MEMPHIS’ MARK EDGAR STUART RELEASES 3RD ALBUM

“This could have all been a fluke,” says Mark Edgar Stuart of his lateblooming career as one of Memphis’ most respected singer-songwriters. “But, somehow, my songs stuck, and I’m still doing it now.”

Stuart’s critically acclaimed 2013 debut, “Blues for Lou” — an emotional concept LP about his late father — might’ve been a fluke, the luck of a first-timer, but his second effort, 2015’s “Trinity My Dear” (Madjack), found Stuart cementing his reputation and further refining his skills as a storyteller and lyricist. This week, the 44-year-old Stuart returns with his third album, “Mad at Love,” which will be released by the local Madjack label on Friday.

Stuart’s evolution into one of the city’s top writers has been an unexpected development. A longtime Memphis musician and veteran of local bands — including the Pawtuckets, Secret Service and the 145s — Stuart never even tried his hand at writing until his mid-30s.

“Playing bass and being in bands around here is what I’d done,” Stuart says. “Songwriting and being the front guy, that was something I was real late to come to.”

Part of it, he says, was because he didn’t feel compelled to write, didn’t have the emotional impetus.

Then, in 2011, everything changed. First, Stuart was diagnosed with lymphoma. Then, his father died. It was while recuperating from chemotherapy treatments that Stuart began writing songs.

“I had those big life changes. The whole cancer thing happened. I lost my pop,” he says. “I got inspired to start writing and singing just to see, for myself, if I could do it. Then a friend of mine, (fellow singer-songwriter) Jimmy Davis, heard what I’d done and said I should put those songs out.”

Stuart released “Blues for Lou” and followed with “Trinity My Dear” a couple of years later, with both records garnering considerable praise from the press. But music remained a part-time passion. For most of his adult life, Stuart had been in the business of selling booze, first as an 18-year fixture at Buster’s Liquors and later working for Old Dominick Distillery. In 2017, Stuart finally decided to leave the day job behind and pursue music full time.

“I’d been in a rut for a few years,” he says. “I thought, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ Then I finally figured out that I could get away with doing what I love. It took me awhile to get to that point.

“Now I’m pretty much doing music, or something music-related, full time,” he says. “In addition to my solo stuff, I conduct tours at Sun Studios twice a week. I work for (local Americana television network) DittyTV some, and I do session work. I’m just trying to keep everything I do musical. My soul feels a whole lot better for it. Money’s a little tighter, but I’m a hell of a lot happier.”

That freedom also has allowed Stuart to focus on his craft, resulting in the sharpened songs and wider themes explored on “Mad at Love.” The 10-track effort finds Stuart shifting his perspective, looking outward for subjects and stories rather than solely looking inward.

“The songs were not all super personal this time. A lot of them are about what my friends, what people I knew, were going through in their lives. I hate using the term midlife crisis, but a lot of my friends in their 40s seemed to be experiencing that. Most of these songs are other people’s stories, told through their eyes,” says Stuart of tunes like “Missing You Everyday,” “Barren Love,” “Until We Came Unglued” and the title track.

“Seems like there was a lot of heartache going on around me when writing and recording this batch of songs. I used that as inspiration,” he says with a laugh. “I guess that’s one of the hazards of being friends with a sensitive songwriter.”

Stuart began work on “Mad at Love” last year at Bo-Keys leader Scott Bomar’s Electraphonic studio. “We cut about 15 songs and originally I wanted to make an upbeat record. No more of this sad stuff. ‘Cause my live shows are really upbeat,” Stuart says. “I went in to lay those upbeat songs down, but somehow it didn’t work. All the sad stuff was working and that’s what felt right. The other songs, I wasn’t sure what to do with — I was stuck.”

Enter Fat Possum label executive, Big Legal Mess head and producer Bruce Watson.

“Bruce has been a good friend for years, and I trust his musical instincts,” Stuart says. “I gave what I had to Bruce, and he was painfully honest. He said some of the songs sucked — the upbeat, happy stuff wasn’t cutting it.

“He volunteered to come on board as co-producer. He had me send him every song I had ever written. It was a CD of about 40-plus songs. He picked a handful, and we recorded them. The (finished) record is half Bomar and half Bruce. Half band, half acoustic.”

Among the special guests — “a lotta really good friends,” says Stuart — who contribute to the album are organist Al Gamble, guitar ace Will Sexton and vocalists Amy LaVere and Liz Brasher.

Many of Stuart’s pals were on hand last week at Railgarten as he celebrated with a record release show. Mostly, though, Stuart plays solo, and has been making the rounds of singer-songwriter and folk festivals with just himself, a guitar and his songs. “I like the whole folkie vibe, the acoustic singer-songwriter thing — it’s fun touring like that.”

After an appearance at Madjack’s 20th anniversary show later this month, Stuart plans to head to New York to do press and play a showcase there. He’s hoping now that music is his main career pursuit, he can make up for lost time.

“I’m all about getting something going,” he says, laughing, “before I’m too freakin’ old.”