I dropped cable television a year or so ago, and frankly, I don't miss it much. I have this little box called Roku that streams Web-based shows to my TV. It doesn't have all the latest series, but it offers a quirky mix of TV classics--from Alfred Hitchcock Presentsto Kate & Allie--and offbeat finds like the British sitcom Vicar of Dibley.
Usually that's plenty for me, but every now and then, I'll stumble on something contemporary that I'd really like to see. The Marty Stuart Show just made that list.
Though I don't know if I can rightly call it contemporary. Airing on RFD-TV, a farm themed network that is best known for HEE HAW reruns, the show is modeled after country entertainment from an earlier time.
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In the 1960s and 70s, music legends performed in front of a two camera set-up with faux barn backdrops that were as convincing as sets from a junior high play. There were no pyrotechnics, no rhythmic lights, no dancers. On shows hosted by the likes of Porter Wagner and the Wilburn brothers, they didn't even bother to hide the microphone cords.
This is where country music mainstay Marty Stuart found his inspiration. “It was intimate, it was homespun, it was folk art, it was cultural,” he recently told Bluegrass Unlimited. “But, at the same time, it was just great country entertainment.”
RFD-TV has been the one TV outlet consistently airing these classic shows, so eight years ago, Marty Stuart approached the network's founder and president Patrick Gottsch and pitched him. He said, "Why doesn’t somebody redo the old Porter Wagoner show? Why doesn’t somebody redo the Flatt & Scruggs show, the Wilburn Brothers show?"
It took little convincing. Gottsch had built his business on a rural market that mainstream networks had overlooked.
In November 1998, The Marty Stuart Show premiered. The 1970s split rail sets were replaced with patriotic bunting and pieces of country music memorabilia--vintage stagewear, outsider art in the likeness of Hank Williams, and early instruments, including "the priceless prewar Martin D-45 guitar given him by former boss (and ex-father-in-law) Johnny Cash."
Otherwise, Stuart left this throwback entertainment model alone. Like its predecessors, his show is a low-production showplace for country music's brightest, including some of the best musicians from the Appalachian South. The iconic Del McCoury Band appeared on the show. So has Appalachia's favorite songbird, Dolly Parton, and in the below clip, you can hear Dale Jett, son of Janette Carter and a Blue Ridge native, sing the Carter family classic "Anchored in Love Divine."
Stuart's understated format works. It draws about two millions viewers a month from rural and urban areas alike. Bluegrass Unlimited wrote, "His show’s broad appeal is represented by the celebrities in the audience during one production day. For the Whites’ morning taping, Alison Krauss & Robert Plant are there; in the afternoon, when Ricky Skaggs is the guest, Lester Flatt’s widow Gladys and daughter Tammy are on hand. 'It’s kind of the story of my life,' says Stuart. 'Keith Richards one day and Ernest Tubb the next feels normal to me.'”
Have you been among the millions who enjoy The Marty Stuart Show? What do you think about its simple format and line-up of guests? If I bring some popcorn and sodas, mind if I come over to borrow your cable and watch an episode alongside you?
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This weekend, traffic accidents took a deadly toll on bluegrass music. As reported in The Roanoke Times, two separate wrecks took the lives of two musicians.
The first was Friday night. Houston Caldwell was widely regarded as one of the hottest, young banjo players around. At age eighteen, he had twice placed in the top four banjo players at the Old Fiddlers Convention and had become a fixture on the music scene, usually performing with his band Broken Wire.
He also was beginning to serve his nation. He'd recently completed basic training for the Army Reserve, and according to The Bluegrass Blog, he celebrated by buying a motorcycle. While out for a ride last weekend, he passed a vehicle and as he was returning to his lane, he was clipped by an oncoming car. He died at the scene.
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Alan Mastin was the second loss. A well known bassist, he had just finished playing with his band, Big Country Bluegrass, at a music festival near his home in Southwest Virginia. BCB banjo picker Lynwood Lunsford explained on The Bluegrass Blog that several band members rode to the show together. They grabbed a bite to eat afterward and then returned around 3 a.m. on Sunday to pick up their cars. Lunsford says that Alan put his base in his van, and then "made a comment about how good the breeze felt to him. He then got in his vehicle and headed towards home.”
The next morning Alan’s wife, Glenda, woke to find that her husband never made it. After contacting band mates, she began driving the roads he travelled. She spotted his van down an embankment in a brush pile. Alan’s body was slumped over inside. Paramedics speculated that he suffered a heart attack or stroke while driving.
On Facebook, fans are sharing condolences for both Houston and Alan's loved ones:
Ron Block wrote, "Houston, you are one of the most respectful, helpful, and talented young people I've ever met. Everyone is sorry you had to leave this world for eternity so soon; I know you're up there saying, 'Yes sir,' and 'Can I help you with that?'."
Anita Poplin writes for Alan, "I cannot do my work today. My heart is filled with yesterday."
If you're feeling for the friends and families of these artists, consider posting. I bet they'd be touched by your words of comfort.
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Further proof that mountain music knows no bounds--The Coal Porters. The band was formed by Kentucky native, Sid Griffin, as an electric rock act in Los Angeles. Then in the mid-90s, it traversed a continent and an ocean to land in the UK, where Griffin produced a comeback album for British folk legends Lindisfarne. While under the influence of their acoustic sounds, Griffen picked up a mandolin. Before he knew it, his West Coast rockers morphed into a Euro-based bluegrass band.
Described as “a cross between the Clash and Bill Monroe," The Coal Porters now produce twang laced tunes like "No More Chains," which starts with some mighty fiery preachin'. It's not as traditional as the bluegrass I usually like but this minister makes me want to throw my hands toward the sky, holler my amens, and declare a second British invasion.
What do you think?

Can't get enough of that mountain music? Check out Songs of Appalachia from the Knoxville News Sentinel. It's a video sampler of styles, ranging from shape note singing to songs in Cherokee.
My personal favorite is fiddling from the McCarrolls

On her new release, Dolly: Live in London, the Tennessee songbird proves that her voice is as big as her...uhm...hair. Maybe you've heard "Little Sparrow." Released in 2001, it is a haunting lament with roots in old time mountain music and maybe something older. (Musicologists, do I hear Celtic strains?)
In this live version, she pares it to the essentials -- her voice, a dusting of backup vocals, and what I think is a steel guitar. Shedding the weight of other instruments, the song soars. It is delicate but grand like the monarch wings that have become Dolly's icon.

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