7 at Ardmore Music Hall, 23 Lancaster Ave., Ardmore PA. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives appear Thursday, Dec. Everything from now until the end of then-some, we’re taking the past, the roots, and building on top of it. I just celebrated my 25th anniversary of being with the Grand Ole Opry and my mom was there, who just happened to be an Opry square dancer. MS: I use tradition as my base, but it’s about passing on and keeping it new. How crucial is it for you to contemporize country media? PV: You do a great radio show, spent time doing your own television program, have a keen photographic sensibility and you’re helping to build the new Congress of Country Music Hall. The more we played, the more we realized that they were kindred spirits. We played this concert at Walcott, IA’s Iowa 80 – the world’s largest truck stop – which was the coolest, with thousands of truckers and their families. Truckers are like musicians – the last of the concrete cowboys. It’s so relevant – if you don’t believe me, just jump onto the interstate. MS: First off, I love truckers, and I love the thematic element. What’s the secret to writing an original trucker’s song? PV: Artists don’t write great trucker songs anymore, but you did with “Whole Lotta Highway (With a Million Miles to Go)” for the new album. “ was like leaning against an oak tree,” said Stuart. There’s a song I wanted to do my whole life, “Lost in the Desert,” and, now I had a reason, a theme. The song “Way Out West” came first and gave the album breadth – gave it a bulls eye. I think that paid off on the backside as now it is an easy record to play live. We knew all of your lines with 98 percent of written before we left Nashville. MS: It was an expensive journey, so we were totally prepared going in. PV: Before you stepped into the studio, had you had songs prepared? And what songs came first for “Way Out West?” From that perspective, I could broaden the palette, make it more cinematic, and be influenced by everything from film soundtracks, surf songs, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. I did think, however, if we the moved the canvas over to the Mojave Desert, and took a spirit world journey there, that could work. I couldn’t think of a reason to do a Bakersfield album now. MS: The first song I ever learned to play was Buck’s "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail.” My first band, like when I was 9, was more Telecaster-driven than anything coming out of Nashville at that time. Thirty years later, you’re back to Cali, but further down the road – why has that remained a preoccupation? PV: You’ve toyed with the California sound with your first four albums, primarily that of Bakersfield and Buck Owens. As a musician, he was a joy to work with – a true hero. He wrote songs that he didn’t think anyone would listen to but him, and he did them with gusto. Beyond all that I took away from him, he was the most fearless creative being I have known. It could take anything you could spit at it, from bluegrass to heavy metal, and make it his. From a sonic perspective, his voice was a natural wonder. MS: It was like leaning against an oak tree. What was he like to work with as a musician? PV: Your life has been intertwined personally and professionally with Johnny Cash from the mid-80s up through his second volume of “American Recordings." I bring this up because those “American” albums are being reissued on vinyl, and there’s a museum exhibit that looks at his legacy. There’s warmth to the people there, that, if you come, I promise you’ll leave there with new friends. MS: The Philadelphia I know and love is a small, southern town based around a traditional courthouse surrounded by magnolia trees. What’s the first picture you have of your home that’s probably different from mine?
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