From classic Nudie suits to handwritten lyrics, treasured instruments to concert posters and photographs, Stuart has devoted his life to preserving artifacts that document the music and the people who make it. Stuart maintains an abiding commitment to the world of country music by honoring the community of artists that created it and those who keep it moving forward. A sound that would be changed again by the Byrds, Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers and modern day artists such as Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Jason Isbell, and Stuart himself. Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison” and “At San Quentin” offered release and respite to audiences both inside and outside those prison walls. These artists and others whom they inspired created a sound that ultimately stood apart from the country music coming from Nashville. Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart would plug in and electrify their music, with Fender Telecasters, bass, drums and steel guitars creating a hard-hitting, blue collar brand of country music, which was perfect for the honky-tonks of Bakersfield. Mixing hillbilly and boogie woogie, they pioneered the sound of rock-a-billy music in America. Here, the Maddox Brothers and Rose are celebrated as the first family of West Coast country music. Marty Stuart’s Way Out West: A Country Music Odyssey tells the story of a transformation in country music through the lens of the American West. It wasn’t grand or ornate, but it was music of the people and it told their life stories. They also brought their music, which in those days was called hillbilly or Okie music. Countless families migrated west and with them they brought an adventurous spirit and a willingness to work. In the Dust Bowl days, the Golden State represented a second chance, a place of opportunity and hope. From the Dust Bowl to the Depression, through the economic growth following World War II, to the striking cultural and political changes of the ‘60s, right up to the innovations created by the digital revolution, California lives on as a land of dreams. For decades, the West has been a place of hope and transformation.
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