New Kid in Town

Ryan Holladay | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Skaggs Family
• ASIN: B0007XT8EY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #537,467 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Multi-instrumentalist Ryan Holladay first performed on Nashville’s historic Grand Ole Opry at the tender age of 5 years old, and is credited with being the youngest performer to grace that revered stage.

Still a pre-teen, he has already released three albums and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s "World’s Most Talented Kids" episode, Nickelodeon’s "Figure It Out," and PBS’s "Zoom." Largely self-taught, his lightning-fast fingers are equally nimble on the banjo and mandolin, and he plays the guitar and Dobro as well. It all started at his granddad’s house, when Ryan – little more than a toddler at the time – started listening to Flatt & Scruggs records. "The first time I heard Earl Scruggs play the banjo, I knew I wanted to play – I thought it sounded really, really cool," he remembers.

His parents Mark and Lisa were very supportive, taking him to festivals and encouraging him to sing. When he first met the Opry’s Mike Snider at a festival in Camden, Tenn. (Ryan’s hometown), the precocious 5-year old said, "Hi, I’m Ryan Holladay and I sing tenor." Snider later invited the half-pint picker on the Opry, where he presented Ryan with the Brian Friesen award – a new Deering banjo – on Dec. 21, 1997. The beaming little boy sang a couple of songs and has since been invited back to the Opry more than a dozen times.

Ryan has opened shows for acoustic supergroup Nickel Creek and country great Roy Clark, and performed with some of the best acts in the bluegrass business including the Lonesome River Band, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, the Mike Snider Band and many more. He counts Chris Thile and Sammy Shelor as his current musical influences.

Ricky Skaggs distinctly remembers hearing Ryan sing backstage at a bluegrass festival and was astounded at his talent. "I think he was in his father’s arms, and he just blew me away," recalls Skaggs. "That’s the kind of talent I want to see here at Skaggs Family Records. "Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley helped me as a young player, and we’re always looking for the next young talent, to give them a chance."

Skaggs Family Records is releasing Ryan’s album New Kid in Town to retail for the first time. It opens with the sizzling instrumental "Boston Boy" – a song Ryan heard while listening to Ricky’s music. "The first time I heard the song on his album Ancient Tones I liked it a lot," Ryan says. "We started doing it live in shows."

The Ryan Holladay Band includes his father Mark (vocals, guitar), uncle Mike (bass, vocals) and 16-year old fiddler extraordinaire Tyler Andal. The band tours the U.S. and Canada performing at major events and festivals. Recently Ryan and Tyler were selected to perform in a historic concert presented by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall in New York. This distance learning event connected 400 New York City high school students with 200 of their counterparts in New Delhi, India. Ryan and Tyler took part in a question and answer session as well as performing for their Indian counterparts via a live video feed.

Currently a junior high school student, Ryan is an active participant in Bluegrass in the Schools programs that help promote bluegrass music to American youths. He also co-hosted, along with Sierra Hull, the new International Bluegrass Music Association’s DVD entitled Discover Bluegrass that introduces young viewers to the American genre of acoustic roots music.

Last year, the first annual Ryan Holladay Bluegrass Festival took place at a state park in Camden, Tenn., and included a talent contest as well as musical performances by local talent in addition to sets by Ryan’s band, Mike Snider, Don Rigsby and others.

"I’m glad it’s in Benton County so all my friends can come to it. It’s good to know that people in your county are supporting you," Ryan says. "I always wanted to play music, and I think that’s what I was meant to do."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bluegrass prodigy's superheated Skaggs Family debut, May 13, 2005

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: New Kid in Town (Audio CD)

Chances are good that if you look up the word "precocious" in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of Ryan Holladay as the illustration. His singing appearance on the Grand O' Opry stage at the age of 5 (youngest in the history of the venue) might seem like a fluke if he hadn't followed it up with three solid albums of bluegrass by the age of twelve, festival and opening-slot appearances, all showing off his preternaturally fine instrumental abilities.

Unlike other country kids, Holladay isn't saddled with finding contemporary music whose words are fit for a pre-teen, but deep enough for adults. Instead, he digs into the instrumental bluegrass canon with his fleet-fingered mandolin, guitar and banjo picking, and leaves most of the lead vocals to his dad, Mark. Better yet, Ryan's occasional lead vocals (notably Steve Wariner's "When It Rains" and Dierks Bentley's "Midnight Radio") work surprisingly well, even with the novelty of a pre-teen being hounded by the bank or having his car breakdown. The Eagles' title tune provides a bittersweet closer, with a lyric that transforms into a cautionary tale from father to son.

The harmonies of Ryan, Mark and uncle Mike add a closeness to the standard tightness of bluegrass' high-and-lonesome, filling out to a foursome for an a cappella family sing on the traditional "There is a God." Mix in fiddle prodigy Tyler Andal, and the Ryan Holladay Band is ready to slay audiences at this summer's bluegrass festivals (including perhaps a repeat of the Ryan Holladay Bluegrass Festival in his hometown of Camden, TN). Their first CD for the Skagg's Family label is a superb introduction.