Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives Play Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre Tonight

Five-time Grammy-winning Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives bring their signature blend of blues, gospel, and rock 'n' roll to Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University tonight, September 17 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $25 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at arts.pepperdine.edu. For more information, go to www.martystuart.net. Up-and-coming country singer/songwriter Aubrie Sellers will open the concert. More about Aubrie at aubriesellers.com.

For over forty years, the five-time Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, photographer and historian Marty Stuart has been building a rich legacy. On his latest double-disc album, Saturday Night & Sunday Morning, released in September 2014 with his band The Fabulous Superlatives, Stuart captures all the authentic neon and stained-glass hues of country music - from love and sex to heartache and hardship to family and God - and his stage performance will feature this intricate weaving of styles, musicianship, and passion.

"I've always thought that country music had a really unique relationship with gospel music," Stuart says. "It is interesting to me that country stars can sing drinking and cheating songs authentically, then at some point during the evening or the broadcast, take their hats off and say, 'Friends, here's our gospel song.' If it's the right messenger it seamlessly flows. That's a time-honored tradition, from Jimmie Rodgers to Hank Williams to Johnny Cash. Rogue prophets and rogue preachers. That is my world."

Born in the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, Marty Stuart caught the music bug early, displaying prodigious talent on every stringed instrument he picked up. At an age when most kids are running bases in little league, 13-year old Stuart was logging cross-country interstate miles as a mandolinist with the legendary Lester Flatt's road band. In his twenties, Stuart toured with Johnny Cash, and also played with other legends such as Bill Monroe, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. By the late 1980s, Stuart was a solo artist, but had an idea for a record called The Pilgrim. Stuart knew he didn't want to travel this new path alone, so he recruited fellow musical missionaries Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Paul Martin.

"From the Superlatives' first rehearsal, I knew this was the band of a lifetime," Stuart says. "I knew this was my Buckaroos, my Strangers, my Texas Troubadours - my legacy band. Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson, and Paul Martin are not only musical geniuses, but statesmen. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is one of those milestone projects in the band's legacy that truly brings the spunk and fire of the bandstand to the studio."

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives open the 2015-2016 Season at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts, which will feature many more ground-breaking and award-winning artists throughout the year.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from 664 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

IF YOU GO:

WHEN: Tonight, September 17, 2015 at 8 p.m.

WHERE: Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA

TICKETS: (310) 506-4522 or arts.pepperdine.edu

PRICES:$25-$55 for adults; $10 for Pepperdine students