Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

There’s red, white and bluegrass in store Sunday night, July 3, when the East Tennessee Symphony Orchestra hosts Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder at its annual Independence Day concert at Veterans Memorial Park in Collegedale.

“We’ve had a long-term goal for a number of years to elevate our patriotic performance and include an artist from Nashville,” says conductor Richard Hickam, who is returning from Orlando, Fla., to direct this performance. “Friends of the Festival, particularly Karen Shostak, has been very generous with their time to us. I asked her about which Nashville artists did sets with orchestras, and Ricky Skaggs was one of them. He has performed with the Boston Pops. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ricky, and he seemed a great match for the East Tennessee Symphony Orchestra.”

Hickam says McKee Foods Corp. is sponsoring the headliner’s appearance. Hickam says ETSO waited a decade before approaching the maker of Little Debbies about sponsoring a headliner in order to “show our track record of service to the community.”

Skaggs — known for hits such as “Country Boy,” “Highway 40 Blues,” “Uncle Pen” and “Honey ( Open That Door)” — primarily plays mandolin, but also fiddle, guitar and banjo. The 14- time Grammy Award winner is credited with helping to regenerate interest in country music after the “Urban Cowboy” period by creating his own sound blending bluegrass and traditional country. His band, Kentucky Thunder, has won