[title subtitle=”review: Marla Cantrell”][/title]
Kacey Musgraves : $9.99
Kacey Musgraves started singing in public when she was eight years old. At nine she wrote her first song. By the time she graduated from her Texas high school, she was so good her principal was certain she was destined for fame.
Now in her mid-twenties, it looks like that prediction is coming true. She was recently nominated for four Grammys, including Best New Artist and Best Country Album, and by the time you read this review we’ll know whether she won. She’s opened for Antebellum, Willie Nelson, and Allison Kraus, and she co-wrote Miranda Lambert’s mega hit, “Mama’s Broken Heart.”
But it’s on Same Trailer Different Park that Kacey shines. There are twelve songs on this album. In them, Kacey looks at the complexity of small-town life, the dread of dead end jobs, and love gone wrong. She also sings about the perks of living in a trailer – “If I can’t bring you to my house, I’ll bring my house to you,” and “KOA is A-OK as long as I’m with you.” She offers some sound advice in “Silver Lining.” “If you want to fill your bottle up with lightning, you’re gonna have to stand in the rain.”
“Merry Go ‘Round” tells the story of a family struggling with all kinds of obsessions, from the dad who’s sneaking off with a woman named Mary, the son hooked on Mary Jane, to the mom preoccupied with Mary Kay. But it is also about expectations, and how we settle along the way when we should be taking chances. How all of us believe we won’t turn out like our parents, but most of us inevitably do.
My favorite track is “I Miss You,” which sounds a little closer to pop than country. The chorus is so catchy, you’ll not soon forget it. And here’s the other thing about this song: It first appears to be a bubbly little melody about a happy couple, but underneath is a mournful tune about a girl who’s hurting for the one she loves.
It’s going to be fun to watch what Kacey does next. She seems to have found her stride as a talented songwriter, and her voice is honey-sweet and a little addictive. She says her musical influences include the great Loretta Lynn, John Prine, The Beach Boys, and Cake, an eclectic mix for sure. It must be a great feeling to be where she is, to look back on 2007 and see how far she’s come. That year she appeared on USA Network’s Nashville Star, a singing competition show. She didn’t win; she didn’t even finish in the top three. But the next year she landed a record deal with an independent label in Texas. It’s a good lesson for anyone trying to make it in any creative field. Today might not be your day, but tomorrow certainly could be. You might be in the same trailer, but there’s no reason you have to stay in the same old park.