New Album Features Duet with Miranda Lambert and Other East Texas Reflections
Kacey Musgraves releases her sixth studio album, Middle of Nowhere, on May 1 with a return to Lost Highway Records. Musgraves produced the album alongside Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, and it features collaborations with Willie Nelson, Billy Strings, Gregory Alan Isakov, and fellow East Texan Miranda Lambert.
The sounds, stories, and sensibilities of her Texas upbringing inspired the album. Its title comes from an actual sign in her tiny hometown of Golden, Texas, with a population under 300, that reads, “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.” That message struck a chord with what’s going on in her personal life during the creation of the album. It features pedal steel, accordion, and Texas dancehall rhythms backing the sound, and draws in touches of bluegrass, pop, Norteño, and Zydeco.
“The bulk of this record was made during the longest single period of my life,” Musgraves says in a statement. “And I found that for the first time, it actually felt incredible being alone and existing in a space not defined by anyone else. I became fascinated with the concept of liminal space, both geographical and emotional. We don’t linger in these transitional, empty spaces long enough and rush to define where or whatever is next. I became so at ease with being in the ‘middle of nowhere’ in many senses and sitting in the un-comfort of the undefined. I had a lot of time for creative ambling and leaning into myself in different ways: horses, humor, writing with my early collaborators again, and living out my very simple, inspired life between Texas, Tennessee, and Mexico.”
Middle of Nowhere kicks off with the title track “Middle of Nowhere;” then “Dry Spell,” which released as a single in March; “Back on the Wagon;” “I Believe in Ghosts;” “Abilene;” “Coyote,” featuring Gregory Alan Isakov; “Loneliest Girl;” “Everybody Wants To Be a Cowboy,” featuring Billy Strings; “Horses and Divorces,” featuring Miranda Lambert; “Uncertain, Texas,” featuring Willie Nelson; “Rhinestoned;” “Mexico Honey;” and “Hell on Me.”
Musgraves co-penned all 13 tracks on the album. Co-writers include Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Rick Nowels, Miranda Lambert, Scotty Emerick, and Steph Jones.
Fellow East Texans Musgraves and Lambert teaming up for “Horses and Divorces” marks the first time in a really long time since the duo had much of anything to do with each other. They knew each other as they were growing up in the neighboring communities of Golden, Mineola, and Lindale. Both took music and songwriting lessons from the talented John DeFoore.
Lambert was already a national name when Musgraves co-wrote “Mama’s Broken Heart” with Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally in 2011. Musgraves thought it was the song that might launch her own path to stardom. Unbeknownst to her, someone pitched the song to Lambert, and Lambert wanted to release it. Having to consider what that meant to her co-writers, Musgraves relinquished. It was a big hit for Lambert.
Musgraves wasn’t far behind with another hit song she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. “Merry Go Round” released in 2012 and was a critical success, winning the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2014.
In an interview with NPR Music in Nashville, Musgraves talks about the songs and her relationship with Lambert.
“I knew I would have to go back to the drawing board,” Musgraves says, after letting go of “Mama’s Broken Heart.” “And ultimately, I’m really glad that I did, because it forced me to write ‘Merry Go Round,’ which ended up making way more sense for me anyways, aesthetically and lyrically, to kick my whole thing off, versus ‘Mama’s Broken Heart.’ And that ended up going No. 1 for her. So in the end, everyone won because I was able to let go of something.”
Fifteen years later, as Musgraves was having some nostalgic moments while working on her new album, she saw Lambert on social media riding one of her horses. A horse lover herself, Musgraves was inspired her to think about what other things the two have in common, and she landed on “horses and divorces.” She thought that theme could be a fun song and reached out to her to write and sing as a duo. Lambert was quick to respond.
“She was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’m in, let’s do it,’” Musgraves says. “So it was very full circle in so many ways. We aired out the old laundry. We had some laughs and wrote the song in a matter of a few hours.”
Other aspects of Middle of Nowhere also reflect a return to her East Texas roots.
“I grew up singing Western swing, yodeling — very traditional country music. Those sounds are baked into what feels like home to me. And so exploring them doesn’t feel like I’m trying on a hat that doesn’t fit. It just feels like part of me. It’s always there to some degree, but it felt good this time to really lean into it. For me it’s always about finding the balance. If a lyric is going in that direction really hard, maybe the track isn’t, so it’s never too on the nose.”
Continuing her ties to home, the cover for Middle of Nowhere features a photo taken by Musgrave’s sister, Kelly Christine Sutton, who’s often used her professional photography skills to capture her big sister’s career moments. For this shoot, the two took photos in several spots in Dallas with a bull supplied by a friend.
While in Texas during that time, Musgraves ended up at a dance hall in Austin one night. She told NPR Music how nice it was to see so many different kinds of people having a good time decked out in their western wear.
“It was hot Latino couples, it was hot Black cowboys, it was older white cowboys dancing with younger cowgirls, and everybody was having such a good time dancing with each other,” she says. “I was like, damn, America needs to two-step together. America needs to be on the dance floor. It’s really a great equalizer, and it’s where your differences sort of melt away, and the one goal is to connect via music and have fun and move your body. It made me really inspired to infuse some of that Texas dance hall feeling and rhythms into the record.”
Musgraves is doing three shows May 3-5 at the famous Greuene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. Opening for her are three Texas brothers who are mariachi musicians. The brothers drew national attention earlier this year when they and other members of their family were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The family’s detainment sparked outrage and they were eventually released.
Musgraves performs October 10 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
