Who is Kacey Musgraves?

By carolinianweb on February 20, 2019 • ( 0 )

Kaitlyn Bockel
Staff Writer

Kacey Musgraves is a name you’ve probably heard recently, as the country singer and songwriter won the Album of the Year for her work, “Golden Hour,” last Sunday night at the Grammys. It was a win that surprised everyone, as a country album surpassed popular artists such as Drake, Post Malone, Cardi B and more for the title. The country star herself had a look of sheer disbelief, as she had already taken home three other awards specific to her genre. Musgraves also took home trophies for the best country solo performance of her song, “Butterflies,” best country song, “Space Cowboy,” and overall best country album.

A native to Texas, young Kacey started singing and songwriting at the young age of eight at an elementary school graduation. Soon after, she began guitar lessons, and she has spoken about how grateful she is for them. Her mother is an artist, and her younger sister is a photographer, so the arts clearly run in the family. Kacey thanked her sister for shooting and designing her album covers when she received her Grammys.

The country star is not new to the show business and officially began her career twelve years ago when she placed seventh on, “Nashville Star,” a singing competition. Since, she has released acoustic covers of popular songs, such as Miley Cyrus’ “See You Again,” and co-wrote for notable country artists such as Miranda Lambert. She has opened for huge artists on international tours, such as Lady Antebellum in 2012, Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour from 2014-2015 and later Harry Styles in 2018. She’s released three of her own albums prior to this; “Same Trailer Different Park” in 2013, “Pageant Material” in 2015 and a Christmas album in 2016.

What is so special about Kacey, and how did she take home so many awards when many still do not recognize her? While being a country artist, she has moved away from the upbeat and expected tunes of country and gone back to the traditional routes, while also adding unprecedented changes. While she treasures the traditional sounds of the banjo, she adds usage of modern voice synthesizers that fuse the old and the new. At the awards, she joined Dolly Parton, Little Big Town and others for a tribute performance for Parton and her long experience in the industry. Musgraves also performed her song, “Rainbow,” promoting the music video that was released that same night.

Her Grammy-winning album, “Golden Hour,” sounds nothing like most country songs we are familiar with. When you think of country, you probably think of longtime hits like Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” or Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried.” This album is nothing that would be played at a highschool football game. It is the emotion of driving through the rural part of town, windows down, the warm summer breeze blowing through your hair. The songs focus on wholesome love, heartbreak, moving on and the importance of family. Given all that the country star has worked toward, don’t think she is going away any time soon. Go check out Golden Hour. The whole album is a mere forty-six minutes, but at the very least, give “Butterflies” a chance!