It's no secret that Mississippi has turned out its share of big names in the world of music. Marty Stuart is one well-known name in country music, and he wants to bring light to Mississippi's musical heritage.

Marty Stuart says, "Country music in my opinion is a culture. The same way that jazz had to fight to become a culture, or ballet.... It's a part of the arts that I have fought for and I believe in... country music is the voice of America. It is a big part of the American picture."

Think back to summer of 2010 when Marty Stuart's Sparkle & Twang collection was on display in Meridian... That's a small fraction of his collection of country music artifacts. In fact, he may well have 20,000 pieces in his collection.... and he wants to put it all into a museum. And he wants that museum to be in his hometown: Philadelphia, Mississippi.

"I had a dream of going to Nashville and being a part of that family called country music, and that happened when I was about 13 years old. I've been around the world a few times now, and I got my point across. It's great to be able to come back and bring a lot of that back to Mississippi and reshare it with the people," said Stuart.

Local and state leaders had an initial meeting to lift this idea off the ground, establishing a board to help maintain the project. The next step is the completion of a feasibility study. David Vowell, the President of Community Development and Partnership, says this project could benefit everyone by bringing more people to the area.

By Stephen Bowers