Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music has announced a collaboration with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Per a news release, the Congress of Country Music in Stuart’s hometown of Philadelphia will be “a major step forward” in the preservation and promotion of Mississippi’s country music history. The announcement was made during a Tuesday ceremony in Nashville alongside Chapel Hart, Chris Stapleton, and other artists.
“This is a top-of-the-world moment for me,” Stuart, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said. “To have my collection live alongside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s is monumental, to be part of a ceremony and witness the Congress of Country Music and its people formally welcomed into the family of country music is a spiritual high. And, to share such a gathering with family and friends from both Nashville, as well as Mississippi, is just the best. Such a day only comes along once in a lifetime.”
Stuart’s collection in Philadelphia consists of more than 22,000 items and is considered the largest private assemblage of country music artifacts in the world. It includes significant pieces of history from Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, and Hank Williams, among others.
Additionally, Stuart’s collection includes items from his own career, including photographs taken by Stuart himself across a nearly six-decade run as one of the most renowned artists in the genre.
The partnership will allow items and artifacts from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to make their way to Mississippi for different periods of time, and vice-versa. The Hall will also serve as an organizational advisor to the Congress of Country Music with hopes of enhancing education and exhibition output.
“Marty Stuart’s roots in Mississippi go deep. He became steeped in the sounds of country music there as a child,” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young noted. “Appropriately, Philadelphia is where Marty is showcasing his deep love of our art form. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is happy to collaborate with the Congress of Country Music to further share the story of this music and its cultural significance.”
The release concluded by showing gratitude to Mississippi residents who have visited Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music, the state legislature and other elected officials who supported the infrastructure of the museum, and Stuart’s loved ones who have helped him make the dream to open a country music museum in his hometown a reality.
