It’s now been almost 15 years since Ricky Skaggs made the left turn from country-radio hitmaker to bluegrass hero.

Actually, that move was a return to form for Skaggs. He’s always been a hot bluegrass picker, dating back to when he made his professional debut at the Grand Ole Opry at age 7—he just didn’t showcase those skills much during that period in the 1980s and ‘90s when he was cranking out high-profile mainstream-country music that made him a constant presence on the radio.

So, when he left commercial country behind in 1997 and returned to bluegrass, forming the hot-footin’ Kentucky Thunder band, there was much rejoicing among bluegrass / roots-music fans who had an understandable indifference for the formulaic product that has ruled country radio for more than 20 years. (Although, for the record, Skaggs’ brand of country music was more trad-minded than most of what you heard on country radio, and he was hailed at the time as one of the leaders of country music’s neo-trad movement.)

But Skaggs, who comes to The Ark on Friday for two shows, must have been reminiscing about his country-music hits in the last year, because his new album, “Country Hits, Bluegrass Style” finds him and his crack ensemble breaking down many of his old country hits and reconstructing them as bluegrass tunes.

So, we hear generous amounts of mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and close-harmony singing—along with guitar, dobro and piano—on songs like “Heartbroke,” “Honey Open That Door,” “Uncle Pen,” You’ve Got a Lover,” “Highway 40 Blues,” Cajun Moon,” and other selections from Skaggs’ bag of ‘80s-‘90s hits. Indeed, 10 of the album’s 14 songs were No. 1 country-radio hits for Skaggs.

Skagg’s fleet-fingered acoustic-guitar work is showcased throughout the album.

Bluegrass diehards may not find this album as satisfying as the music Skaggs and the Thunder made on their post-’97 bluegrass discs like “Bluegrass Rules!,” “Ancient Tones” and “Brand New Strings”—since these songs were written with country radio in mind, there’s a general “crossover” feel to the album.

"We did such good music in the 1980s and early '90s that a lot of fans still shout out 'Honey (Open That Door),' and I felt like we needed to do those songs for them, too," explained Skaggs in a statement released by his label, Skaggs Family Records. "For years now I've had fans come up and ask me to do a CD that would have my old country hits on it. So here it is, done a little different than the original recordings. These were done in more of a bluegrass style. Folks have loved it when we play them on the road."

In a recent interview with The Boot, the bluegrass magazine, Skaggs added that "one of the reasons we did this is we've had so many requests, because it's hard to find the old records anymore. It was time to go back and do these old songs.

“We did some of them all-acoustic, but then we also cut hits like 'I Don't Care' and 'He Was Onto Something (So He Made You).' We really cut those pretty much straight-ahead country like I did them in '81 or '82—just to show my undying love for country music. It was so good to me in the '80s. That was a sound that really put me on the map."

When he looks back on that period, Skaggs says he didn’t have a sense of the effect he and his neo-trad brethren were having on country music at the time.

"Had no clue and I'm glad I didn't," Skaggs added. "I'm glad I never dwelled on it. I didn't wake up with that kind of yoke around my neck. I've always moved by my heart. I've moved by the spirit of what I feel was right for me next. I always pray and ask God: 'What's the next thing? What am I supposed to do next?' This 'Country Hits, Bluegrass Style' was definitely the thing to do coming out of 'Mosaic.'"

“Mosaic” was Skaggs’ 2010 album of faith-based songs, which were written or co-written by Gordon Kennedy, who also co-produced that album with Skaggs, a devoted Christian who has recorded many bluegrass-gospel tunes over the years.

Skaggs' history as a prodigy is well-known in bluegrass circles. He began playing mandolin when he was 5 years old, and just one year later, Bill Monroe, the iconic father of bluegrass music, invited the young Skaggs onstage to perform with him. By the time he was a teenager, Skaggs and his friend Keith Whitley had joined the band of another bluegrass legend, Ralph Stanley.

He later hooked up with J.D. Crowe & the New South and fronted the group Boone Creek before becoming one of the many speedy pickers / great songwriters to rotate in and out of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band (others being Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Rodney Crowell). Then, in ’81, he left Emmylou’s band to launch his solo career - and his country debut album from that year, “Waitin' for the Sun to Shine,” lit up the charts and made him a country star—notching 12 No. 1 country hits, 14 Grammy Awards and five Country Music Association Awards.

But then he felt the tug back to bluegrass after Monroe’s death in ’96.

"I saw in (Monroe's) eyes there for a while that he was really concerned that when he passed away about where bluegrass was going to go," said Skaggs in an interview for his record-company bio.

"Toward the end, I really tried to let his heart be at rest and just said, 'Don't worry. This music has become bigger than you. Believe it or not, it's bigger than Bill Monroe. People like me and Marty (Stuart), Vince (Gill) and Alison (Krauss), we're going to keep the music going. We're going to honor you and tell people about you. We're going to tell your story, so you can rest at peace knowing that your kids are taking it over, doing well with it, and respecting it, and respecting you.'"

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.