Kacey Musgraves has a present for me. At a noisy Midtown hotel restaurant, she shoves a black zip-up pleather case into my hands. Her eyes are trained directly on mine, ready to gauge my response. I open the bag: it’s a mobile karaoke microphone, still inside its package, a gold-gilded replica of the model the Nashville-based singer has been jamming out with on her Instagram (and Facebook, and Twitter) for the last month. It comes with tiny speakers and Bluetooth capability, ready to be linked to any number of cheap karaoke apps, each one pre-loaded with eager, dinky facsimiles of Musgraves's own hits ("Follow Your Arrow" and "Merry Go Round" among them). Depending on which version you order from the vast, dark net of karaoke mics that look just like this one, it costs anywhere from $20 to the glitzier, high-end models at $60 a pop. She explains the gift: “I was just on Amazon one night, a little buzzed.”
This is precisely the Kacey Musgraves her fans revere: the straight-shooting no-nonsense everywoman (with otherworldly songwriting ability) we all think we're just like. Except that most of us haven't won two Grammy Awards for our debut album (2013's warm and witty Same Trailer Different Park). And most of us haven't followed up with a Grammy-nominated sophomore album, either (2015's Pageant Material). Now Musgraves is on the cusp of releasing Golden Hour, her most sonically adventurous album that blends her traditional country roots ("Space Cowboy") with... vocoders (the Tame Impala-esque "Oh What a World"). And disco balls ("High Horse," the best song ABBA never released). And stripped-back piano-only production (arguably the best song she's ever recorded, "Rainbow," an emotional wallop that'll knock you sideways if you're not prepared).
So how'd the 29-year-old industry darling get here? In a lengthy conversation in late January, Musgraves got deep about her newfound happiness (and the clouds that'd previously hung over her), evolving her sound, her fear of fame, and much more.
GQ: How've you been since the last time I saw you three years ago?
Kacey Musgraves: It's safe to say that I'm in an amazing place. Probably a way better place than the last time I saw you. A personal metamorphosis of sorts has happened. And obviously it's really coming out in the new music. But just even personally, I'm just way happier. I'm seeing the world through a nicer lens.
You seem lighter.
I am lighter. I just had a lot on my mind. There were probably walls up for different reasons. I just wasn't in the right relationship. I wasn't happy. That can just really affect you. You know, like learning to tour together [Musgraves used to date her former bandleader, Misa Arriaga.]. All that at the same time.
When we talked for your second album, Pageant Material, it felt like you'd been rushed into its creation after Same Trailer Different Park exploded for you.Yeah, it got really shoved into this ridiculous timeframe. There was one point talk of trying to do the whole record in three days. I was like, "What?!" You can't follow up your first record with that! But naturally the touring cycle in this industry doesn't allow for you to pause and get creative again. So I was very adamant: "I have to stop."
I was kind of at a crossroads, a confusing place, as in: I did Same Trailer, [then] Pageant Material took a slightly different turn and really leaned heavily on my traditional influences. I did the Christmas thing. Then I was like, "Well, now what? It would be easy to go back to the same thing you've been doing."
But I feel like that can be dangerous for creativity. I really wanted to change it up. I needed a change. That's when I started moseying around my thoughts, trying to see what started becoming tangible.
Was part of it bringing in new people during that creative time that you blocked out for yourself?
As I was living life and going about things, I just kept writing down a bunch of different ideas and little song titles and nuggets of things. But the two guys who produced the record with me, Ian [Fitchuk] and Daniel [Tashian], they have always been people that I know through mutual friends. But I had never created a project with them, or even written with them together. It was in this period of creative free time that they were like, "Hey, we should get together and just see what we can come up with." The first one we wrote was "Oh, What a World."
I love the vocoder you use on that song. It feels super new for you, sonically.
It's so fun! It's this trippy perspective, this sound where future meets tradition. I was like, "What if the album was like this? Is there a world where all these things can live harmoniously?" Pedal steel [guitar], banjo, acoustic guitar, and my rootsy influences mixed with galactic Vocoder and stuff. That was fun to really explore.
