DECATUR — The Grammy Award-winning country music artist Marty Stuart will the featured entertainer 58th Annual Barbecue Festival.
Stuart’s career in country music began early in his life and spans several decades. He is well known for his award-winning hits, such as “HillbillyRock,” “Burn Me Down” and “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin.” Marty has performed with a number of stars, from Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash to Vince Gill and Travis Tritt, and he also stars in his own television show.
“Marty bridges the strong traditional bluegrass gospel past of country music with the new rockabilly, Southern Rock, contemporary sound. The history of country music lives within him,” said Sherry Mattioli, a Stuart biographer.
A Philadelphia, Miss., native, Stuart received his first guitar at age 3 and turned professional at age 12.
Stuart’s early performances were with the bluegrass band, The Sullivans, playing mandolin at festivals and in Pentecostal Churches in the South. He performed with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass from 1972 until Lester’s death in 1979.
In later years, he played guitar with Johnny Cash’s band, toured with fiddler Vassar Clements, worked with Doc and Merle Watson, toured with Bob Dylan and played as a session musician on albums by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmy-lou Harris, Neil Young and Billy Joel.
His first album, Marty Stuart, was released in 1986 on CBS Records. The first single album, “Arlene,” broke the Billboard Top 20, and he was nominated for Best New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. In 1989 he joined MCA Records andreleased Hillbilly Rock, reaching the Country Music Top 10 with its title track.
1991’s popular Tempted album featured “Burn Me Down” and “Little Things.” Partnering with Travis Tritt, Stuart won his first Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin” in 1991.
The pair toured together and scored another big hit with their “This One’s Going to Hurt (For a Long, Long Time)” that same year.
In 1993, Stuart won another Grammy Award - this time for Best Country Instrumental Performance. He joined forces with Chet Atkins, Vince Gill and several other country stars for the song “Red Wing.” He hosted the first of many Marty Party television specials that year.
Stuart married “Sweetheart of the Grand Ole Opry” Connie Smith on July 8, 1997, and they have written over 40 songs together. His latest album, Ghost Train, is in stores now and his Marty Stuart Show airs Saturday nights at 8 p.m. on RFD-TV.
Stuart is scheduled to perform on the stage in Veterans Park at 9:30 p.m., Aug. 6. The concert is free, but parking is $3 per vehicle.
Community News, Pages 19 on 08/03/2011