Kacey Musgraves Talks Her Role in Country Music & ‘Pageant Material’

Despite the title of her most recent project, Pageant Material, Kacey Musgraves revealed to Billboard that her glitzy pageant career was extremely brief — culminating in an unsuccessful run at the Little Miss Tater Tot title in her native Golden, Texas.

We’re thrilled that Musgraves, 26, traded out the frilly dresses and choreographed prancing for a much different path involving guitars and writing sessions. That ‘breaking the mold’ sentiment is a central theme on the country singer-songwriter’s sophomore album, Pageant Material, due out June 23rd.

While other female artists strive for overall popularity, Musgraves happily blazes her own path. The Texas native is more mellow in how she presents her music and herself — avoiding high drama. “I hear a lot in the industry, ‘This is the way it’s done, so you have to follow suit,” Musgraves told Billboard. “Why can’t we look at other options?’”

The songbird arrived on country radio at exactly the right moment. The radio waves were packed full of party anthems sung by male artists and female acts stuck to tracks that “were about a guy cheating and you getting revenge, and I couldn’t relate to either,” Musgraves says.

Musgraves is certainly standing out on her own and has helped change the conversation with past tracks, “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Follow Your Arrow.” With Pageant Material, which was recorded live, we can look forward to more real-talk from Kacey, classic Western flair, and string-strumming sophistication.

Take a behind the scenes look at the recording of “Biscuits” and the making of the upcoming music video below.

Pageant Material track listing (and songwriters):
1. “High Time” (Kacey Musgraves, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally)
2. “Dime Store Cowgirl” (Musgraves, Laird, McAnally)
3. “Late to the Party” (Musgraves, Brandy Clark, Josh Osborne)
4. “Pageant Material” (Musgraves, Laird, McAnally)
5. “This Town” (Musgraves, Laird, Clark)
6. “Biscuits” (Musgraves, McAnally, Clark)
7. “Somebody to Love” (Musgraves, McAnally, Osborne)
8. “Miserable” (Musgraves, Osborne, Clark)
9. “Die Fun” (Musgraves, Laird, McAnally)
10. “Family Is Family” (Musgraves, McAnally, Osborne)
11. “Good Ol’ Boys Club” (Musgraves, Laird, Hemby)
12. “Cup of Tea” (Musgraves, McAnally, Osborne)
13. “Fine” (Musgraves, Ashley Arrison, McAnally)

You can pre-order the album on MyPlayDirect.com. For the latest on Kacey, click here!

[bandsintown_events artist=”Kacey Musgraves” display_limit=”5″]