Porter Wagoner: Not Ready to Retire the Rhinestones

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The Thin Man From West Plains looks a little thinner these days. He has returned to the Opry stage, though his 50th anniversary, in February, went almost unnoticed. The Opry spends its winter months at the Ryman Auditorium – the show's regular home from 1943 until 1974 – but despite the history and mythology that surrounds it, Wagoner prefers the more spacious Grand Ole Opry House, which is closer to his house and where he has his own dressing room filled with photographs, comfortable furniture and a small television. So the singer waited until the show returned to the Opry House in March to resume regular appearances. The Opry plans to officially commemorate Wagoner's milestone around the time of Wagonmaster's release.

Wagoner and Stuart recorded Wagonmaster in a Nashville studio in December, and Stuart is convinced that an entirely new generation of listeners is ready Wagoner, that the same hipsters who embraced Johnny Cash late in life will also be enthralled by Wagoner's gaudy stagewear, his serious-minded sentimentality, his penchant for macabre stories and eccentric characters.

"It's real country music, it's authentic country music," Stuart says. "It's way beyond product. It's the heart and soul of a man. It's the sum of a life's experience. It's the remnant of that old cloth that so little is left of, from the Hank Williams era. It's just a tiny remnant, but, man, is it a good one."