At 48, Marty Stuart has lived his life within country music's inner circle.

At 12, he was playing guitar with the bluegrass legend Lester Flatt. When he was 21, Stuart left Flatt to play with Johnny Cash. Soon after that Stuart branched out on his own, although he seems to have remained on good terms with Cash since he eventually joined the family by marrying Cindy Cash. After that marriage broke up, Stuart once again married country royalty in the person of singer Connie Smith.

Stuart racked up his first hit, "Arlene," back in '85 and became one of the most successful of the new traditionalists of the early '90s with hits such as "Tempted," "Burn Me Down" and "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'."

Recently he has done albums of bluegrass and gospel, and his most recent disc is Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives: Live at the Ryman, recorded at the Ryman Auditorium.

By Dave Tianen