A Follow Up to the Kacey Musgraves Coverage in “Vulture”
A quick sidebar and followup on an article Saving Country Music posted on April 2nd, 2018 titled “The Media Has Made a Mockery of Kacey Musgraves and Golden Hour.” In short, the article was a detailed study into the media echo chamber that persisted around the release of Musgraves’ 2018 album where multiple outlets prematurely and irresponsibly proclaimed it the best country record in all of 2018 in late March instead of waiting even half way through the year before making such a bold declaration. Meanwhile in the same breath, some of these outlets were also deriding country music and its fans, and/or declaring that Golden Hour should be taken as an insult to country “purists.”
Also in curious concert with their parroted declarations of Kacey Musgraves’ year-defining mastery in March was the ridiculous definition of country “purists” as being the fans of artists such as Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell—all three who would bristle at the idea of being labeled country purists, and would be open to the discussion if their current music is even country at all (Jason Isbell has never referred to his music as country). This just underscored the wanton ignorance of these periodicals about the doings of country music, despite their confidence of declaring the best album in country with nine months to go in the year.
Saving Country Music gave multiple examples of media outlets and their irresponsible, hyperbolic declarations for Kacey Musgraves in places such as Esquire, Billboard, Vulture, and highlighted other rampant misnomers about Kacey Musgraves and her album in GQ, Rolling Stone, and how most of these incorrect proclamations were coming from entertainment journalists who don’t even cover country music, or only cover it from afar, and were simply lumping these fawning accolades on Golden Hour based off of Kacey Musgraves fandom, or her political affiliations, or wanting to fit in with the media fervor surrounding the record.
Specifically the website Vulture—which is a subsidiary of New York Magazine—was highlighted in the Saving Country Music article. Here is the direct quote:
An article in Vulture on Golden Hour also mentions purists, while the URL for the article (and original title) declares it once again the best country album in 2018. The journalist, Craig Jenkins, is a New York-based writer whose recent byline includes stories about Snoop Dogg, Logic, and Cardi B. The article is another hyperbolic proclamation from a journalist who only knows country music from the outside looking in, and is uniquely unqualified to declare any record as the “best” at any time, especially in March. It’s irresponsible, and uninformed. When have you ever seen a country music journalist declare the greatest hip-hop album in a given year nine months before the ball drops in Times Square? Yet hip-hop journalists did this multiple times with Golden Hour.
When writer Craig Jenkins caught wind of the article, he attacked Saving Country Music on Twitter and inspired his 40k followers to do the same, saying that Vulture and himself had never declared Kacey’s Golden Hour the best country record in 2018, and that I was a liar, a “shit,” and a “dumb ass,” while many other blue-checkmarked Twitter warriors joined the fray smearing Saving Country Music for posting falsehoods.
Unfortunately for Craig Jenkins and his 40k Twitter followers, he was flat out wrong. As asserted by Saving Country Music, the original title and URL for the Vulture article did declare (and still do to this day) that Kacey’s Golden Hour was the best record in all of 2018. Anyone can still go to the URL and see it, do a search for the article in Google or other search engines and see the original title, as well as bookmark the page in any browser, which will also show the original title. Even the subheading beneath the title declares Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour the best country album in 2018, and the content of the article clearly fits the original premise of the title and subtitle. At some point, the actual title on the article itself was changed to “On Kacey Musgraves’s Golden Hour, a Star Is Born,” but Saving Country Music never made reference to the amended title.
Here’s how the article is catalogued by Google and every other major search engine, with the URL, original title, and original subtitle clearly declaring Musgraves’ record the best in country in 2018.
After much huffing and puffing on Twitter, Craig Jenkins finally saw the underlying point of concern, but continued to attack, and blamed the editors at Vulture for composing the title, not himself. Fair enough, but the original argument remains—Vulture, like many other outlets, was compromising its journalistic ethics to fawn over Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour to a degree that was unfair to all the other country artists who have and will release records in 2018, and was in a uniquely unqualified position to declare the best record in country music in March as a non-country outlet posting an article written by a journalist whose primary beat is hip-hop.
