Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Christmas

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder play the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Tuesday, December 8, 2026, at 7:30 PM. They'll be joined on stage by members of the Nashville Symphony, and the whole thing is part of the symphony's 2026-2027 season.

The set blends old and new Christmas songs in an acoustic style. Skaggs' own bluegrass tune "Christmas Time's A Coming" and the hit "New Star Shining," which he recorded with James Taylor, sit alongside the classics: "Silent Night," "Deck the Halls," and "Let it Snow." There are sing-alongs mixed in, too.

If you're not familiar with the name, Ricky Skaggs is a 15-time Grammy Award winner and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He's a virtuoso of the mandolin and fiddle who started playing more than 60 years ago and has remained a leading figure in the bluegrass roots revival. He runs his own label, Skaggs Family Records, and has released a long string of Grammy-nominated classics. He's been inducted into six Halls of Fame — Country Music, Bluegrass Music, National Fiddler, Kentucky Music, Gospel Music, and Musicians — and in 2020 he received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award the U.S. government gives to artists.

It's a holiday show with the full Kentucky Thunder band and members of the Nashville Symphony backing them. The performance is at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 1 Symphony Pl, Nashville, TN, on Tuesday, December 8, 2026, at 7:30 PM.