In the view of many, it won’t be until 2025 that country music has its renaissance. Yet for country music legend and Grand Ole Opry member Marty Stuart and his band, The Fabulous Superlatives, country music has never ceased to be intriguing and fashionable. Their recent performance of numbers from their album ‘Space Junk,’ released on Record Store Day, at Fender Guitar Showroom in East Nashville is a testament to their belief – country music isn’t just fascinating, it is everlasting.
From childhood days, Stuart fostered a simple aspiration: possessing a sleek car, Fender guitar, stylish cowboy attire, and footwear – a collection that would impress any girl. Now, his life-partner of 17 years, fellow Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member Connie Smith, whom Stuart reminisces meeting at age 12 in 1971, was in attendance at the Fender Showroom event, seated right beside his mother.
When prompted to shed light on his guitar influences that shape his unique fusion of country rock, jazz pop and slick surf tunes, Stuart cited Clarence White, James Burton, Don Rich, Roy Nichols, and Luther Perkins, plus Ralph Mooney’s steel guitar. The work of these artists merge the hits by Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, The Monkees, Ricky Nelson, Buck Owens, and Elvis Presley into an energetic and engaging blend.
The Fabulous Superlatives, Stuart was pleased to announce, were honored as inductees into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2022. Stuart encourages listeners to visualize their music being played in The Palomino Club in North Hollywood, a renowned haunt for country rock during its four decades of operation before closing in 1995.
Stuart excitedly shared how they secured Herb Alpert’s approval to use one of his works of art as the album cover. This fact amplifies why the atmosphere and authenticity symptomatically resonate throughout ‘Space Junk’.
The ‘Tempted’ vocalist Marty Stuart and drumming partner Harry Stinson, along with guitarists Chris Scruggs and Kenny Vaughan, have been forming the backbone of The Fabulous Superlatives for two decades now. The compositions of ‘Space Junk’, speaks volumes of their essence. It transpires that they, in essence, remain session artists who, after 20 long years, have gave shape to tunes they have been nonchalantly playing over time.
Once these songs are set free into the world, they continue the tradition where rhythm echoes and intensely resonates. That results in transforming ordinary walk into swagger-filled ones, or by strumming a note that sends shivers down one’s spine, rendering the audience awestruck and on their feet. The trio – Stinson, Stuart, and Vaughan, all aged over 60, continue to embody the spirit of teenage while being frozen in the confluence of country’s outlaw movement, the swinging compositions by Los Angeles’ Wrecking Crew, orchestral innovations by Nashville’s A-team session players, jazz fusion, and funk records.
Such robust explosion of free expression influenced the band to adopt their name from a local Nashville television ad for Emma’s Flowers & Gifts — ‘The Superlative Florist’. The track names on ‘Space Junk’ exhibit the band’s long-standing Spanish influence, like ‘La Tingo Tango’, the Vaughan-composed ‘Rhapsidio Sangre de Cristo’, and a track penned at Hollywood’s Capitol Studios – the same room where ‘Ode To Billy Joe’ was recorded – that Stuart affectionately terms ‘California Pt. 1 (Bobbie Gentry, Please Call Home)’.
According to Scruggs, the youngest member of the band at 42, ‘The music is alluring because it isn’t trying to fit in. The moment we attempt to keep up with the latest trends or strive for hipness, the authenticity of the music dissipates and falls flat.’
During the encore of the show, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives chose to pay tribute to The Shadows by presenting a more jazz-infused, loose interpretation of ‘Apache’, which was initially released in 1960. The legendary Stinson, attired in stylish sunglasses, added a jazziness to the drum cadence, which was originally a spaghetti western-style rhythm.
The iconic drummer’s unique arrangement, coupled with his dark cowboy hat that seamlessly blended with his electric blue suit and standout white patent leather cowboy boots, gave Vaughan the latitude to add a subtle embellishment to the jazzy, surf rock melody line. While Stuart watched on with amusement, Vaughan coyly tipped his hat. Amidst all this, bassist Scruggs ensured a steady and tight honky-tonk groove.
Vaughan’s comment on the band’s new album is a fitting reflection of their music: ‘The joy in this record propagates like ripples on water, making it convenient for listeners to connect and tap into the energy.’