Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Close Out Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman Series July 25

Ricky Skaggs first picked up a mandolin at age five and has been taking over the bluegrass scene every since. He made his Grand Ole Opry debut at only seven years old where he performed with bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.

 

Kentucky Thunder consists of Paul Brewster, Andy Leftwich, Cody Kilby, Eddie Faris, Justin Moses, and Scott Mulvahill. All hand-picked by Ricky Skaggs, the band has extensive experience and incredible talent that perfectly complements Skaggs' musicianship. Ricky Skaggs comments, "Each and every one of the pickers in Kentucky Thunder totally amazes me in every show ... and that, to me, outweighs any award we could ever win." Their talent combined with their chemistry on stage leaves any music lovers amazed and ready to hear more.

 

Ryman Auditorium, the Mother Church Of Country Music and the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, is sacred to the history of country music.

 

Especially important to the history of the Ryman is its significant role in the history of bluegrass music. Although Bill Monroe had been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1939, it wasn't until a Saturday night in December of 1945 when bluegrass music as we know it today was born when a twenty-one year old young man by the name of Earl Scruggs stepped up to the WSM microphone on the Ryman stage playing the five-string banjo with a three-finger roll. This was the final ingredient in what we now know as bluegrass music.

 

Although it wasn't known as bluegrass at the time, there was something very unique and special about this edition of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys with Earl Scruggs which also included guitarist/lead singer Lester Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise, and bass player Cedric Rainwater. Their weekly broadcasts on the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium over WSM, their Columbia recordings, and personal appearances through early 1948 provided the architectural ground work for all of bluegrass music.

 

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Jim & Jesse, and the Osborne Brothers, all legendary bluegrass acts, became Grand Ole Opry members in their own right on the Ryman stage. Also important are the virtually dozens of well known bluegrass musicians who played on this stage while working through the ranks of the aforementioned bands.

 

The 2013 series runs Thursday nights from June 20 through July 25. Join us early each week during the season for Pickin' on the Plaza.