Today, Marty Stuart, the five-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Country Music Hall of Famer, Congress of Country Music Founder and AMA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, joined by his longtime band, The Fabulous Superlatives, announces the release of Space Junk, their first-ever full-length double LP of 20 original instrumentals. The album will receive a worldwide release on October 31st via Snakefarm Records. “Instrumentals have always been a part of the Fabulous Superlatives repertoire, but this is the first completely instrumental album we’ve done, largely inspired by two of my favorite bands from sixties, The Ventures and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass,” Stuart says. “They did some dangerously cool instrumental records. We’ve done bluegrass, gospel, and country records. Our hearts just led us to this one. Space Junk turned us back into kids with our first guitars. We thought the world needed a fresh instrumental album by a pretty good band, so we composed twenty instrumentals and took them to the microphones.” The album will be available as a CD, on vinyl, and digitally, and it was previously only available as a Record Store Day vinyl exclusive.
Watch the new visualizer for the album’s eponymous track, “Space Junk” here.
Pre-save Space Junk digitally here and pre-order it here.
Stuart and his band also confirm the “Space Junk Blast Off” album release show on November 1st at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater. Tickets for this date will go on sale on Friday July 25th at 10am local time. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives are also on tour now – current tour dates and tickets are available here.
In a career spanning over 50 years, dozens of albums, and too many shows to count, Marty Stuart is still restless and pushing himself to new heights. Space Junkshowcases the inimitable interplay and bond between Marty and his longtime band The Fabulous Superlatives, Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson, and Chris Scruggs. The album’s origins can be traced to Marty’s years composing music for film and television, including the score for All The Pretty Horses, which garnered a Golden Globe® Award nomination for “Best Original Score” and earned him GRAMMY® Awards in the category of “Best Country Instrumental Performance” for “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “Hummingbyrd.” “Scoring required a cinematic way of thinking.” reveals Marty. “I had to make music for what the scene called for, which turned me into more of a visual player in an understated way. That kind of thinking followed me into the studio during the making of Space Junk. I knew the music had to be pretty, but it also had to say something without losing its drive.”
He and The Superlatives ventured to Hollywood to cut the bulk of what would become Space Junk at the legendary Capitol Recording Studios. “The creative atmosphere of California always gives me the feeling that the sky is the limit,” Stuart muses. “Space Junk is California music. If you want a specific sound, you go to certain places in the world. For the California sound, it’s Capitol. You’ve got the blue skies, the legacy, the romance, and a lot of friendly ghosts. The atmosphere makes you do a little better.”
“California Part 1 (Bobbie Gentry Please Call)” channels this spirit. Captured live at Capitol, Marty played Clarence White’s famous Fender Telecaster guitar. “It winks at me, because it’s purely California,” Marty says of instrument. “I close my eyes and see a Western sunset. Clarence played really softly and there was a magic bell tone to what he did. I finally found that tone on the guitar with this song.”
The songs are influenced by the California sun, palm trees, and the occasional flying saucer flyover. A dramatic drumroll gives way to ethereal guitar transmissions on “The Ballad of the Lonely Surfer.” “Waiting on Sundown” alternates between tender low-string twang and echoes of sustained notes awash in waves of reverb. “The song is clearly under the spell of my romance with the Golden State,” Marty confesses. “It’s a reflection of the music, rhinestone fashion of Lankershim Boulevard, cars, the TV and movie heroes. In reality, it’s a love affair with the entirety of the landscape of California custom culture.”
The band also recorded a handful of tracks in Nashville. Among those, “Graveyard” hinges on a quintessential surf guitar riff coupled with a dynamic beat and fast tremolo. “We recorded at the House of Blues studio,” Marty remembers. “Right behind it, there’s a big graveyard where people like George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Marty Robbins and Porter Wagoner are buried. The title worked.” Then, there’s “Space Junk” which includes steel drums, galactic chimes, topped off by a sample of the Sputnik signal. Kenny elaborates, “Sonically, it’s like you’re sitting in the window seat of a spacecraft and you’re seeing all of this stuff just drift on by.” Ultimately, Space Junk is another natural step for Marty and The Fabulous Superlatives, a worthy addition to their essential catalog.
