Texas native Kacey Musgraves recently announced her latest album, “Middle of Nowhere.” Here’s what you need to know.
On March 11, country music star Kacey Musgraves announced her forthcoming album, “Middle of Nowhere,” and debuted its first single, “Dry Spell,” much to the excitement of her dedicated fanbase. Musgraves’s sixth record—which is set for a May 1 release—sees the 37-year-old returning to her roots in more ways than one. She’ll be releasing “Middle of Nowhere” on Lost Highway Records, who she originally signed with when she was a burgeoning singer in Nashville. Beyond that, Musgraves is taking an intentional turn on this album toward her Texas upbringing and the myriad ways in which it influenced her as a person and as an artist.
A press release marking the announcement said, in part, “This collection of songs finds Musgraves leaning intentionally into open space and traditional Western elements. Pedal steel, accordion and Texas dancehall rhythms provide a nostalgic framework that she flips on its head in signature fashion. It is a sonic love letter to the musical borders of country, echoing influences from adjacent genres such as bluegrass, pop, and even bits of Norteño and zydeco.” It was this marriage of Texan and Mexican cultures that propelled the singer-songwriter to explore new depths on the 13-track record that will see her collaborating with some country music icons.
Musgraves was influenced by local culture
During a recent interview with NPR, Kacey Musgraves talked about how small towns in Texas influenced her writing on the new album. “The title track for the record and the general concept of it came from being in this very singular period exploring my roots again like where I’m from in Texas, spending time there and getting back into horseback riding and all these things. It was on a little trip to my hometown where I just was wandering around — there’s not much there — and I had noticed this sign that someone had put up there that I had never noticed before. It just says, ‘Golden, Texas: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere,’” she said. Musgraves added that she was moved by how the sign blended self-deprecation and confidence all in one go, and wanted to explore the concept of owning who you are and where you’re from in different ways on each track.
Focusing on local culture in the Lone Star State also meant incorporating the crucial influence of Mexican regional music. Musgraves said, “Hearing those sounds come out of radios whizzing by or just in my environment in either my small town or in Fort Worth or Dallas, it’s definitely a very real part of Texas culture. The truth is Texas would not be Texas without Mexico in many ways — seeing how far back it goes and seeing the direct influence that it has had as its worked its way into our Texas Western culture — I just have a lot of respect for it.”
As previously mentioned, “Middle of Nowhere” is expected to feature elements of Norteño, a type of Mexican folk music accompanied by instruments like the bajo sexto and button accordion.
She’s collaborating with Texas royalty
To further cement her Texas ties, Kacey Musgraves is collaborating with fellow native and all around icon Willie Nelson on the song “Uncertain, TX.” Speaking with NPR about the pairing, Musgraves said, “I had to have Willie on this song. He’s like the patriarch of truth in so many ways. It was important for him to be the narrator, because that song —while it is about a real town in East Texas, I had fun imagining that it’s this place where people can never really actually make up their minds.” She added, “The song is an acknowledgement of that very transient modern dating behavior after what I went through, and the perfect person to help throw a little bit of shade to that is everybody’s favorite grandpa, Willie Nelson.”
Something else Musgraves wanted to acknowledge on this album? Her previous beef with Miranda Lambert. The two had some issues when Lambert got to record one of Musgraves’s songs, “Mama’s Broken Heart,” for Lambert’s album “For The Record.” Musgraves said the two women were putting all that behind them though after she reached out to the 42-year-old and asked if she wanted to work on the song “Horses and Divorces” together. Musgraves recalled that, “I saw her on Instagram one day, riding one of her horses, and I was like, ‘Well, we ain’t friends, but I guess we have two things in common, horses and divorces, that’s for sure — I just randomly reached out to her and I was like, ‘I know we’ve had our s*** over the years, but listen, we’ve at least got two things in common. I’m not trying to be your friend. You got your life, I have mine. But I think this would be a pretty f****** funny song, and we should write it with Shane [McAnally].’”
Lambert was up for the bit, and the two women aired out their grievances as they worked together on the song. The rest, as they say, is country music history.
