Kacey Musgraves Says ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Feels Like ‘A Big Circle’ Back To Her Roots

Kacey Musgraves officially unveiled her highly anticipated new album, Middle of Nowhere, on Friday and is opening up about the project and the conscious decision she made early in her career to always stay true to herself.

In a new interview with Apple Music Country / Apple Music, the Texas native shared that one of the things she is most proud of in her career is always “sticking to my guns” and following her “internal compass.”

“It may not look like everyone else’s and I think I went in with a lot of fear that the business or the industry would really try and like change that. So, I think just having the balls early on to go okay, it’s fine if you’re not into this, the label, whoever you know, but this is where my heart is and this is what I want to do,” she shared during the conversation.

With Middle of Nowhere, Musgraves returns to her roots with a more traditional country-leaning sound. The project features pedal steel, accordion, and Texas dancehall rhythms, along with elements of country and bluegrass mixed with touches of pop, Norteño, and Zydeco. She admits the direction wasn’t entirely planned, but it ultimately feels like a full-circle moment with her sixth studio album.

“I feel like I’ve made this kind of big circle, when I really stand back and look and I don’t think it was even really fully intentional. I mean I’m always trying to find ways to pull the traditional country in because that’s where my heart is. That’s what I grew up with. It’s familiar to me. It feels like home,” she explained. “But, you know, I love so many different kinds of music. Like, you catch me on any day and I could be listening to Dr. Dre or I could be listening to old beautiful jazz or traditional mariachi music. I mean, it just really depends on my mood so there’s all these different flavors. But I’m always looking to bring country along with me in some way.”

Despite experimenting sonically over the years with albums like Star-Crossed and Deeper Well, the eight-time GRAMMY winner acknowledges she may have stepped away from traditional country sounds at times, but insists she has never truly left the genre behind.

“I love country music with my whole heart. I have never been like, ‘I’m leaving country,’ whatever it’s just I adore that I have the creative freedom since day one I’ve had the freedom to kind of explore the borders and pull people into country not leave country,” she said. “To me, I see it as I am bringing others to my center. That’s my center. I couldn’t leave it even if I wanted to. I mean it is baked in but I am more like multifaceted than just that.”

Middle of Nowhere features collaborations with Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, and Gregory Alan Isakov. Written during a period of post-breakup reflection, the album is raw, honest, and, for lack of a better term…so Kacey Musgraves.

Musgraves will celebrate the album with her recently announced Middle of Nowhere Tour. The trek will visit arenas around the country beginning August 21 and includes multiple nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena and closes with two nights at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena October 26th and 27th.