2012 Artist of the Year – Marty Stuart
If anybody asked me point blank, who is the artist that is most saving country music right now? I would answer without hesitation, “Marty Stuart.”
Marty Stuart is the man. More so than any other modern country music artist, Marty does everything right, from preserving the roots of country and helping to keep the traditions alive, to putting out fresh, fun, and relevant music, to taking up the cause of the oldtimers and the up-and-comers alike to keep the country music community both honorable and vibrant. You name it, Marty has done it, and done it many times away from the cameras and country writers, simply from a passion for country music, and from the kindness of his heart.
Marty Stuart breathes country music, and helps preserve it and pay it forward almost as if it was an involuntary action. He doesn’t know how to do anything different. The man is tireless, touring many months out of the year, and spending the majority of his time when home in Nashville on his Marty Stuart Show or playing the Grand Ole Opry, or other endeavors that many times seem to be about promotion someone other than himself. The amount of talent he has churning through the Marty Stuart Show set alone is boggling, and it is about the only place left in American popular media where you can see what real country entertainment once was.
You know, I’ve heard some folks say that Marty is “hokey,” probably partly in response to his RFD-TV Show. I’ve heard others remark that he’s just plain weird, maybe from his flamboyant hairdo or dress. What’s funny though is when it comes to Marty Stuart’s music, all of that stuff seems so superfluous. His recent output is responsible for some of the hardest-charging guitar music that exists in country right now, walking right up near the line of rock & roll, but cleverly knowing where not to cross it. The magic Marty is making with “Cousin” Kenny Vaughan and the double-barreled Telecaster twang-out sound is something that will go down in the annals of country music as one of its coolest eras.
Marty Stuart also has excellent ballads and beautiful instrumentals and traditionals that include some of the tightest musicianship and harmonies you will find, mostly the fault of his excellent band The Fabulous Superlatives. From gospel to Outlaw, Marty Stuart can work within all of country music’s colors, and practice the art of playing and living authentic country music that he preaches. As Marty says, “The most Outlaw thing you can do in Nashville right now is play country music.”
One thing that many folks don’t know about Marty Stuart is that he owns a vast archive of country music memorabilia, and not from a personal desire to horde expensive valuables, but a sincere desire to preserve these artifacts for future generations of country fandom.
I’ve heard many stories about Marty’s generosity from other artists over the years, but the one that sticks with me most was from 90-year-old Don Maddox, the last surviving member of the Maddox Brothers & Rose. When Don flew out from the West Coast to be a part of the opening of the Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Marty acted as Don Maddox’s personal tour guide in Nashville, taking him to see the Maddox Brothers costumes Marty gobbled up years ago for safe keeping (some of which were given to the Hall of Fame for the Bakersfield exhibit), inviting Don to play with him on The Grand Ole Opry, and putting him on The Marty Stuart Show.
Marty’s generosity stretches out to all sectors of real country music, to up-and-coming acts like The Quebe Sisters and Justin Townes Earle that he’s invited on his TV show, to Hank Williams III who appears on a duet on Marty’s latest album Nashville Vol. 1 – Tear The Woodpile Down.
And in the end, Marty Stuart’s music is the reason he deserves this honor the most. The reason Marty is in a position to do all the great things that he does is because he is so revered by his peers, by country music’s historic institutions, and by the overall country music community.
Simply put, Marty Stuart is saving country music.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:07 am
Once again you nailed it. Marty is the new “kang” of country music!
January 9, 2013 @ 10:14 am
“You know, I”™ve heard some folks say that Marty is “hokey,” probably partly in response to his RFD-TV Show. I”™ve heard others remark that he”™s just plain weird, maybe from his flamboyant hairdo or dress. What”™s funny though is when it comes to Marty Stuart”™s music, all of that stuff seems so superfluous. ”
Couldn’t agree more.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:17 am
I’m a Marty Suart fan but for some reason I want to say your wrong & that someone else is more deserving but I can’t think of anyone who is. The only one to come close is Guy Clark but he didn’t even release an album this year.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:57 am
I understand what you’re saying. There really wasn’t an artist making a big splash, especially an up-and-coming one to hand the award to this year. Next year may be a very different story, it could be Sturgill Simpson or Leroy Virgil or a handful of other guys or girls with some big projects and potential ahead of them.
Still I think that Marty does a lot of things behind-the-scenes that nobody ever sees, and that’s one of the reasons he deserves this more than anyone.
January 9, 2013 @ 12:01 pm
Great selection. I was surfing the web a week or so ago and stumbled upon this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rghQrKpsQKk
Looks like Marty has company when it comes to appreciation for Don Maddox. Nice work, Trigger.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:26 am
Marty and Vince Gill should share this award every year. Two of the only people making a difference on behalf of real Country music.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:41 am
I’m pretty new to this blog — I’m a huge Hank Sr fan who discovered Hank3 last year and through Hank3, this blog. Other thank Hank Sr and before I found Hank3, I pretty much gave up on C&W– here in the Northeast the only C&W that gets airplay is “the shit they call pop country music on 98.1” ( the pop country station in Providence actually is 98.1 ).
