as paperweights and doorstops around his Nashville home.

After all, it's gotten to where whenever Skaggs releases a bluegrass record, you can pretty much count on it earning a nomination.

Skaggs, however, still doesn't take his wins for granted. In fact, his 12th Grammy may have sweeter than his first, he told The Daily Times this week.

"The first time I won, I thought, 'Wow, this is great,' and it was, but I'd never won one," Skaggs said. "This time, I was even more nervous than I was the first time I was nominated. I think that's because I was a little too close to the project ... I had a little too much invested in it. I'd written all the songs on the album, but because it was an album of instrumentals ("Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Instrumentals"), I knew it probably didn't have a chance against more traditional, lyric-driven bluegrass records.

When it made it past the first ballot, I was sure it would be bumped off after the next round. But then it made it past the second ballot, and the third, and here it was nominated in the bluegrass category! I'm just so grateful. I never thought it would win, especially with all of the other artists out there who made great bluegrass albums last year. It was a surprise, and just as special to me as the first time."

As a pioneer in bluegrass music, Skaggs is one of the hardest working performers in any genre. A Grammy win doesn't mean he allows himself a free pass to keep up his feet on some faraway beach, sipping pina coladas and basking in the glory of his success. Tonight, he'll bring his ace backup band, Kentucky Thunder, to The Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville, and he's beginning preparations to promote a new record scheduled for a March 20 release — "Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby," an album of duets between Skaggs and the pianist and songwriter who's enjoyed solo success and played with a multitude of artists from Don Henley to the Grateful Dead.

To support the album, Hornsby and Skaggs filmed a special for Country Music Television that aired last Saturday, and it's evident from the camaraderie and musical kinship between the two that the record was as fun to make as it is for fans to listen to.

"If you get a chance to see that special, it answers all questions about fun because you can see it all over both of us," Skaggs said. "He's having a blast, I'm having a blast and the crowd really gets it when they see the fun we're having. Music should be about that. We did have a great time, and it obviously shows, and when you hear it, it shows. It was laborious, and we worked hard on it, but we didn't pick it to death, and we didn't let any clunkers get by that we wouldn't want on there.

"I knew the quality of musicians who would be listening to an album like this, because it's by Bruce and Ricky. Bruce always draws such great musicians to his shows, and I think that's just because he makes such an impact on them all. It's a great, thing, and a wonderful record."

Skaggs has been making quality music since joining bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley's band at the age of 17. His skills as a vocalist and mandolin player earned him a spot playing alongside the late Keith Whitley, a fellow country singer, at Stanley's side, and Skaggs saw his star begin to rise.

The names of the bands Skaggs was involved in over the course of the '70s is recognizable to anyone with a passing interest in bluegrass: J.D. Crowe and the New South, whose 1975 debut album, considered one of the most influential of the genre, featured Skaggs; Boone Creek, the band he led through the latter half of the '70s; and Emmylou Harris' Hot Band, which recruited Skaggs after several tries to replace guitarist Rodney Crowell.

He's credited with keeping Harris rooted in traditional country and bluegrass, and after branching out on his own, his first solo effort, "Sweet Temptation," yielded Skaggs his first hit. He put out his next album, "Waitin' For the Sun to Shine," in 1981, and suddenly Skaggs was garnering acclaim from country, bluegrass and rock 'n' roll critics.

With his star power burning bright thanks to five straight No. 1 singles in 1982 and '83, Skaggs pushed country back to its roots, helping bluegrass overcome the stigma it had been burdened with in the 1960s as backwoods, hillbilly music. Rootsy, traditional sounds were reintroduced, not just on Skaggs' albums, but on those of his contemporaries as well — Randy Travis, George Strait, Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson.

But it wasn't long before the fickle industry pushed those artists aside in search of a fresher, more pop-oriented sound. After being dropped by his label, Skaggs adopted a do-it-yourself approach, forming Skaggs Family Records. His 1997 album, "Bluegrass Rules!", kicked off a series of critically acclaimed and commercially viable albums. Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder began touring incessantly, and it began to pay off: Radio picked up on the bluegrass revival and began spinning his records again.

Whether they'll spin "Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby" remains to be seen. It draws on mountain music for its roots and adds piano and Hornsby's songwriting to the core bluegrass played by Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. It's not the first time they've played together — they met in 1987 or '88 for the first time, Skaggs estimates — but it will mark the first time they've recorded together.

"We met at a show for the first time in New York, playing a show together, and we laughed because there were more people backstage than there were in the audience," Skaggs said. "It was a badly promoted show, but we had fun doing it, and he invited me to come out and play on his show. I played one or two tunes, and then we had to get back on the road.

"A few years later, I was hosting these shows for CMT called 'Live at the Ryman,' where we paired newer artists with their heroes. And one show, it was Bruce and me with Bela Fleck and Vince Gill, and that's where we reconnected, because we had more time to spend talking about roots and heroes and people we really liked."

After bluegrass founder Bill Monroe died in 1996, Skaggs put together "Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe," a tribute to his late hero, and one of the first artists he called to contribute to it was Hornsby. It was there, Skaggs said, that the two realized they would make excellent partners.

"We knew would could get serious about it and that sparks would fly," Skaggs said. "It seemed like every time we did get together, it was an event; musically, it was just always over the top. And after he switched labels to Sony, he told them that he wanted to do a bluegrass record with Ricky Skaggs. He knew that it's underrated music and overlooked music, but still music that means something. So they decided to let him go off and do that."