I didn't have any preconceived idea of anything. I just knew that I wanted to follow whatever it was that was inspiring me. I don't think I'll ever make the same album twice. It gets boring for me. We've been playing the same material out for years now. And though I love those songs—they're a huge part of me—it's just natural to ebb and flow. I feel like I've always been somebody who can always straddle genre lines, and weave in and out of things.
I feel like when people hear this, they'll recognize the familiar parts of it that are me but also see this other vision that I had and hopefully they're along for the ride. I think it'll bring in new audience. But I also hope that it gives the people who appreciate what I do in country music something to hold onto.
As an artist though, it's not something you really think about when you're in the studio, right? What people are going to give a shit about?
Yeah. It's definitely dangerous to start thinking about that stuff just because maybe you had more ears on it, you know? I mean, at the end of the day, if I don't like something or something doesn't drive me, then I can't do it. So I start with whatever makes me feel good. If anybody else likes it, it's icing on the cake.
So there were no expectations this time around from your label?
Not really, no. It's hard to put confinements on those kind of things. Sometimes it just doesn't come. But luckily early on I found a stride with all these elements. One thought I had was, What would it sound like if Imogen Heap made a country album? Would it work? Would it make sense? I just really had fun—some of the most fun I've ever had. I feel like this album is my most personal.
Lyrically, this album feels like its own world as opposed to just—
Singular songs?
Yeah. It feels like you've left the town your first two albums focused on.
Exactly. I tried to approach the writing in a different way this time. I was still being as discerning about and picky about lyrics. I'm kind of a lyrics snob, meaning, to myself. I like to beat myself up. I love turn of phrase, I love wit, I love sarcasm. I love all those clever little songs that get wrapped up in a bow, but I feel like I've done that, many times. As much as I love that, I just don't want that to define me. I just think there are other colors that I could paint with that are really fun.
You don't want to pigeonhole yourself.
There's a strength I've always admired in songwriters who leave a little bit more up to the listener. It's harder than you think. I played with that a little bit more this time around instead of making everything so linear and factual.
Since the last time I saw you, you got married. How did we get there?
I went through a confusing period. I was just that girl that is very cliché, eating ice cream alone on the couch, watching TV, and not really knowing what to do, not feeling creative, and not really wanting to date or meet anybody. I didn't really know what was up. But I ended up meeting Ruston, my husband, out one night. He's got the biggest heart. I mean, he's the nice one in this equation. He is so giving and forgiving and patient as fuck with me, and so creative. And so dreamy. And writes me songs all the time. And he just has the best family. He's hilarious. Makes me laugh my ass off 24/7. I'd just never really been taken care of like this. As in, "Hey, I know you have a big day today. I made you a bowl of cereal." Little things like that.
It's the sort of behavior you don't know to expect until you receive it.
For sure. Before this chapter of my life, I felt like I was very difficult to love—that I didn't really deserve somebody's extra attention and special things you should get when you're in love. This totally changed my perspective on that. We met. It was so quick. We instantly knew: "This is happening." You're almost like, "Fuck, here we go." I wasn't trying to get into a relationship.
One of the things I love about this album is that it feels different for you in the sense that lyrically it's way more romantic than your prior work.
It's weird. I've always shied away from having quote unquote, "relationship songs." I just think sometimes that can be leaned on too heavily as a subject matter. There are many other things in life that inspire me rather than that, especially up until now. I've never felt led to write about that subject at all, so I wanted to see what would happen if I did it my own way.
How've you prepared for the country purists who might hear Golden Hour and be confused by the new direction?
The most iconic and legendary artists of all time have been able to walk many sides of the musical street. A huge icon for me is Dolly Parton. You think of her as an iconic country artist, but when you go back in time and look at what she's done, her crossover with Here You Come Again and this, that, and the other, I don't know. It's just cool that she brought country music to a wider audience. She didn't leave country music behind.
