ABOUT RICKY SKAGGS AND KENTUCKY THUNDER

Fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award winner Ricky Skaggs is one of the most influential figures in modern country and bluegrass music. A Kentucky native, Skaggs began playing mandolin as a child, performing with bluegrass legends Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs before joining Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys alongside Keith Whitley in 1971. His career later took him through groundbreaking bluegrass groups including the Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and Boone Creek before joining Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band and launching a celebrated solo career in country music. His 1981 debut, Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine, produced two No. 1 hits, and his years at Epic Records yielded 12 No. 1 singles and eight CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year. Skaggs helped lead the new-traditionalist movement of the 1980s by bringing bluegrass and traditional country influences into the contemporary Nashville sound. In 1997, he returned to his bluegrass roots with Bluegrass Rules! and has since built a remarkable legacy with his acclaimed band, Kentucky Thunder. His many honors include induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Musicians Hall of Fame, National Fiddler Hall of Fame, IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as the 2020 National Medal of Arts.

Joining Skaggs on stage is Kentucky Thunder, an all-star ensemble of accomplished bluegrass musicians whose musicianship and energy have made them eight-time IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year winners. The current lineup features Russ Carson on banjo, Justus Ross on lead guitar, Troy Engle on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, pedal steel and vocals, Gavin Kelso on bass, Mike Rogers on tenor vocals and rhythm guitar, and Billy Contreras on fiddle. Each brings a deep background in bluegrass, country, jazz and roots music. Carson is an accomplished banjo player who has performed with Gold Heart and Audie Blaylock & Redline; Ross is an award-winning flatpicker who has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and Station Inn; and Contreras is a renowned Nashville fiddler, educator, arranger and producer who has worked with artists ranging from George Jones and Marty Stuart to Béla Fleck and the Nashville Symphony. Engle is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer who has performed with artists including Patty Loveless and The Isaacs and composed music for television. Bassist Gavin Kelso is an internationally experienced double bassist and composer who studied at the University of North Texas, while Mike Rogers is a versatile Nashville musician, vocalist, songwriter and producer who has performed with Craig Morgan and bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson. Together, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder bring generations of bluegrass tradition, virtuosic musicianship and distinctly American roots music to the stage.