Kacey Musgraves: Galactic Country

Kacey Musgraves is a musician who has won several awards for her work, including two Grammys for Best Country Album and a CMA award for Album of the Year. Even so, she does not consider herself to be a country artist, nor does she write to fit the typical bounds of the genre; rather, she writes her music based on the question: “Does it feel like me?” 

This process has been evident in much of her work, including one of her earlier songs, “Follow Your Arrow,” and in her most recent album, Golden Hour. While performing the first at the CMAs in 2013, the song was censored for the lyric “roll up a joint,” and the song in its entirety was banned from multiple radio stations for another lyric: “kiss lots of boys/or kiss lots of girls/if that’s something you’re into.” Even so, she won a CMA for it in 2014. And luckily, despite the poor reception from certain radio stations, Musgraves has not stopped pushing the envelope of country music. Golden Hour is a prime example of this.   

The album, released in 2018, is described by Musgraves as “galactic country:” a style free of the restrictions of and the debates about “real country.” This is in large part due to the way she creates her music; she believes that “music isn’t supposed to be a formula.” Her song “Oh, What a World” creatively combines the traditional tenets of country, such as acoustic guitar, with the less traditional country music influences, like the vocoder. Another difference between Musgraves and many other country music artists is her pronounced support of the LGBTQ community. Taking it a step further than “Follow Your Arrow,” her song “Rainbow” is, in part, intended to be a show of support for the community, which has often been ostracized by country music.  She also does not have any specific rituals when it comes to writing; for example, Musgraves was inspired to write another song on the album, “Mother,” while on LSD. While Musgraves does not have a ritualistic way of writing, one thing is consistent in all of her music; she writes about what makes her feel. She is not concerned about the radio stations that will not play her music; she just hopes that people connect with what she writes.

I think that Kacey Musgraves fits the six personality traits that Sternberg correlated with creativity. Her lack of conventionality when it comes to country music is apparent in many ways, including her openness about drug use in her music and her unique mixture of instruments for her songs, which is also an example of integration and intellectuality. This unique sound of her music, galactic country, also shows her personal aesthetic taste. She writes her music with the intention being pleased by the outcome herself, not judging it by any other standard, which shows her decisional skill. She is clearly willing to challenge the norms of country music both with the music itself and her lyrics too, displaying perspicacity. And, finally, she demonstrates drive for accomplishment; however, this is not necessarily through desire for awards, though she has won several. Rather, her goal is to connect with the people through her music.