Sulphur Springs native and country music sensation KACEY MUSGRAVES has a thing or two to say about gay rights. And she doesn’t care who she ticks off.
FOLLOWING HER ARROW | 24-year-old singing sensation Kacey Musgraves talks about things most country music songs avoid — but she doesn’t think that makes her a bad girl.
Kacey Musgraves is country music’s It Girl, but right now, she’s sitting around “with a zit mask on my face.”
It’s that kind of frankness — not just when talking to the press, but on her album, the smash hit Same Trailer Different Park — that has made the young Texan a sensation. When it comes to country music, tradition says you should be a narrow-minded churchgoer who condemns lesbian love, drugs and casual sex (at least the women — the men can do what they want). And you should definitely never, ever release an album about any of those sinful deeds unless you want to be considered loose.
Musgraves must have missed that day in Sunday school.
The breakthrough artist’s stellar album shows that not all country acts are meatheads who worship their trucks. If they’re like this 24-year-old, they also love the gay community, and sing about it … as well as occasionally puff a doobie.
We chatted with the Sulphur Springs native girl about how she came to embrace the gay community and how she hopes to change minds for a more progressive sound.
— Chris Azzopardi
Dallas Voice: Tell us about growing up in a small town in Texas. Did you know many gay people when you were living there? Kacey Musgraves: No, actually. My first roommate out of high school came out to me and it was a big deal, because he came from a really conservative family. I just knew how hard it was for him to come to terms with that; [we were] in the Bible Belt in a really small town where everybody knew everybody. It really opened my eyes to a lot when he came out to me; I could see how hard it was. Since then, several guys that I grew up with have come out, and I’m just so proud of them.
It just makes me sad that there are other kids who are struggling with that and parents are worried about whether their kids are gonna come out of the closet; in reality they should be worried about way scarier things.
So that friend was the first gay person you knew? Yeah. It made a big impact on me. I absolutely love gay people.
Anyone who listens to “Follow Your Arrow” gets that impression; it’s rare the gay community be acknowledged in a country music song. It never happens and I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous. Whether or not you agree with gay marriage or the fact people don’t choose to be gay, we share the same emotions, needs and wants. I just think that everyone should be included in that. It’s definitely time.
Would you like to see more change within the country music world as far as LGBT inclusively goes? For sure. Have you ever seen an openly gay male country artist be successful? No. That would be badass. But guys get grossed out by guy-on-guy … but then if they see two chicks kissing at a party, they’re like, “Oh my god, I gotta videotape this.” I’m like, “That’s the same shit!” You can’t have a double standard.
Were you worried about releasing “Follow Your Arrow,” a song that advocates marijuana and homosexuality? I didn’t expect country radio to play it, and they’re not gonna. That’s OK, though. The song can be bigger than country radio. They wouldn’t know what to do with it, anyway!
As far as backlash goes, the reaction has been surprisingly positive, and when I sing it live people really like it and they really listen to the lyrics. Even older people that I wouldn’t think would be into it get a laugh out of it. I think even if you don’t agree with everything I’m saying, as a human, hopefully you can just recognize that people should be able to do what they want to do and love who they want to love.
Tell me about the line, “Kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls if that’s something you’re into.” Was this based on personal experience? [Laughs] I wrote the song with one of my producers, Shane McAnally, who’s gay, and Brandy Clarke, who’s an amazing writer and also gay. And I’m not gonna say it’s not from some personal experience, but we were writing it and with the “kiss lots of boys” I said, “I wish, because of the nature of the song, we could just say ‘… or kiss lots of girls,’” and Shane was like, “Why can’t we?”
Did you worry the line would ruffle feathers? I knew it would a little, but surprisingly it didn’t as much as I thought. At the same time, I didn’t care.
Have you received feedback from the gay community? Yeah! Perez Hilton did a cover contest for “Follow Your Arrow” where he challenged people to come up with covers for it. He’s been really supportive about it all. And my manager is gay. It’s kind of all around me.
I’ve had guys come up to me at shows and say, “‘Follow Your Arrow’ means so much to me.” I think people are thankful that they don’t have to be ashamed to be themselves and they can also listen to country music. Those don’t have to be two separate things.
Would you like to be considered the Lady Gaga of contemporary country music? [Laughs] Dolly is the closest thing that we’ve had, right? Maybe Reba. But as far as being loud about it, yeah, I would love to take that position.
I guess because of the nature of country music, there’s deep-rooted tradition and there’s a lot of gospel influence in country, but people need to get on the right side of history. There used to be songs about black and white differences and that’s no longer an issue — and it shouldn’t be. And this shouldn’t be either. I would love to change that about country music.
Tell me about some of your country influences. I’ve always loved Dolly, and I used to sing her songs when I was little. She’s a great storyteller and that’s probably where I got a lot of my influence from. I love Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson and his truth-telling. I love Glen Campbell and a lot of old-school country. I’m really all over the map, but the country I seem to like is a lot older.
This album is being called your debut, but this isn’t your first album. This is actually your fourth, right? Well, this is the only one that I want people to hear! The other songs were a learning curve and I’m a different person musically, so this is what I want the world to hear first. I’m a better writer and I’ve come into my own personally more.
Weren’t there some songs that the label wanted you to release on Same Trailer Different Park but you didn’t want them on there? Yeah, just because I wrote it doesn’t mean that I like it! [Laughs] The label will be like, “Oh, this song is a hit, it’s a radio mash,” and I’m like, “I don’t give a shit. If it doesn’t go on the record, it doesn’t go on the record.” The hits will come if I believe in them. It won’t be a hit if I don’t believe in it.
Were you nervous about suggesting you smoke pot? I was more worried about my grandma hearing it!
What did your grandma say? She always has an opinion. “The Slut Song” is what she calls “It Is What It Is.” And she doesn’t get any of the marijuana references.
Do you want to be country’s bad girl or would you rather leave that to Miranda Lambert? I’d rather not. If I were gonna be a bad girl, I’d rather it be more in a progressive way than a “I’m gonna burn your house down” way.
In a way that brings hope and change to people’s lives? Right. If that makes me a bad girl, then what does that make society?
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 14, 2013.