Marty Stuart may be the busiest man in the country music industry right now.
At the young age of 64, Marty has been blessing bluegrass and country music with his presence for over 50 years. After hitting the Grand Ole Opry stage at the ripe age of 13, Marty hasn’t slowed down and doesn’t seem to plan on it.
Just last week he celebrated his 30th anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member with friends and family, including his 89-year-old mother who was in attendance. The Opry Live show highlighted decades of his success, but he had a lot of new projects in the works to share with his fans.
In addition to being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame two years ago, Marty was also named a new member of the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville just this month.
The “Hillbilly Rock” singer has also been creating new music and used his Grand Ole Opry “pearl anniversary” as the time to debut a new song titled “Country Star” off his upcoming album, Altitude.
If you can believe it, Altitude isn’t the only project he’s had in the works.
Marty is also actively working on creating a country music preservation – The Congress of Country Music. Located in his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi, Marty’s plan was to build The Congress as a final home to over 20,000 country music artifacts he’s collected throughout his career.
You heard me right… over 20,000.
After this long of a stint in the industry, it’s no surprise that Marty Stuart has rubbed shoulders with some of country music’s greatest. And many of the articles he’s collected are pieces country music fans would love to see for themselves. His collection includes one-of-a-kind pieces like Hank Williams’ personal handwritten notes on the writing of “Cold, Cold Heart,” and the boots Patsy Cline wore during her fatal plane crash.
The Congress of Country Music is set to do a level one opening in the first weeks of December, and Marty is already considering a spinoff of The Marty Stuart Show that would draw attention to the gallery.
When asked about The Marty Stuart Show’s accomplishments in 2017, the artist shared:
“The mission statement there was to put our arms around the culture of traditional country music inside the walls of Nashville before it completely disappeared off the edge of planet Earth. And we accomplished that.
At the end of the 156 episodes and six or seven seasons, you know what? Mission accomplished. Let’s move on. That particular show is in the books now. It’s in history books.”
In the same way that his original show brought attention to traditional country music, Marty shares that the new show would give the audience a glimpse of country music history through the artifacts found in his Congress of Country Music:
“I see it as 30-minute episodes, revolving around going out to obtain an artifact, rescuing it and bringing it back. Every show will start in the warehouse in Philadelphia, Missouri, where everything is staged right now.
You get the story behind the artifact and it’s a treasure hunt. If there are musical instruments involved, we try to bring the past and present together.”
According to the same interview, the pilot episode has already been filmed and is awaiting release.
One thing is for certain, we should keep our eye on Marty Stuart in the coming months.