To this day, Craig Jenkins continues to assert that Saving Country Music lied, and mischaracterized the article in Vulture, but Vulture itself just doubled down, and then tripled down on the fact that the Craig Jenkins article was indeed declaring Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour the best country album in 2018. Vulture just underscored it, hyperlinked to it, and even make sure to eliminate all argument that may ensue about it by demanding, “Don’t fight us on that.” This is what transpired in an article posted on October 5th as part of Vulture‘s coverage of the New Yorker Festival where Kacey Musgraves performed called “Kacey Musgraves, Noted Gay Icon, Is “Pissed’ Country Music Isn’t More LGBTQ-Friendly“.
Hey, you’ll get no fight from Saving Country Music. I believed them in March when Vulture prematurely and irresponsibly declared Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour the best country album in 2018 only three months through the year, and now any and all wiggle room on that position has been completely eliminated by Vulture itself.
Also for the record, when the original brushup with Craig Jenkins ensued, Saving Country Music reached out to Vulture to clarify whether it was Jenkins who wrote the title, or an editor as Craig Jenkins asserted. That inquiry was never responded to. Saving Country Music also pledged that if Jenkins was willing to supply verification from the Vulture editor that the title was not his work, a clarification would be included in the original Saving Country Music article. That request was never fulfilled either. It’s fair to question whether Craig Jenkins wanted to characterize Golden Hour as the best album in country in 2018 in his original article. But it’s indisputable now that Vulture did. If Craig Jenkins has any concern about the characterization of his words, it should be with Vulture, not Saving Country Music.
Regardless of who wrote the original Vulture title and populated the URL, the original assertion remains and is now underscored by this latest article: Vulture and others did a disservice to the public, to country music, and to Kacey Musgraves by setting up unrealistic expectations of her work with irresponsible hyperbole, tried to use her record to create a political and cultural wedge between Musgraves and country fans, and did so with uninformed writers unqualified to make such assertions in the country music realm.
Since March, Kacey Musgraves and Golden Hour has continued to receive positive praise from within the country music community, including being nominated for the CMA Album of the Year, which will be handed out on November 14th. And if Kacey Musgraves wins the award, it will be because the country community itself has taken long stock of the album, balanced it between the other projects released before and subsequently, and have made a cool-minded decision on what album they want to present to the rest of the world as the genre’s best in 2018. Everything else, including Vulture‘s conflating of political issues with Kacey’s music—which is against Kacey’s wishes—is simply uninformed hyperbolic noise.
Again, sorry for the sidebar. But the smearing of Saving Country Music was incorrect, and the record needed to be set straight. Thankfully, Vulture just did that.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:38 am
I said this six or so months ago and I’ll say it again: I’ve hated the mainstream characterization of Kacey Musgraves’ album as the best country album of 2018, especially by music journalists that know nothing about the genre and want to play tokenism with their year end list picks.
But I will say there’s a hilarious sort of irony that the pushback has come from Jenkins, given how two years ago he went on Anthony Fantano’s podcast and flat out accused him of not understanding hip hop culture and being ineligible to speak on it, which Fantano was very much able to break down as indeed having done his research. Love to see the hypocrisy on display here.
Also, am I the only one who feels Musgraves’ auburn has faded a lot this year. I mean, I’m still a fan, but in terms of even pop country Caitlyn Smith is running circles around her.
October 8, 2018 @ 11:42 am
“Space Cowboy” is the only song from Golden Hour that still hits me on the head every time. You’re right–much of the album hasn’t held up over time.
October 8, 2018 @ 11:20 pm
gotta respectfully disagree with you both . I have Caitlin Smith’s album ..LOVE IT. For my money ,though , it isn’t as accessible , as commercial ,as universal in song sentiment, as inventive , as melodic , as focused and as song- centric as KM’s Golden Hour .
Again …I love CS’s record but I think it lives or dies by her INCREDIBLE vocal gift …not so much the ‘legs’ of her melodies or lyrics whereas KC’s record , while arguably NOT the vocal tour-de-force of CS’s , most certainly is the record which resonates most with listeners due to the shared lyric sentiments and strong melodic hooks . Both are , indeed , timeless records and don’t chase trend ……both serve up their uniquely different vibes sonically , and both are more honest than most of what mainstream country is trying to hawk……but personally speaking I’m loving the place KC’s Golden Hour still takes me to 8 months after its release and God knows how many listens .
