He played mandolin in Lester Flatt's band for six years, starting at age 13. By 22, he was in Johnny Cash's band. He had a big run of country hits in the '90s and served as president of the Country Music Foundation.

It's hard to think of anyone who could be more connected in the country music business than Marty Stuart. It's even harder to fathom why he doesn't have a big-time record contract.

"I think the spirit of independence is the way to go," Stuart said in a phone interview from his office near Nashville, the headquarters of Marty's own Superlatone label. "You look at what bands like Phish and some of the hip-hop artists have done, and you realize you don't have to sell yourself out and you can make good music."

That makes sense, coming from a man whose best CD, 1999's self-produced The Pilgrim, was practically dumped by his record company.

Neither should his talk of stadium jam bands and rappers surprise anyone familiar with Stuart's career, which is now in its fifth decade. He's never one to be pigeonholed, although straight country, bluegrass, gospel honkytonk and rockabilly artist could be applied at various times.

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives will headline KIX Country's Venice Airport Jam this Sunday at the Venice Municipal Airport. Stuart's appearance there winds up a year-long tour that's taken him from the Kennedy Center to the Lincoln Center with a mix of fairs, festivals of honky-tonks in the middle.

If that doesn't show Stuart he knows how to cross boundaries, how about this: His last three CDs have been a live bluegrass jam recorded at the Ryman, a "Mississippi gospel" album with his band and Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota.

His next CD due out in January is a duets disc called Compadres he recorded over the decades with Merle Haggard, B.B. King, the Staple Singers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Flatt & Scruggs and the late Johnny Cash, who had good things to say about Marty in his last biography, "Cash."

Stuart sighs over the phone at the mention of a man who was so close. "My first two records were Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash," Stuart explains. "They ended up being the two bands I was in.

"He went on to be a lot of things to me," he said of Cash. "He was my first country hero. He was my boss and then my ex-boss. My father-in-law, my ex-father-in-law. He wound up being my next-door neighbor. I miss him very much."

Never one to stand around, Stuart has big plans for the next few months. He's already got a gospel album ready to go. He's produced Porter Wagoner's upcoming CD Wagon Master. He's got a photo exhibit planned, and he's participating in an event called "Sparkle and Twang" a celebration of internationally renowned couturier, Manuel, at the Tennessee State Museum.

But before all that, Marty has to get his Fabulous Superaltives down to Venice.

"It's a once in a lifetime band," he says of Kenny Vaughan on electric guitar, Harry Stinson on drums and Brian Glenn singing backup and playing bass.

"We've had crazy good careers, and

when we put it all together it's something very special," Stuart said of his Fabulous Superlatives. "We're gonna rip it up on every level."

KIX Country's Venice Airport Jam

Featuring Marty Stuart, Stoll Vaughan, Buck Shot, One Night Rodeo, Stonewall

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

Venice Airport, 160 E. Airport Ave.

Tickets, $35; Parking, $10. Younger than 12, free

Bring: Lawn chairs, blankets, sunscreen

Leave home: coolers, outside food

Info: 639-1188