It’s hard to say exactly what country music is anymore, but if pressed to say what I want it to be, it would be Marty Stuart. On his 2006 live album, Live at the Ryman, he is introduced to the audience in the former home of the Grand Ol’ Opry as “country music’s Renaissance man,” a sobriquet that fits. He learned mandolin at age 12 and within two years joined the legendary bluegrass outfit Flatt & Scruggs, staying with that group for most of the ‘70s. He spent a large part of the 1980s in Johnny Cash’s band and for a while, family (he was married to Johnny’s daughter Cindy for a spell) and tried his hand at some bluegrass solo albums that, despite his pedigree and prowess, never took hold with the public.

He shifted gears in 1989 with Hillbilly Rock, a guitar-centered, hip-swinging effort that wedged in perfectly with the rejuvenation of country then spearheaded by Dwight Yoakum and Lyle Lovett. Stuart had hits and even his own Marty Party show on the Nashville Network, but as the winds changed for country music in this century, Stuart left the limelight to chase his own muses to startling effect, be it his spell-binding twang-gospel on 2005’s Soul’s Chapel or the bluegrass fireworks on the aforementioned live album.

Stuart and his band the Fabulous Superlatives will perform in the Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art Friday, August 6 to premiere the exhibit “The Art of Country Music: The Marty Stuart Collection,” opening to the public on White Linen Night the following evening. The collection includes everything from Hank Williams’ boots to Minnie Pearl’s hat to some of Stuart’s own custom Nudie suits, as well a wealth of his photographs of Nashville luminaries throughout the years. Tickets for Stuart’s concert range from $20-$75 (VIP, includes pre-concert meet-and-greet and preferred seating).