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Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives will play Cain Park at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6.

(Courtesy of martystuart.net)

PREVIEW

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives

When:

8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6.

Where:

Cain Park's Evans Amphitheater, 14591 Superior Road, Cleveland Heights.

Tickets:

$20 to $35 in advance, $23 to $38 day of show, at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, online at

and

and by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or 216-371-3000.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Marty Stuart is only 57, but the country singer who got his start playing guitar with Lester Flatt (of Flatt & Scruggs fame) at the age of 14 is the epitome of an "old soul'' when it comes to music.

His bluegrass roots and a stint on guitar for the backing band of his one-time father-in-law, Johnny Cash, gives the man who headlines a Saturday gig at Cain Park some pretty impeccable "honky-tonk cred'' and a unique perspective when it comes to today's country music.

"[Country music] was born to evolve and spin toward pop culture,'' Stuart said in a call from the Nashville home he shares with his country-singer wife, Connie Smith. "That's how the whole system was designed.

"It's always wanted to have a 'pop star' segment to it, and I think it's finally arrived,'' said Stuart, a Mississippi native whose traditional foundation remains a part of his own music.

While he does lament the leanings toward pop, Stuart is pragmatist enough to understand what's happening, and optimist enough to realize there's a benefit to it.

"I miss the authenticity that gave us country music in the first place,'' said the singer, whose "The Marty Stuart Show'' on cable's RFD-TV focuses on traditional country music performed by his band, Marty Stuart and Fabulous Superlatives, his Grand Ole Opry member wife and other guests.

"But it's hard to tell the kids who are filling stadiums that they're doing something wrong,'' he said.

"Country music has always had an incredible marketing machine,'' Stuart said. "Whoever is part of the awards show system, that's your current crop of stars.

"The one thing I do respect about what we're talking about is that a lot of young people are showing up,'' he said.

Not that it's a lost cause, said Stuart, who still sports the "big hair'' of his youth, even if the jet-black hair of his Choctaw lineage has given way to gray.

Brandy Clark, who opens for Toby Keith at Blossom a night before Stuart's show here, may be one of the best examples, he said.

"Connie and I listen and watch and we cheer for the kids coming through,'' Stuart said. "The one that really got me when she first came out was Brandy Clark, and the thing that got me most was the songs.''

Clark's music - her debut album "12 Stories'' and her sophomore effort "Big Day in a Small Town'' - is drawing raves from critics, fans and her peers, and for good reason.

Clark's songs have a truth that Stuart said you could play for Hank Williams and he would appreciate.

"Trust me, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the next good song,'' Stuart said. "Trying to find that one song that makes a difference and moves things around for you is the eternal quest and the eternal treasure.''

Stuart, whose style of country incorporates bluegrass, rock, blues and gospel, is working on songs himself now with the Superlatives band, in a style they've honed doing shows in the back roads of America.

"We've played ourselves back into town, and the band now has seen the light of the suburbs,'' he said.

And you can bet that sound has a decidedly traditional bent.

"There's an old blues guy named 'Son' Thomas in Mississippi who said, 'You need to be what you is all the time,' '' Stuart said.

"That will get you left out of the popularity parade, but it makes me sleep well at night.''

Sounds like a song. A good, TRADITIONAL country song.