I miss playing music and hanging out with him. “He was a country boy, but he was a worldly country boy – he could talk with a head of state or a farmer. “Every day with John was a life lesson,” says Stuart. It was a friendship that would endure even after Stuart set off on his own in the late 80s. So Stuart joined Johnny Cash’s band (and married Cash’s daughter Cindy in 1983). Thus, in 1972, Marty’s formal education ended and he began criss-crossing the US playing mandolin with Flatt – well before he was old enough to drive a car or buy a beer.įlatt was forced to disband his outfit due to failing health in 1978. So much so he was invited to join Flatt, who had scored huge crossover success as half of bluegrass duo Flatt and Scruggs by contributing the theme music to TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (and Foggy Mountain Breakdown to Bonnie and Clyde’s car chase). Born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, he joined country-gospel group the Sullivan Family aged 12 and, upon sharing the stage with Lester Flatt’s bluegrass group one evening, the 13-year-old mandolinist made quite an impression. Stuart has been obsessed with country music from infancy. I think music engages with pretty much all who hear us.” Recently, he says, “we played for a Grateful Dead-type audience and they loved what we did. Unsurprisingly, they command a broad church. His band the Fabulous Superlatives’ dynamic performances are a high-wire act involving shared harmonies, a capella gospel numbers, honky tonk pathos and kinetic country rock. Affable and engaging, Stuart, 63, wears a wry grin, elaborately tailored stage suits and a shock of salt-and-pepper hair.
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