So forgive my ignorance — what’s a good starting point for Marty Stuart? Any album I should begin with?
Thanks for this blog, BTW.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:53 am
I would start with his last two albums, “Nashville Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down” and “The Ghost Train, The Studio B Sessions.” I prefer “The Ghost Train” slightly, but they’re both great, and both highlight what he’s doing right now with the Fabulous Superlatives. You can make the case Marty is making the best music of his career right now.
January 10, 2013 @ 1:23 am
Yes indeed. Those two albums together add up to an hour or so of just about perfect country listening!
January 9, 2013 @ 11:02 am
If you’ve got time to sit down and listen through a whole album, “The Pilgrim” is a total trip and one of my favorites of all time.
I would start with the most recent couple, though, as Trig said.
January 9, 2013 @ 11:02 am
And if you like country gospel music, there’s the “Soul’s Chapel” album. Also done with the Fabulous Superlatives. Very good.
January 9, 2013 @ 12:07 pm
Aaron, check out Marty and Cousin’s guitar work on Ghost Train’s Hummingbyrd….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH1u5j-1QZw
January 10, 2013 @ 10:40 am
“The Pilgrim” from ’99 is absolutely genius as well. I’d add that to the list of Marty must-haves, along with Ghost Train and Nashville Vol 1.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:50 am
Spot on. Well done, sir.
January 9, 2013 @ 11:42 am
I’ve seen Marty twice in concert and he did not disappoint either time. He plays all the sub-genres of country during his show. The Superlatives are amazing and make the whole thing work.
January 9, 2013 @ 11:46 am
It was seeing Marty Stuart live in 2011 that helped me realize he was the man who was saving country music.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/marty-stuart-is-saving-country-music-live-review
January 9, 2013 @ 12:28 pm
i was a marty stuart hater 20 years ago but over the past few months ive been watching as many episodes and clips of his show as i could find and im now a big fan. also a big fan of Kenny Vaughan who i had never even heard of before seeing martys show.
what is marty stuarts role at the grand ole opry? i was under the impression that he was in charge of the weekly show but after googling him i havnt seen any mention of that.
January 9, 2013 @ 12:48 pm
Excellent call Trig. I became a Marty Stuart fan when I checked out his TV show on which his guest was a fresh out prison Steve Earle back in the day. Loads of heart in a Johnny Cash kinda way.
January 9, 2013 @ 1:09 pm
The Johnny Cash analogy is a good one. A lot of folks don’t know Marty played in Cash’s backing band for 5 years before his solo career, and was married to Cash’s daughter Cindy for a while.
January 9, 2013 @ 12:57 pm
I’ve never been a raving fan of Marty’s records but really dig him live. As a tele lover, you can’t NOT appreciate what he does. You’re spot on too about what he does fr the genre.
WAY off on a tangent: The modern guy I see that has the potential to do the same but reach the pop country crowd is Brad Paisley, one of the few modern mainstream pop guys that can actually play guitar and not rely on saturation/effects. Why I continue to hold out hope that one day he’ll wake up more Don Rich than Big & Rich is beyond me but I do.
January 10, 2013 @ 1:26 am
Yes, I think Paisley’s got a lot of potential but he really needs some help with his quality control, especially when it comes to the novelty songs.
January 9, 2013 @ 1:11 pm
AMEN Bro Trig ! So very true and well said.
January 9, 2013 @ 4:06 pm
Excellent choice. I am not a huge fan of his music, though I think it is solid, but Marty has done a great deal to expose other good artists to mainstream fans. I am not sure he is reaching the younger pop fans, but he manages to keep enough of a toe in Nashville to maintain a high profile and use that to bring recognition to others who deserve a bigger audience.
A similar artist who I think deserves a bit more attention around here is Jim Lauderdale. He doesn’t have the TV show, but also does a great deal of collaboration and work with both oldsters and up and coming folks.
January 9, 2013 @ 6:15 pm
Great article. I have a ton of respect for Marty Stuart. It is obvious that he lives and breathes country music.
January 10, 2013 @ 4:40 am
Great choice, Tigger!
Although I agree with Ga Outlaw and you about there being a lack of heavy competition this year, Marty deserves this honor based on his whole career achievements, especially the last decade.
My pretend year end of awards would go like this –
Single/Song: “AM Country Heaven”
Album: ‘Little Victories’ – Chris Knight
Group: Turnpike Troubadours
Female Artist: Norah Jones (Who else? Her work with Little Willies and the killer track on KIN, “If the Law Don’t Want You,” puts her far above any female artist that I can think of that did more for country music.)
Male Artist: Justin Townes Earle
Artist of the Year: Marty Stuart
January 10, 2013 @ 8:32 am
I couldn’t agree with ya more on this. I think you should try to get an interview with Marty Stuart and maybe have him show you his collection. I personally would love to browse through that. I also agree with emfrank above that Jim Lauderdale is another.
