The Quiet, Disquieting Genius of Kacey Musgraves

“Anyway,” Kacey says. “It’s called It Is What It Is.”

She’s perched on a wooden stool in front of an audience that the camera never reveals. It’s 2012, and Musgraves is in Philadelphia promoting her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park. She counts to three and strums the first few chords of the slow and melancholy track. 

“My grandma calls this the slut song,” she adds at the last minute. 

Everyone responds with an awkward chuckle, a standard response to her specific brand of jarring honesty. One laugh is louder than the rest, and Musgraves smiles to herself as she pulls the guitar closer, settling into the familiar melody. 

“I ain’t got no one sleeping with me,” she sings. “And you ain’t got nowhere that you need to be.”

To those who know and love Kacey, It Is What It Is blends in perfectly among the evocative songs she’s so good at writing. Her first album twists around love, heartbreak, and disappointment with all the ease of a Georgia sunset. Biting lyrics and unapologetic social commentary not only keep the listener enthralled, but have also snagged Musgraves two Grammys. 

She returned in 2015 with her second album, Pageant Material. On the new record, bolstered by the success of her honest and vulnerable debut, she seems to have somehow settled even more into the artist we love. “I’m just a dime store cowgirl,” she smiles onto the track. “That’s all I’m ever gonna be.” 

But the true genius of Musgraves lies not in the content, but in the delivery. Her voice is as unwavering as her lyrics, a tall and smooth mirror reflecting our most abrasive thoughts. She proves that steel guitars and banjos are not mutually exclusive with progressive ideologies, using traditional instruments to tackle subjects like one night stands, weed, and even a nod to LGBTQ rights. Her crisp and endearing voice paired with harsh and clever lyrics is impossible to resist. 

“Jack and Jill went up the hill,” she sings on her hit song Merry Go Round. “Jack burned out on booze and pills.”

It’s enough to make you avert your eyes. But when you look back up, don’t be surprised to see that Musgraves, sparkly cowboy hat and all, hasn’t even blinked.