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Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives Remain Instrumental to the Music Scene in Nashville and Beyond
by Rich and Laura Lynch
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives previewed songs from their latest record Space Junk (2024) to family, friends and media on April 18, 2025 at Fender Nashville. It was a great night of music in a room full of guitars.
Marty and his longtime band have just released 20 Superlative Instrumentals.
At the ripe old age of ten, Stuart started off touring with bluegrass legend Lester Flatt. Later, Marty was a member of Johnny Cash's road band before launching his solo career in the 1980's. Since 2002, Stuart has been collaborating with the Fabulous Superlatives - Kenny Vaughan (guitar), Harry Stinson (drums) and Chris Scruggs (bass). Space Junk showcases the inimitable interplay of this group and it is downright groovy!
"Instrumentals have always been a part of the Fabulous Superlatives repertoire. But, this is the first completely instrumental album we've done - largely inspired by two of my favorite bands from the sixties - The Ventures and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass,” states Marty.
Fender only recently opened their new Artist Showroom and Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
For this project, Stuart and the Superlatives went to Capitol Recording Studios to soak up the sunny vibe of California where they crafted most of the tunes although Marty did say that some of this material was written years ago and they have been waiting for the right time to release it.
Space Junk is a brilliant blend of surf rock with splashes of spacy effects along with some fragments of country. As much as Space Junk has a pleasant light feel to it the instrumentals are layered with substantial riffs, rhythms and cool effects.
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives ran through a great 40-minute set on Good Friday.
Space Junk echoes of the past but its crisp, clean production is very much in the present while it pays tribute to some of the music that inspired Marty in his formative years. The Ventures are credited with popularizing electric guitars and were one of the first to employ flanging and fuzz effects. Their innovative instrumental style impacted many as did Herb Alpert who is an award-winning arranger, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and leader of the Tijuana Brass.
In Nashville, Marty and His Fabolous Superlatives opened with the up-tempo “La Tingo Tango” that flowed into “All The Pretty Horses” a tune enhanced by a galloping groove. Stuart’s Mama was in the house and he stated that she was the one who brought him his first Fender.
Since 2002, Gretsch Guitars have been a part of the Fender Musical Instruments family.
The title track had us thinking of a space ship landing into an old-time western movie. Stuart also expressed his appreciation to Herb Albert who gave the group permission to use Albert’s artwork on the Space Junk album cover.
More intricate instrumentals followed with “Graveyard” grabbing our attention with its signature surf guitar lead with a daring beat and fast tremolo. Apparently that song was recorded in Nashville at the House of Blues studio which is near Woodlawn Cemetery where George Jones and Porter Wagoner are buried. In addition to a bunch of new songs, we were treated to “Hollywood Boggie” (2012) with dueling guitars and the closer “Apache” (Shadows)
A glimpse inside the Fender Instruments research facility.
What a thrill it was to see and hear tracks from Space Junk at Fender Nashville and to mingle with an all-star crowd that included sightings of Opry Member Connie Smith, the always wild Wes Wilder and the guitar slinging "mayor" of East Nash - Guthrie Trapp.
The legendary guitar company was founded in Southern California back in the 1940’s and is now one of the most respected names in the industry. Today, FMIC brands include Fender®, Squier®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, Charvel® and EVH® among others.
Guests to the Fender Showroom can take any guitar off the wall for a test run.
Fender Nashville is a by appointment or invitation only facility where establish artists collaborate with Fender to design custom and/or signature guitars. It is an appealing space lined with amps, instruments and historic Fender ads making it an ideal spot to launch a CD release party. Thanks to Marty Stewart and His Fabulous Superlatives for the invite and please check out Space Junk as it is out of this world!
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives launched their "Space Junk" era in Nashville.
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For more information on MARTY STUART and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -
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