Yup ….it holds up alright .Just like ALL of KC’s songs . They’re designed to .
October 9, 2018 @ 7:31 am
…..and BTW …I wouldn’t consider either of these records COUNTRY records . They are just both better than 95% of what’s out there for the aforementioned reasons , IMO .
October 8, 2018 @ 12:30 pm
Craig Jenkins has a serious credibility problem. He told me to send him a private email which I did, then he immediately tried to blackmail me by saying he would take my private email public if I didn’t meet his demands, which he eventually did. No harm to me, because there was nothing in the email that was in any way damning, and I wrote it knowing full well it may end up in the public domain, as I do everything I write. This isn’t my first time at the rodeo. But it shows a lack of truthfulness, and his insatiable desire for acceptance on Twitter, even so much that he would lie and take my email public simply because he needed content for his Twitter feed, and someone to demonize. And this is supposed to be a professional blue-checkmarked journalist. There’s too many journalists these days who are trying to make themselves the stars.
October 9, 2018 @ 6:46 am
I think you’re being generous calling this clown a “journalist”. Sounds more like a extreme leftist word assassin, trying to undermine country musics cultural relevance because he believes it to be too white and conservative.
October 11, 2018 @ 11:26 am
“insatiable desire for acceptance on Twitter”
It drives so many things besides journalism these days. Quite a destructive force for public figures if they’re not smart or careful.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:39 pm
I’m kinda feeling the same way. I loved Golden Hour for a while, but I haven’t gone back to it for at least a few months. Starfire is definitely better, and so is Lori McKenna’s The Tree.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:38 am
“Golden Hour” is a country classic in the vein of such other iconic country records like Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and any of the best works of country legends like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:47 am
You’re bang on JF!
October 8, 2018 @ 5:51 pm
OMG! That is hilarious.
And all of those are more country than Kane Brown.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:40 am
I don’t keep up with Kacey much at all, and this is the first I’m hearing about her being a gay icon. Is she actually gay or is she an advocate. I don’t care either way. Just curious. And just for the sheer fun of it, and to see the maelstrom that would ensue, you should review the next hardcore rap album that comes out.
October 8, 2018 @ 9:01 am
If Kacey Musgraves is gay, she has yet to disclose this to the public. She is also married, to a man, which would mean she doesn’t identify as gay primarily.
But artists like Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlie, Trixie Mattel, Sarah Shook, and many others do identify as gay or non-binary. I am not gay myself, so it’s probably not my place to say who should or shouldn’t be considered a gay icon, and I understand the whole “Follow Your Arrow” tie-in with Musgraves. But in my opinion, it’s a bit insulting to pass over actual gay country artists who are making great music and are successful to name a straight person a gay icon, if not even a bit homophobic. And I thought we were supposed to look past sexual orientation? But of course, that doesn’t fulfill Vulture’s agenda of portraying country music as a bastion of homophobia and discrimination, despite Shane McAnally being the most powerful songwriter and producer in the entire business, and many gay artists making strides in the genre (while being ignored by outlets like Vulture). I’m not saying there’s not homophobia in mainstream country. I would guarantee there is. But I think massive progress has been made in the last few years, and highlighting gay artists would be one way to help forward that progress. But that’s not what Vulture is looking for here. More than anything, calling Kacey Musgraves a gay icon just underscores the obsequious celebrity worship that has permeated music media, with outright Stans populating major positions in the media, and forwarding an agenda based off of politics and fandom as opposed to the quality or power of the music. Kacey Musgraves played a whole set at the New York Festival, and Vulture had not one word about it, what she played, how the crowd received it, etc. Instead they focused on a brief exchange with the crowd because of the political quotient. The media is using artists like Kacey Musgraves as pawns to forward a biased political agenda.
I personally think that Kacey Musgraves is a sum positive for country music. But politicizing her music is not helpful to anybody.
October 8, 2018 @ 9:37 am
Interesting.
October 9, 2018 @ 10:28 pm
“Kacey Musgraves played a whole set at the New York Festival, and Vulture had not one word about it, what she played, how the crowd received it, etc.”