“I hope Space Junk takes the listeners for a ride,” Stuart leaves off. “It makes me forget my problems and remember why I play guitar and get to dress up in cowboy clothes. It reminds me I’m okay, and I want it to do the same for you. Mainly, I want to inspire some kid to go to the store, buy an instrument, and make a difference. This concept was passed down to us from the old heroes. If we can serve the same role, mission accomplished.”
Space Junk Track Listing
- Graveyard
- All The Pretty Horses
- Catalina
- Over The Moon
- Slipnote Serenade
- Space Junk
- El Zorro
- Coastline
- The Ballad of the Lonely Surfer
- Bat Patrol
- Till We Meet Again
- Waiting on Sundown
- La Tingo Tango
- Rhapsidio Sangre de Cristo in E Major
- Showcake
- Jody the Fly (Romance in Laguna)
- Malibu Dawn
- The Surfin’ Cowboy
- California Pt. 1 (Bobbie Gentry, Please Call Home)
- Waltz of the Waves
Tour Dates:
WEDNESDAY 23 JULY Red Bluff, CA, US State Theatre for the Arts
THURSDAY 24 JULY Monterey, CA, US Golden State Theatre
FRIDAY 25 JULY Rocklin, CA, US Quarry Park Amphitheater
SATURDAY 26 JULY8:00 PM Napa, CA, US Uptown Theatre Napa
SUNDAY 27 JULY8:00 PM Solana Beach, CA, US Belly Up Tavern
WEDNESDAY 6 AUGUST Santa Fe, NM, US Lensic Performing Arts Center
THURSDAY 7 AUGUST Tucson, AZ, US Fox Tucson Theatre
FRIDAY 8 AUGUST Glendale, AZ, US Desert Diamond Arena*
SATURDAY 9 AUGUST Glendale, AZ, US Desert Diamond Arena*
TUESDAY 12 AUGUST Nashville, TN, US Grand Ole Opry House
WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST Nashville, TN, US Grand Ole Opry House
WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST St. Paul, MN, US Minnesota State Fair
THURSDAY 28 AUGUST Clear Lake, IA, US Surf Ballroom
FRIDAY 29 AUGUST McPherson, KS, US Mcpherson Opera House
FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER Mountain Song Festival 2025 Brevard, NC, US
SATURDAY 6 SEPTEMBER Frankfort, KY, US Grand Theatre
WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER Spring, TX, US The Centrum
THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER Dallas, TX, US Longhorn Ballroom
FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER Austin, TX, US Paramount Theatre
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER Brenham, TX, US The Barnhill Center
THURSDAY 18 SEPTEMBER Manhattan, KS, US McCain Auditorium, Kansas State University
FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER Kansas City, MO, US Ameristar Casino & Hotel
SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER Deadwood Jam 2025 Outlaw Square, Deadwood, SD, US
FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER London, UK Royal Albert Hall
FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER San Antonio, TX, US Stable Hall
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER Texas Rice Festival 2025 Texas Rice Festival, Winnie, TX, US
SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER Steelville, MO, US Wildwood Springs Lodge
SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER Nashville, IN, US Brown County Music Center
THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER Derry, NH, US Tupelo Music Hall
FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER Tarrytown, NY, US Tarrytown Music Hall
THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER Fish Creek, WI, US Door Community Auditorium
FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER Brookfield, WI, US Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER Shipshewana, IN, US Blue Gate Performing Arts Center
SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER Carterville, IL, US Walker’s Bluff Casino
THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER Florence, SC, US Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center
FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER Walhalla, SC, US Walhalla Performing Arts Center
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER Decatur, AL, US Princess Theatre
FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER Danville, KY, US Norton Center For The Arts
SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER Burlington, NC, US Alliance Center
FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER Nashville, TN, US Grand Ole Opry House
FRIDAY 2 – MONDAY 5 JANUARY 2026 Del McCoury’s Pickin’ Party 2026 Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa, Litchfield Park, AZ, US
*in concert with Chris Stapleton
