While “No Country” is in our name, we’ve long maintained that doesn’t mean we don’t like country music, or even that we never cover it. No Country- especially at the time this outlet was established many years ago- is a mission to shed light on the best Nashville music beyond the country music mainstream establishment the city has so long been associated with, beyond the generic bro country on the radio, beyond what tourists largely flock to Broadway to hear. We love classic icons like the late Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, and contemporaries like Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and, of course, Kacey Musgraves, who hooked in 2013 with her earnest, pop-accessible debut Same Trailer Different Park, and who we’ve remained big fans of ever since, as she’s become a major star in her own right.
Texas-born but long based here in Nashville, Kacey established herself right away as a down-to-earth, relatable songwriter, indebted to the best of classic country and Americana, in the vein of artists like John Prine, Lee Ann Womack, Alison Krauss, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson, but with an ear for modern folk and pop country as well, lending to a sound that isn’t exactly retro, but simply timeless. Also, and unlike many of her mainstream country peers, Kacey has written and spoken out about sociopolitical issues from the start, advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, gender equality, reproductive rights, humanitarian causes, and more.
Same Trailer, Different Park and 2015 follow-up Pageant Material both helped establish Musgraves as a new star of the country scene, and her debut won her her first Grammy, and kitchy 2016 Christmas album A Very Kacey Christmas was a cozy, retro holiday detour. But, undoubtedly, it was 2018’s Golden Hour that really established Musgraves as one of the modern musical greats- country or otherwise- and won her Album of the Year t the Grammys, expanding her sound to even more unexpected and creative sonic places, and showcasing her most raw and vulnerable songwriting yet.
The years since have been eventful- both broadly, with the pandemic, and all of the sociopolitical happenings in the world- and in Kacey’s life, most notably her 2020 divorce from husband Ruston Kelly. The result was a more experimental, electronic-infused, tragic 2021 divorce album, star-crossed, with 2024 follow-up Deeper Well taking a turn back towards the more traditional, channeling a soft, thoughtful folk pop and chronolicing a period of transition. And with her latest, this year’s Middle of Nowhere, Kacey further explores her roots and early influences, turning an eye to the sound of Texas, and embracing classic country more unabashedly than any album since Same Trailer.
With Middle of Nowhere, Musgraves not only showcases what made her such a special and important country artist when she arrived on the scene, but also finally sounds healed, writing with an intensified personal clarity and humor that hasn’t as often risen from the melancholy of her more recent efforts. It’s an excellent LP, and, in support, Kacey is currently on the Middle of Nowhere Tour, an eccentric and whimsical arena show which includes props, odes to Texas, and a very viral, campy pair of gigantic, disco “balls.” The tour brings Musgaves back to town for two nights at Bridgestone Arena, Sept. 27 & 28 with fellow Texan country and Americana outfit Flatland Cavalry, and tickets are available here!
Kacey Musgraves and Flatland Cavalry will perform Sunday, Sept. 27 and Monday, Sept. 28 at Bridgestone Arena. The shows are all ages, begin at 7:30 p.m. (6 p.m. doors), and tickets are avaialble for $51.40-286.60.
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