Country music sometimes gets overlooked. Many people (especially young people!) are ambivalent towards it, some adore it and others actively try to avoid it at all costs (often moaning in pain when a song from down south comes on the radio). Well, for all the country haters and non-fans, please put aside all current feelings you have for the genre because you absolutely, positively have to listen to budding female country artist Kacey Musgraves’ new album, “Pageant Material,” which was just released last week. Why is her music worth giving a spin?
For one, Musgraves has an absolutely beautiful voice, a kind of sweet melody that’s tough to find on the airwaves nowadays. Just take a listen to her smooth sound on this popular track, “Follow Your Arrow.”
If you were paying attention to the lyrics, you might have picked up on the next big reason to listen to her album: Her lyrics! Kacey Musgraves is a bonafide feminist, and a staunch critic of just about any sort of prejudice which people face in the traditional south. Through her music and the surprisingly biting poetry, she is able to speak freely on various issues of importance, including body image, LGBTQ+ rights, religious fanaticism in the south, racism, sexism, hypocrisy and so much more. With her innocent sound, she is able to voice the unspoken feelings of women (and men and everyone in between) everywhere.
Especially in the world of country music, which has often been pegged as corny, antiquated, obnoxious and most recently even too “bro-y” with contributions from some male artists (“bro country” is defined by an author at the New Yorker as ““music by and of the tatted, gym-toned, party-hearty young American white dude.”), Musgraves’ sound is a breath of fresh air.
Both country lovers and cynics can agree that this singer/songwriter has great potential to bring the country music universe back to mainstream popularity. Musgraves isn’t afraid to make waves, although she asserted in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that she didn’t think the themes she touched upon in her music were “controversial” in her mind, but rather just things she wanted to say and felt needed to be said. We leave you with this amazing final quote from her in that same interview:
“Creativity happens where it’s dangerous and scary, where you’re not comfortable,” she said. “And that’s how it should be. That’s real. Music isn’t supposed to be vanilla. It’s not supposed to be something absolutely everyone enjoys. Frankly I’d love to see even more diversity in country music. Art is not supposed to be McDonalds.”
We love you Kacey!