Marty Stuart will release Compadres: An Anthology of Duets, June 5, launching his year-long celebration of country music. That week will include the release of the new album, a museum exhibit opening and a concert tour kicking off with "Marty Stuart's 6th Annual Late Night Jam."
Compadres will be out on Stuart's imprint Superlatone Records/Hip-O/UME, his first album with new Los Angeles-based label partner Universal Music Enterprises.

Each of the album's 14 tracks features Stuart with one of the many compadres he has met on a musical journey that began at age 13 on the road with Lester Flatt. Featured songs include the rural lament "Farmer's Blues" recorded with Merle Haggard while on the pair's 2003 Electric Barnyard tour, "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" with Steve Earle and a collaboration with gospel great Mavis Staples on "Move Along Train," showcasing the building melody penned by the late Pop Staples.

The new work also highlights never-before-heard duets with Loretta Lynn on Dallas Frazier's "Will You Visit Me On Sunday" and with bluegrass quintet Old Crow Medicine Show on a version of The Who's "I Can See For Miles." Other partners are B.B. King, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Del McCoury, wife Connie Smith, Travis Tritt, Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, Earl Scruggs and The Staples Singers.

"The people on Compadres come from a wildcat America, a less tamed America," Stuart said. "Pops Staples, Steve Earle, Earl Scruggs, B.B. King, these are the kind of people who made America a more interesting place - sonically, visually, spiritually. Those are the people I wanted to emulate as a kid, those are the people I ended up traveling with. I like to think I ended up one of them. They brought a complexity to their music; they brought their sweat, their soul, their lives."

Stuart's private memorabilia collection will exhibit as "Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart's American Musical Odyssey" and debut at the Tennessee State Museum featuring more than 40 years of country, bluegrass, rock and gospel music. Highlights include Hank Williams' handwritten lyrics to "Your Cheatin' Heart" and Cash's trademark "Man in Black" suit, as well as other treasures from the late Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley.

"I believe country music holds a prominent place within the arts. For many years, I have been passionate about collecting and archiving the treasures of country music and its people," said Stuart. "Now it is my joy to collaborate with the Tennessee State Museum in bringing these treasures back for the world to see and enjoy."

The collection covers the impact of fashion and music on the popular culture of America as revealed through performance costumes, accessories, handwritten lyrics, personal letters, instruments owned by country music legends and unpublished photographs. The exhibition embraces the story of Stuart's personal experiences with some of the most famous stars of country music.

Stuart will host his Sixth Annual Late Night Jam on June 5 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The marathon of music, featuring an all-star lineup and guests, has raised more than $70,000 to date for MusiCares, the philanthropic arm of The Recording Academy. Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Wynonna, Miranda Lambert, Shooter Jennings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Montgomery Gentry, Billy Gibbons, Jerry Lee Lewis and Earl Scruggs showed up in previous years.

Stuart is also producing forthcoming albums for American music master Porter Wagoner (also June 5) and award winning country vocalist Kathy Mattea, as well as putting the finishing touches on a new photography book titled Country Music: The Masters. Stuart is also out on touring with his Fabulous Superlatives at big music events such as the Stagecoach Festival and the Edmonton Folk Festival.