Kacey Musgraves performs "Rainbow" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 14, 2019. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

I have been a country music fan for what feels like forever, and like a lot of fans, I’ve seen country go through various artistic and social changes in recent years. Long ago, this musical genre bid farewell to the traditional twangy one dimensional stylings of pioneers like Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and other legendary artists who formed the bedrock of the fabled Grand Ole Opry prototype. For the most part, those artists sang songs of drinking at the bar, broken hearts, divorce and prison.

Today, the landscape of country music has been altered quite dramatically. The past has given way to a new day dawning where crossover artists with a more appealing broad-based style, and a decidedly different view of the world, now rule the country realm. One of those new and different artists who has emerged from the fog of what has been a tradition-bound industry is Kacey Musgraves.

Musgraves is one of those mold-shattering artists. She’s definitely a world away from your typical country music star. Born and raised in Texas, she is a liberal Democrat and staunch gun control advocate. In the gun-toting politically conservative deep red states where country music reigns supreme, she is indeed a very rare breed. Musgraves has the alluring good looks of a Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleader, and a creative wellspring of talent that is redefining the shape of country music.

A bit like the growing legions of authors who have found an audience through self-publishing their books and selling them through Amazon, Musgraves started off in the music business as an indie artist who self-released three albums that didn’t sell all that well. However, they did get her noticed. Getting a signing deal with major label, Mercury Records, was her first big break. Releasing her first studio album, “Same Trailer Different Park,” on the Mercury label in 2013 launched her career. Within the tracks of that debut album was a clear message to her fan base that as her fortunes were rising, she was not forsaking her roots, and that she was still that same homespun guitar-picking singer-songwriter from Golden, Texas.

The album was also a radical departure from the safe and conventional musical themes that mainstream country artists had been putting out there for public consumption for decades. “Merry Go Round,” the album’s featured single, strayed into the taboo topics of gay rights and smoking weed. With lyrics like “Mama’s hooked on Mary Kay and brothers’ hooked on Mary Jane,” record company executives were reportedly quite uneasy about releasing the album. In the end, it all worked out as it struck a deep and resonate chord with a new and changing audience. In the process, it also made those record executives a pile of money, so all was well. Truth be told, even before that big break came, Musgraves had already been carving out a reputation as a solid songwriter who unapologetically spoke her mind, and who would not go along with the long established norms of the country music industry. Whether her feisty attitude and strong-willed independence in those early days was a blessing or a curse is still open to debate in some camps. What is crystal clear is that in both the good times, and the not so good times, she never wavered from her beliefs, and she remained true to her personal value system.

It took a while, but when her fourth album, “Golden Hour” was released in 2018, it carried her to the top of Billboard’s country music charts like a rocket. Despite the fact that she was by no means a newcomer, as she had already developed and nurtured a loyal fan base, that album took her career into the country music stratosphere. “Golden Hour”s glowing reviews from critics and fans alike earned her the Album of the Year Award at the 2018 CMA Awards cementing her position as a star. She also took home an armload of Grammy awards in 2019, including wins for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. In that freeze frame moment, Musgraves took her place among the upper echelon of the industry alongside superstars like Faith Hill, Dolly Parton and Miranda Lambert.

Perhaps one thing that may set Musgraves apart from many of those female country artists who went before her, and even some of those who are among her contemporaries, is that she continues to express her feelings through writing and singing songs that reflect today’s changing social norms rather than relying on the weary and thread-bare themes of yesterday. She is definitely not your parent’s country music queen. Her bold lifestyle, popularity and rock-solid convictions have all conspired to afford her an amazing platform. She continues to step outside of the creative safe zone by crafting songs that run counter to traditional country music that has always been the exclusive domain of blue-collar white people. In the face of her enormous fan base, and now having won multiple CMA awards, country radio still does not fully embrace her. That being said, she seems to relish being cast in the role of a country music outlaw.

As her star continues to rise, and her fan base expands, this country star with the kind of looks that could sell cosmetics remains true to who she has always been. She continues to export a style of songwriting that still that has an edge to it and that continues to have her at odds with some mainstream country music fans. When all is said and done, I believe that those people are missing out on the joy of discovering the talent and musical gifts of an artist who is transforming the landscape of country music one song at a time.

Paul Collins is a Freelance Writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.

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