Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives at the Bowery Ballroom

Marty Stuart

Born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, Marty Stuart taught himself to play the guitar and mandolin. By age 12, Stuart performed with the bluegrass group The Sullivan Family. At age 14, he began a six-year stint in Lester Flatt's band, then played with Vassar Clements, Doc Watson and then a six-year stint with his future father-in-law, Johnny Cash. Stuart released his first solo album in 1979, and had a string of country hits in the early 1990s. His 18th studio album, Way Out West, was released on March 10, 2017.

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives (guitarist Kenny Vaughan, bassist Chris Scruggs and drummer Harry Stinson) headlined tonight at the Bowery Ballroom and for nearly two hours performed an eclectic mélange of traditional country, bluegrass, honky tonk, rockabilly, gospel and even surf music. Now at age 58, Stuart still sang his hits as clearly as when he recorded them, and also rocked seven songs from his new album and at least six cover songs. These covers included the set-starter, the traditional "I Know Your Rider" (popularized by the Grateful Dead and others), through Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (popularized by the Byrds), and Lefty Frizzell's "Long Black Veil" (popularized by the Band). Stuart sang, played guitar and dazzled on mandolin, and each of his versatile multi-instrumentalists also sang lead on one song and commanded the spotlight for masterful solos, such that the set often seemed more centered on instrumental jams than on songs, particularly when Stuart and Vaughan engaged in string-bending duels. Yet, several of the songs captured attention as epic story songs, particularly with Stuart singing Marty Robbins' "El Paso" and Stinson singing Woody Guthrie's "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd." Sometimes more western than country, Stuart and company's roots were in old-time folk and country classics, and the high-energy performance gave these old sounds new life.

Visit Marty Stuart at www.martystuart.net.

Setlist

1. I Know You Rider (traditional)
2. Whole Lotta Highway
3. Country Boy Rock & Roll (Marty Stuart song)
4. The Whiskey Ain't Working (Marty Stuart song)
5. Mojave
6. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (The Byrds cover)
7. Tempted (Marty Stuart song)
8. Old Mexico
9. Country Music Got a Hold On Me (Kenny Vaughan song)
10. Hot Like That
11. Way Out West
12. El Paso (Marty Robbins cover)
13. Old Souls Like You and Me
14. The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd (Woody Guthrie cover)
15. Orange Blossom Special (Rouse Brothers cover)
16. Runnin' Down A Dream (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
17. Wait for the Morning
18. Tear the Woodpile Down
19. Torpedo
20. Humming Byrd

Encore:

1. Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizzell cover)
2. Time Don’t Wait