Ryman Auditorium

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Additional Press Releases

MAY 15, 2001

BLUEGRASS NIGHT SERIES AT THE RYMAN AUDITORIUM

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.)-May 15, 2001-The Ryman Auditorium will host its annual Bluegrass Night at the Ryman series each Thursday at 7:30 pm from June 21-July 26, 2001. This year's series, sponsored by Chevrolet, will include Vince Gill, Nickel Creek, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan, Vasser Clements, Tony Rice and Jim & Jesse.

"We are pleased to have Bluegrass Night returning to the Ryman Auditorium on a new night and time," says Pam Matthews, general manager of the Ryman Auditorium. "The Ryman has been an extensive part of bluegrass music and we are honored to continue the tradition." Vince Gill and Nickel Creek will kick-off the series on June 21. Whether it is the numerous chart-topping hit singles, the many awards he has won or the more than 500 albums that he has worked on, Vince Gill is considered to be one of the best musicians today.

Gill, born in Norman, Okla., started playing his father's guitar at the age of seven and joined his first bluegrass band in 1974. In 1979, he joined Pure Prairie League, with whom he recorded four albums. He went on to record with Ricky Skaggs, Rosanne Cash, RebamEntire, Michael McDonald, Amy Grant and many more.

Gill has won 14 Gram awards, tying Chet Atkins for the most Gram Awards for a country artist and 18 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, which represent more CMA awards than any artist in history. His latest release on MCA, Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye, is already making a climb up the charts.

Nickel Creek, the recently Gram-nominated band, has made a name for themselves on the Billboard Country Album charts. This young and rising group from California has been performing together for more than a decade, selling in excess of 80,000 copies of their self-titled debut album. One of the group members is a graduate of Murray State University in Kentucky.

By the age of 21, Ricky Skaggs was already considered a "recognized master" of bluegrass music. He will perform on June 28 at the Ryman Auditorium. With the release of Waitin' for the Sun to Shine, in 1981, Skaggs reached the top of the country charts and went on to win numerous Gram and CMA Awards including "Entertainer of the Year" in 1985. Three years ago Skaggs parted ways with his previous record label and formed his own record company, Skaggs Family Records, Inc. Skaggs first bluegrass album, Bluegrass Rules!, is significant because it was his first release on his new record label. He has since followed up with his second bluegrass album, Ancient Tones.

Master musician and bluegrass rebel Sam Bush and special guest The Nashville Bluegrass Band will fill the Ryman Auditorium with the sound of bluegrass on July 5. Twenty-seven years ago, the producers of the first Telluride Bluegrass Festival began looking for the magic they needed for the Second Annual New Grass Revival, and they found it within Sam Bush. Bush has performed in 26 of the 27 Revivals, where the music was born for his latest release, Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride. It is a collection of his performances through the 1990s and captures his passion for all music genres.

The Nashville Bluegrass Band is noted for their incredible hamnies as well as for being the most awarded bluegrass band working today. The group is comprised of banjo player Alan O'Bryant, guitarist Pat Enright, mandolinist Mike Compton, fiddler Stuart Duncan and bassist Dennis Crouch. Since 1988, when the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) began awarding a Bluegrass Gram, every Nashville Bluegrass Band album released has been nominated, garnering Gram Awards for American Beauty and Waitin' for the Hard Times, and their two most recent Sugar Hill releases.

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys and The Del McCoury Band will perform on July 12. Stanley, born in the Clinch Mountains of Dickenson County, Va., learned to play the banjo from his mother and formed the Stanley Brothers with his guitar-playing brother, Carter, in the early 40's. After the death of Carter in 1966, Stanley continued to sing and carry on the traditional style of bluegrass and at the age of 74, he shows no signs of slowing down. The member of the Bluegrass Hall of Honor released his latest CD, Man of Constant Sorrow, last December and he also recorded two songs, "Oh, Death" and "Angel Band," on the soundtrack of the Coen brothers' film "O Brother, Where Art Thou."

The Del McCoury Band, commonly referred to as the "First Family of Bluegrass Music," includes lead vocals and guitarist Del McCoury, sons mandolinist Ronnie McCoury and banjo player Rob McCoury, bass player Mike Bud and fiddler Jason Carter. With a total of 24 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards to their credit, they've become the organization's most honored band for the past nine years.

Bluegrass Night at the Ryman will offer performances from Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements and Tony Rice on July 19. From forming his own high school band at the age of 14 to becoming the lead singer and guitarist with Bill Monroe and the "Bluegrass Boys," to recording the best-selling bluegrass album of all time, The Boarding House, Peter Rowan has made a name for himself in the music business. Rowan has recorded on albums with Ricky Skaggs, Flaco Jimenez and has collaborated with his brothers, Christopher and Lorin on three albums titled, The Rowans, Sibling Rivalry and Jubilation. The brother's latest release, Peter Rowan and The Rowan Brothers, features songs from the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Doc Watson.

Vassar Clements is one of the world's finest and probably the world's most versatile fiddle players alive today. His phenomenal ability to play any kind of music and to play seven instruments has garnered him with various awards, including five Gram Awards. Clements has performed with a variety of artists, including Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Faron Young, John Hartford, Earl Scruggs and many more, but the most important milestone in his career was his participation in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album Will the Circle Be Unbroken. It was the turning point that re-kindled Clements's career and introduced him to amch younger and non-country audience.

Perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flat-picked guitar since Clarence White, Tony Rice has spanned his music from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz inflected new acoustic music. In the course of his career Rice has played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman, led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. His solo career rose when he recorded Cold on the Shoulder, and he incorporated his disparate influences and bluegrass into his albums Native American and Me & My Guitar. His most recent recording for Rounder is Tony Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass.

The Bluegrass Night at the Ryman series concludes with Jim & Jesse on July 26. Opry members Jim & Jesse, brothers from Carfax, Va., grew up in a family steeped in traditional mountain music. In 1960, they produced their first hit single, "The Flame of Love" backed by "Gosh, I Miss You All the Time," on Columbia Records. They went on to record such classics as "Cotton Mill Man," "Diesel on My Tail," "Drifting and Dreaming of You" and "The Ballad of Thunder Road."

For the those who would like to try their hand at bluegrass, Pickin' in the Parlor, an event where individuals are encouraged to bring an instrument and join in a "jam session," will be held outside of the Ryman Auditorium before each show from 6 pm-7 pm

A Bluegrass Series Pass, a pass that will amt one person into all six shows, is $75.00, a savings of $30.00. Single show tickets are $17.50 and may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Ryman Box Office, or by calling (615) 889-3060, or visiting www.ryman.com. Series passes may be purchased through the Ryman Box Office by calling (615) 251-1037. The Ryman is located at 116 Fifth Avenue North in downtown Nashville.

The Ryman Auditorium is part of Gaylord Entertainment, a diversified entertainment company whose businesses operate in two groups: hospitality and attractions, and music, media, and entertainment. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., and its stock is traded on the New York Stock exchange (symbol: GET).

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