January 10, 2013 @ 10:49 pm
Marty Stuart is my hero. I can’t get enough of his work, whether it’s he and the Superlatives performing old classics and new favorites on his show, the tireless work he does promoting others’ music (I especially love how, even though HIS name is on the show, he’s not afraid to let one of his band members step forward with something of their own and take a backseat as a member of “THEIR” band while letting the spotlight shine on that person), making sure the living legends that the Opry snubs have a place to show that they can still do what they do best (Stonewall Jackson’s performance on Marty Stuart’s show is still one of my favorites), or the preserving of country music history, heritage, and memorabilia, he’s a constant force of good in an increasingly bad world.
January 13, 2013 @ 12:56 am
“You know, I”™ve heard some folks say that Marty is “hokey,” probably partly in response to his RFD-TV Show.”
Most people haven’t seen the RFD-TV show. A lot of people thought he was hokey when he went and married Connie Smith. Or when he put on enough hair gel and make-up to gag a chimp.
January 14, 2013 @ 12:25 am
Pfft. More like Marty Poppins.
January 14, 2013 @ 12:39 am
Really bad choice Trigg. I don’t get the whole fascination with Marty Stuart. He’s basically attempted to copy much of Johnny Cash’s style, attitude, philosophies, sound, and I could go on and on. His show on RFD’s demographic is 90 year old males and up. Do you think he’s actually a fan of Justin Earle? Give me a break. He may throw in somebody like JTE on his program every once in a while to make people like you think he’s really cool and keeping an eye on underground country music but he doesn’t listen to anything like that. He’s the biggest phony in country music. You might as well have named Shotgun Red as your artist of the year because he and Marty are basically the same type of character.
January 14, 2013 @ 8:39 am
Shotgun Red was my runner up.
January 14, 2013 @ 12:47 am
Do you think Marty would ever do Muddy Roots? No. He hates all of those types of people who attend shows like MR.
I would have given him artist of the year honors if he had hit another car at McDonalds like he did a few years ago when he was wasted on pills and booze.
January 14, 2013 @ 11:41 am
Coming in late on this one, but wanted to say I appreciate the article and kind of relate to those that might have discounted MS as hokey or weird or whatever. I wasn’t much of a fan for a long time, but a few years ago, I caught him live at a festival. Some of the bigger name acts, I never sit through an entire set, ready to move on to something more fresh and exciting, but I couldn’t leave his show. It was too damn good. I’ve seen him three times since and have the latest two albums, and am searching the past catalog for more stuff to enjoy. I’ve also kept up with his guitarist, Kenny Vaughan, as he’s started branching out on his own.
January 22, 2013 @ 12:35 am
Hokey? Fuck a duck! I wish I still had RFDTV. I grew up watching syndicated country shows — Buck Owens Ranch, Porter Wagoner, Osborne Brothers … I just love that format — simple production with an emphasis on the music.
I’d never seen Marty’s show, but a quick search of Youtube yielded several fine performances by Marty and a variety of guests. Dolly Parton, Deke Dickerson, Kentucky Headhunters, Charlie Daniels, Del McCoury, Old Crow Medicine Show … Earl Fucking Scruggs! That’s my kinda hokey.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MartyStuartVideos?feature=watch
January 22, 2013 @ 12:47 am
I’ll be a dog! My cable system DOES have RFDV.
August 4, 2013 @ 4:20 am
I can see how people might be put off by Marty’s image, particularly if they’re not existing country fans but, like you said, every time I hear him play the guitar any worries about what he’s wearing disappear instantly. That man can PLAY.
September 30, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
Sturgill Simpson?
September 30, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Sturgill Simpson for new artist of the year?
September 30, 2013 @ 1:43 pm
We’ll just have to see. Still a few months left to go!
January 2, 2014 @ 7:54 pm
I saw MS several years ago at BB King’s in NYC and boy was he great! Nice turn out. I’ve been collecting his albums now and then and I am very impressed with his “Kindred Spirits. A Tribute to the songs of Johnny Cash” He produced most of it.
Various artists like Dwight Yoakam, Rosanne Cash, Keb Mo, Little Richard, Springsteen and Steve Earle. It’s a great example of how Cash’s music crosses so many genres of American music. Marty has a way with exposing the uninitiated to the joys of Country.
The collection really proves just how closely linked Country, Rock and Blues have always been. They co exist beautifully. My only reservation is small…Keb Mo changes the lyric of Folsum Prison Blues to “.. they say I shot a man in Reno, but that was a lie.” But he does a beautiful job. They say Country is the White Man’s Blues. His version proves it’s true.
I also love Travis Tritt’s take on I Walk the Line. He’s sort of doing it Waylon style and he’s really got some soul.
I recommend it.
I love how you have Marty, Dwight and Steve. Three guys that basically debuted at the same time, who are still carrying that torch for country. Steve has become more of an activist, troubador and such but he is mos def country way down deep. They don’t sell records much (Nashville style, that is) but they are so amazing still.
August 7, 2016 @ 8:37 pm
Marty, is “Cousin Kenny” really your cousin?????? He can (also you) really play the guitar, I play also, but just watching you and he is really something to see