ANGELS AND DEVILS: A Q&A WITH MARTY STUART

by Jim Beviglia

For fans of traditional country and roots music, there may be no more hotly anticipated fall release than Marty Stuart’s Saturday Night & Sunday Morning, a double album to be released on September 30 on Marty’s Supertone label. Featuring his ace band The Fabulous Superlatives and some very special guests, the double-disc shows this versatile, charismatic songwriter and performer at the top of his game with sides devoted to both traditional country fare (Saturday Night) and gospel music (Sunday Morning.)

Marty spoke to American Songwriter recently to talk about how these disparate sides of his musical personality intersect, his affection for classic country songwriting, and fateful encounters with Bob Dylan and a crow.

What made you decide to make this new project a double-album that would include a rollicking country side and then a gospel side?

Well, both of those forms of music are essential parts of The Fabulous Superlatives. We understood from the minute we started playing music together that we were a country band. But gospel music was something that I didn’t quite see coming. Singing gospel songs in dressing rooms and in buses going up and down the road in the beginning was how we got to know each other musically and that’s how we learned to sing together. And Harry Stinson brought this world of gospel music knowledge with him when we put the band together. Kenny Vaughn did the same thing. I come from a gospel background of sorts or played in bands where gospel music was always part of our thing. Paul Martin came to the band, and he brought gospel music. So it was just a natural thing. We knew the language. We had our favorite parts of gospel music. Somehow it worked out that that’s how we learned to sing together and we still write those kinds of songs and sing ‘em. So Saturday Night and Sunday Morning seemed to be a natural fit to me. It’s just an honest reflection of who the band is and what we do.

Read more at americansongwriter.com!