CMT News

Earl Scruggs Releases Live at the Ryman

Banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs released a new album, The Ultimate Collection/Live at the Ryman, as a digital download on Tuesday (Sept. 30). A CD version of the Rounder Records project will be issued on Nov. 18. Scruggs first appeared at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in 1945 during a Grand Ole Opry performance as a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. However, the live album from his 2007 concert captured his first time there as a headliner. The 18 tracks include several of Scruggs' signature songs, including "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." His backing musicians include his sons, Gary and Randy Scruggs, along with drummer John Gardner, fiddler Hoot Hester, mandolinist Rob Ickes and guitarists John Jorgenson and Jon Randall.