I think that's really important for me to say. You're going to have the people who compare this album to my last one and say, "You've changed. You've left country music." But I just don't think music works that way. You're always going to have Pageant Material in your car to listen to. That's not going away. You won't meet anybody that loves traditional country music more than me. I fucking love it. I live it and breathe it. I love it so much. I grew up singing it. But I won't let that keep me even in that box.
I have to ask you this or I'd never forgive myself. You know drag queen Trixie Mattel?
Yes. Amazing.
She said that Dolly Parton is a true drag queen, which I thought was so spot-on.
You know Dolly used to go to drag contests back in the '70s and '80s? There was Dolly! I'm reading this book about her right now and it's fucking phenomenal. It's called Dolly on Dolly. It's these chronological interviews over the span of her career. You just see how she evolved as an artist and how just brilliant she is.
They used to have Dolly drag contests. And Dolly would show up as herself. And she never won. They legitimately picked other Dollys in a Dolly look-alike contest. And she never won her own.
You've sang with Dolly, but how can we get you and Trixie to collaborate?
Dude, how cool would it be to do like... I've always wanted to be a judge on Drag Race. How fun would it be to do a live mashup of one of [Trixie's] songs and "Dime Store Cowgirl." Or "Follow Your Arrow," duh.
I mean, put Trixie in one of your videos or something.
Seriously. What if she played me? Brunette wig? I wonder if she would. Because I know she's blonde... What if the whole video, you never see the front of her? It's just the back. And big hair and stuff. And at the very end, it's not even me the whole fucking video! Oh, that would be amazing. Okay, I'll get to work on that.
You have this album coming out, you just wrapped a tour with Little Big Town playing big theaters, and then this summer you're opening for Harry Styles in arenas. Is there a level you want to get to next?I want to do some pushing. It might sound cliché, but it's not money or fame that drives me. The idea of total musical freedom, achieving that is what keeps me going and thinking and working. Of course, now that I'm in such a positive place it feels a lot easier to do that. And it's more exciting.
I have this urge to keep expanding internationally, not for a world domination purpose. The idea of fame actually really freaks me out. But I just see so much appreciation for song crafting and songwriters across the pond. I've been lucky to be able to obviously do a lot in the U.K., and a little bit in Europe. But I want to go even further. I have this huge urge to go to Japan and China. I know there's an opportunity out there.
What about fame scares you?
There are a lot of artists out there that make decisions based on what will get them "more and more famous." That's a very dangerous perspective to have. Fame is a byproduct of being good at something that you love.
I like living within my means. Of course, I love the occasional handbag or whatever. Being able to not have a worry about money is a luxury. That's a wonderful thing this day and age. A lot of people can't say that they have that.
[But fame is] the driving factor for a lot of people. I think that's really iffy. There's a lot of blurred lines there. The only thing that drives me is creativity. I love having a strong core and idea of who I am. I feel like I've been really good at keeping my feet on the ground, and keeping honest people around me. I sometimes see tinges of that around me in other people that have gone a little too far away from that. I don't really like that.
I love the real things in life, the simple small things. Sometimes when you're gone all the time in an industry that focuses largely on yourself, it can feel selfish to talk about yourself all the time. It's my face out there. I just don't want that to ever become imbalanced. I guess I'm weirdly over-fearful of a shift ever happening.
Do you ever take a step back to think about your place in the world?
I think it is important to remove yourself every now and then from the equation and see where it is you're fitting in. You can find the importance of the stuff that you're doing and contributing to. But it can also make you feel like a grain of sand. I think that's equally as important—as in, the things that I'm stressing about right now, a thousand years from now will not even be a blip on this time scale. And equally, every other human is also stressing about this too. And it also doesn't matter.
That's why music is so powerfully healing and uniting because when you have a song that's about something real. Chances are so many people have gone through the same thing. And they just want to know that they're not alone. It's really empowering and calming. It's comforting to know that you're definitely not alone in the world.