Two shows,
because why not? Go early and be safely home (or
at a whole other show) when the ball drops, or go
late and welcome 2016 with Marty Stuart and his
aptly named band -- the choice is yours. Either
way, you get a solid dose of what is now, with one
exception, a group of guys who have been playing
together for nearly 14 years. The newcomer is a
multi-instrumentalist and hillbilly musicologist
Chris Scruggs, who fits in with guitar-phenom
Kenny Vaughan and drummer/sky-high harmony singer
Harry Stinson as if he grew up with the gig (which
on some cosmic level he did). Like Bill Monroe,
Stuart leads with his ax, whether they're in a
'grassy acoustic mode with his mandolin or in a
full Marty Party throw-down, where his Clarence
White Tele sets the pace through classic country
and country-rock tropes. Throw in his vocal ease,
and he's bandleader in the vein of
Merle Haggard.
By
Jon Weisberger
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