I recently attended a Marty Stuart concert. He and his band, the Fabulous Superlatives, make the average concert-goer feel like they have spent their money on something worth it, and are enough to make any musician's dream come true. Combined, they make a four-piece band, which in itself, is something, because a traveling musician these days usually takes more musicians on the road with them. They were not lacking in any area. You did not even notice that there was not a piano or a steel guitar, etc. They were so tight as a group that you just knew that they were almost reading each others next musical moves. Marty, whom I had seen on his first tour, the "No Hats Tour," was still on his game as a singer, his voice, just as pure as it was back then, and his playing was so top notch that at one point his band left the stage so he could entertain the crowd on his own with about a 12-minute mandolin solo that had even the best musician's in the house in awe of his talent. During parts of the show, he shared some stories about various artists including his buddy Travis Tritt, and his ex father-in-law and former boss Johnny Cash -- Wow the stories he must have in his head!

I spoke with some local musican's after the show, and the consensus was, that it was one of the best shows that they had seen in a long time. Marty politely announced that he would sign autographs after the show, which he did, and he also took some pictures with fans, before loading up on the bus. To sum it up, this man is a true snap-shot of what old-school country music looks like, and he showed us that traditional country music is still very much alive!

By J.R.