Grand Ole Opry in Nashville

Grand Ole Opry is an American country-music stage show and radio broadcast founded in Nashville in 1925. It began as the WSM Barn Dance under announcer George D. Hay and became known for presenting successive generations of country performers, including Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks. In 1943, the show moved to the Ryman Auditorium, where it remained until the opening of the Grand Ole Opry House in 1974. After flooding forced that venue to close temporarily in 2010, the production used several local stages before returning later that year. Each performance features a rotating cast of members and guest artists playing short sets within a live radio program. Membership is by invitation, and public inductions have welcomed performers including Reba McEntire and Alan Jackson.

Ricky Skaggs is an American country and bluegrass singer, mandolinist and fiddler, born in 1954 in Cordell, Kentucky. He became known to country audiences through the album Highways & Heartaches and songs including “Highway 40 Blues,” “Country Boy” and “Uncle Pen,” while bluegrass has remained central to his work. Ricky Skaggs joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys as a teenager, then later toured as a member of Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1982 and has made repeated appearances there. In 1997 he formed Kentucky Thunder, establishing the acoustic concert format that places his vocals and mandolin at the front of Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder.