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. The legendary Tom T. and Dixie Hall have been avid supporters of the bluegrass prodigy for a long time.

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.