He has certainly earned it.
Kacey Musgraves is gearing up to release her forthcoming sixth studio album, Middle of Nowhere, which Musgraves produced alongside longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk and is due out everywhere on May 1st.
She’s put out two songs from the 13-song tracklist, including the lead single “Dry Spell,” as well as the title track “Middle of Nowhere,” and Kacey will have four features from some fellow artists as well, an absolutely stacked lineup that features Willie Nelson, Billy Strings, Gregory Alan Isakov and Mrs. Miranda Lambert herself… it’s a dream.
Of course, Willie is an icon and a legend, and Kacey has worked with him before, and during an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Kacey explained that “Uncertain, Texas” is a real town in Texas, and she took it a step further by imagining it as a place where nothing is for sure and no one can make up their minds.
She of course felt “very lucky” to get to work with him, and she let fans in on a little bit of his process, saying that, at his age, Willie is a one take guy, so it “better work.” Willie will turn 93-years-old tomorrow, and so he is not going to waste his own time, and as Kacey points out, he has certainly earned that”:
“Oh my gosh, anytime I can have everyone’s favorite gangster great-grandpa on anything. I mean, I love him so much. He’s the patriarch of true country music. I mean he can bring so many different kinds of people together, which is one thing I really love about him and he’s just incredible.
I feel very lucky. This is our third time collaborating together. Oh, he walks in, does the take, and literally, that’s it. So it better work. He’s like, I’m in my 90s. Literally, time is, like, I’m giving you 30 seconds, and then I’m out. I f****** get it. He has earned that.
He’s a true American legend, transcends space and time. He’s amazing.”
I couldn’t have said it any better myself…
They went on to talk about how Kacey doesn’t smoke like she used to, and she never could match Willie (we’ve all heard the stories), and she warned that you have to be “really careful with him”:
“But, I don’t… No, I don’t smoke as much as I used to. I had to take a pause because I feel like the busier that you get… I don’t know. I just started getting really anxious. And I was like, why do I feel so paranoid and crazy? Like, I just need to kind of back off. But then the more you back off, like the less you smoke, the more it affects you, obviously.
So yeah, but you got to be really careful with him. You’re just like, I don’t know how to form sentences anymore. My motor skills are completely gone. And I don’t, I don’t, how do I leave? Like, how do I say goodbye?”
Kacey debuted “Uncertain, Texas” solo at her Coachella set a little over a week ago, and it finds her admitting that she’s been played, thinking she was in love and in hindsight, she realizes maybe that wasn’t the case:
“Here in Uncertain, Texas
I just don’t know anymore
You think you really know somebody
They may up and walk right out the door
Did you ever love me, baby?
I thought you different time to time
Here in Uncertain, Texas
Nobody ever makes up their mind”
She told Lowe that she wrote it following a breakup, as she was very resistant to any sort of uncertainty in terms of a romantic relationship, and a song was born. It will be really interesting to hear the studio cut with Willie on Friday, and I have no doubt they only needed those 30 songs for him to sing his part because he’s the GOAT.
She’s one of the greatest country writers we have, and I think this album is going to be incredible:
And if you’re unfamiliar with Kacey and Willie’s previous duet “Are You Sure,” you’re missing out… Kacey sang it with Willie for her iconic 2015 Pageant Material album, but it was originally written by Willie and Buddy Emmons and first released by Ray Price in 1963.
The full podcast is available below.
“Middle of Nowhere”
“Dry Spell”
Middle of Nowhere Tracklist:
1.Middle of Nowhere
2.Dry Spell
3.Back on the Wagon
4.I Believe in Ghosts
5.Abilene
6.Coyote feat. Gregory Alan Isakov
7.Loneliest Girl
8.Everybody Wants To Be a Cowboy feat. Billy Strings
9.Horses and Divorces feat. Miranda Lambert
10.Uncertain, Texas feat. Willie Nelson
11.Rhinestoned
12.Mexico Honey
13.Hell on Me
