O.C. POP MUSIC REVIEW : True Grit and Honey From Rebel With a Coif

There’s a lamentable trend of late among country pups, as these young singers seemingly expend more energy self-righteously declaring what hard-core country rebels they are than they ever do in being such a thing. Marty Stuart certainly isn’t one for modesty in that regard: At the Crazy Horse Steak House on Monday night, he sang a tune about Hillbilly Heaven in which he had the spirits of Hank Williams and other departed greats anointing him to carry on their renegade ways.

Given that, along with his mightily coiffed Alarm-grade hair and his penchant for striking superstar guitar poses, one might be inclined to write the guy off. But while he is still several sizes away from filling ol’ Hank’s shoes, the singer/guitarist is pretty special and indeed does give some new propulsion to country tradition.

Still in his early 30s, Stuart has been seriously into the music since he began touring with Lester Flatt at age 13; he later worked for years with Johnny Cash. That thorough grounding shows in his work. Stuart’s 16-song set Monday often leaned more toward infectious rock-edged country-pop than to hard-core country, but he and his excellent trio infused it all with a honky-tonk spirit and a hearty twang.

Stuart did hone close to tradition during a fiery acoustic guitar bluegrass workout with second guitarist Brad Davis, which led into a mountain spring-pure three-part harmony version of the standard “Long Black Veil,” with Davis and bassist Larry Marrs adding the other vocal lines. Stuart also offered a version of Cash’s “Blue Train,” which ran closer to Cash’s sonorous original than to Stuart’s recorded rendition, which has a synth-based atmosphere borrowed from Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.”

Stuart added a pair of lyrical guitar solos to “Blue Train,” doing full justice to his custom Telecaster guitar, which originally belonged to the late flat-picking great Clarence White. The instrument employs a Parsons B-bender, which allowed Stuart to work subtle steel guitar effects into his lines. He and Davis also sent twin Tele solos burning through a bluesy version of Charlie Rich’s “Who Will the Next Fool Be.”

Stuart’s own songs don’t quite attain the insight or depth of feeling of country’s greats; some, such as “Western Girls” and “Little Things,” are mere fluff, in fact. But even those were delivered Monday with passionate vocals and musicianship, and when the material did match up more to Stuart’s talents, the results were pretty wonderful.

His voice, a fine mixture of grit and honey, wailed through his hard-driving hit “Tempted,” which came complete with a “Wild Weekend” guitar riff and a Bobby Fuller Four force. The sweeter side of Stuart’s voice came to the fore on the Paul Kennerley/Hank DeVito ballad “Till I Found You.”

Other highlights of the set included a reworking of the 1965 country-rocker “Burn Me Down,” given a low-note twang worthy of the old Buckaroos; Neil Young’s “Get Back to the Country,” and a version of “The Whiskey Ain’t Working Anymore,” a song Travis Tritt shares with Stuart on record.

Stuart announced that he and Tritt will be doing a concert swing together later this year, to be called the No Hats Tour. “We love cowboy hats,” Stuart said. “We just can’t find ones to fit our hair.” His teased tresses also drew some ribbing from his fans, one of whom presented him with a bouquet: Instead of roses at the end of the long stems, she had affixed small cans of Aqua-Net.