Marty Stuart: “I Have Three Albums in the Can.”

Well well well. It was announced earlier in August that Marty Stuart had signed to the European record label Snakefarm Records, and we knew this signing was to gear up for a new album at some point in the near future. It’s been since 2017’s Way Out West since Stuart released a proper album. But now Marty Stuart has revealed that he has not one, but three albums ready to release.

It’s been hard to get any good intelligence from the Marty Stuart camp for a while now, and we’ve had to pontificate on what his upcoming moves will be by what color scarf he’s wearing, or how high he’s kinked his hair that day. But he’s commencing a European tour today (August 25th) with his Fabulous Superlatives band, and now that he’s flown across the pod, he’s singing like a canary about all sorts of stuff.

“I have three albums in the can – they’ll be out soon,” Marty Stuart told The Guardian while promoting the tour.

Well alright then, that’s what we’re talking about. So not only should we be anticipating a new proper studio album from Marty Stuart, perhaps he has some other tricks up his sleeve.

In March of 2021, Stuart announced a covers song project called Songs I Sing in the Dark, which was supposed to be a 20-song endeavor where he released a cover song each month for 20 months. However, Stuart stopped just a few songs in with no explanation. Perhaps that will be one of the three projects. He’s also been saying for years that he wants to release an album of surf guitar music. One of the best guitarists out there, perhaps that’s also one of the albums Marty Stuart is sitting on. We’ll just have to see.

Also interesting from The Guardian interview, Marty Stuart shared his perspective about his early career output as a solo artist.

“I had a period of making big production records in the 90s that got me into the charts and won me a wide audience, and I’m grateful for that,” Stuart says. “But I dislike the sound of those records—like a lot of mainstream country they were trying to sound like what you hear on pop-rock radio. That’s not what I’m about. I prefer to pursue my own vision. I might not get on country radio these days but this doesn’t bother me.”

I don’t know. If you’re in the right mood, that rockabilly-style country of Stuart’s early career like “Hillbilly Rock” and “Little Things” can hit you right. But I get what he’s saying. It was after he stopped trying to launch radio singles where he really found his stride, and Marty’s output into his 40s and 50s has been as good or better than anyone’s in country. He doesn’t feel like an aging star leaning on his old hits. You feel like Stuart is just hitting his stride, and his songs come with a vigor and freshness few performers of his age can muster. He’s remained hungry and relevant, at least to those who know what’s up.

That’s why you can’t help but be excited that Marty Stuart doesn’t just have a new album on the way, but three of them.

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