Marty Stuart (publicity photo) [Click to enlarge]

Roots are what have kept country music star Marty Stuart in the South, and it's the roots of country music that keep him going.

"Bluegrass is one of the absolute jewels of the roots of American music," Stuart told the Times-Gazette. "It's a reminder of how strong it is down at the root level. You've got pop culture at one end of the strand -- then there are the roots."

Stuart is the featured act at the Wartrace MusicFest May 30-31, sharing the stage with the bluegrass band Cherryholmes, the IBMA Entertainer of the Year.

Stuart will perform Saturday night, May 31, and in a rare move, he'll be doing it without his band.

"They requested a solo performance, just me and my guitar and me and my mandolin," he said. "That was unique -- that appealed to me."

Although Stuart started on guitar, he switched to the mandolin when he was 12, and his talent brought the Philadelphia, Miss., prodigy to the attention of The Sullivan Family Singers.

From there, Stuart went on to play with legends such as Lester Flatt, Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris, George Jones and Bob Dylan. Considering he was raised about 30 miles from Meridian, home of country legend Jimmie Rodgers, it's easy to see where his influences began.

His music has been labeled honky tonk, bluegrass, hillbilly rock, country, old-time country and gospel, but Stuart only has one definition for his style.

"Country music is what I call it," he said. "Country music is a pretty big umbrella, it encompasses all those nuances."

Even though he doesn't play as much bluegrass on stage with the band as he used to, (their upcoming tour in France will be strictly country) he is still a big fan of the style and is eager to see its promotion.

"Bluegrass has always struggled as a genre to be heard and seen," Stuart said. "It's akin to jazz, the level of complexity.

"I'm one of the best cheerleaders bluegrass has," he added. "I don't play it legitimately anymore -- that's Ricky (Skaggs) and Allison (Krauss), but I'm always there to cheer it on."

Stuart's excited about playing bluegrass in Wartrace, though. The more exposure the genre gets, he said, the more it can grow.

"I've seen three resurgences in bluegrass since I got to town," said Stuart.

Those resurgences were tied into national media, in one form or another. One such "kick," he said, was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's release of "Will the Circle be Unbroken." Other rises of popularity followed the use of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in the movie "Bonnie and Clyde," as well as "Dueling Banjos" from "Deliverance." Even the skillful picking of his mentor, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs on the Beverly Hillbillies had an impact on bluegrass popularity.

"The most recent has been 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'" he said.

The award-winning band Cherryholmes is testimony to that rise in popularity. Until the spring of 1999, only about half of the family that comprises the band had even picked up an instrument. Within five years, the band was named 2005 IBMA's Entertainer of the Year and received a Grammy nomination in 2006 for their fist commercial release, "Cherryholmes."

Their high-energy performances include twin fiddles, Irish step dancing, classic country yodeling, and old-time claw hammer banjo -- in addition to their bluegrass. They will perform Friday night.

Other Friday performers include Steve Rector and John Garon, 2nd Nature, and The Creek. Saturday performances prior to Stuart's include Buck and Nelson, Rector and Garon, Chris Jones and the Nightdrivers, The Creek, and Jack Lawrence and John Garon.

Open mic sessions will also take place Friday and Saturday nights, and there will be arts and crafts booths. The talented winner of a guitar picking contest to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Walking Horse Hotel will receive a G-55 Gallagher guitar.

Tickets for the Wartrace MusicFest are $10 Friday and $15 Saturday. Events begin at 2 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.

There will be rough camping, and a Kids Zone available, as well as a cornbread and white bean dinner Friday night. Visitors are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. For more information, call (931) 205-4955.