Maybe she wasn’t well-received and they didn’t want to report that because it didn’t bolster their claims about her.
I saw her open for Little Big Town at Irving Plaza in NYC 5 years ago. Notwithstanding her outstanding vocal performance, she was borderline surly to the crowd. Truly terrible rapport, she looked annoyed to have to grace us with her presence. (Meanwhile, I saw Chris Janson at the now defunct Opry City Stage, and he said NYC is his favorite city in the world. I’ll let y’all judge if he was being disingenuous or not, but he definitely won over the audience.)
October 11, 2018 @ 11:30 am
I watched an episode of Crossroads a few years ago with Kacey and Katy Perry. Kacey seems so awkward on stage especially compared to Perry who seemed born to perform. Perry did a better performance of Kacey’s songs than Kacey herself did.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
She’s married and clearly loves men, but she is a big supporter of gay rights and one of her writing partners is gay. They also are referring to the whole “Follow Your Arrow” lyrics.
October 8, 2018 @ 5:58 pm
She is not a gay icon. To get that status you have have been around for a lot longer than she has. And also true gay icons have some serious scandals and/or are train wrecks like Britney Speares or Cher.
Musgrave’s may be embraced by the community but truthfully the word “gay icon” as it used to mean is becoming a thing of the past because nowadays every queer or queer friendly musicians gets called a gay icon. The queer community has more visibility and wider acceptance in the mainstream these days so the need for larger than life icons to speak up for the community is less important. So we have fewer modern what I would call TRUE gay icons.
Also that is very click-bait headline to cite her as a gay icon, is clearly meant to rile up the anti-GBTQ country fans.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:22 pm
Exactly. One of my assertions from the beginning has been that the media tried to use Kacey Musgraves as a wedge, or a weapon against what they perceive as country music’s closed-minded and stuffy fan base. This is unfair to Kacey Musgraves because she did not ask for her music or persona to be used in this way. I wrote a dedicated article about this (linked above) when she said outright that she wanted this album to bring people together, and purposely avoided political subject matter, like “Follow Your Arrow.” But since the media has such a dim view of country, and feels like it needs to fit a wedge between the artists and the fans that adore them, they’re straight up making things up, or twisting words, like Rolling Stone did with their Eric Church cover story.
Perhaps Kacey Musgraves enjoys being considered a “gay Icon,” and as I said, since I’m not gay, I’m not going to say who should or shouldn’t be labeled with that term because I think that would be disrespectful to the gay community. But I do have an opinion on it, and my opinion is that “gay icon” should be reserved for gay country artists who could benefit way more from that label and attention than Kacey Musgraves.
October 11, 2018 @ 10:39 am
you don’t have to be around a long time to be a gay icon, case in point look how fast the gay community embraced Lady Gaga within her first album.
October 9, 2018 @ 7:59 am
I saw her do a show a couple of years ago in Atlanta. It was hard not to notice that there was what seemed to be an inordinate amount of what appeared to be same sex couples. But after seeing the the stage show, and some of the extravagant stage outfits, I was able to come to the conclusion that I could see where she might be a gay icon in the same way Modonna, Lady gaga, Cher and even Dolly have become over the years. I think it has something to do with how well they translate into being drag queen caricatures.
October 8, 2018 @ 9:26 am
I get the cause for concern and journalistic integrity needs to be upheld by all parties, so I always applaud you, Trig, for writing well thought out responses and promoting more nuanced discussions rather than flat out name calling and Twitter death matches. And slightly related to this topic, I feel like call out culture these days has gotten a bit out of control.
But anyway, I think it’s safe to say 6 months later (and as the year is nearing a close) that Kacey is firmly still in the running for best album of 2018. Some artists and albums do get prematurely hyped up, but in Kacey’s case these songs have only gotten better with time.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:34 pm
The irony is, Craig Jenkins refuted and distanced from the opinion that “Golden Hour” is one of the best albums in 2018 to save face when pressure mounted, while also throwing his editors under the bus. Looks like the editors returned the favor with the new article.
October 8, 2018 @ 10:04 am
A little side note: Kacey Musgraves is one of the duet-partners on the new Ronnie Milsap album called The Duets (Release: 01/18/2019 on G-Force/Riser House Records).
She is singing “No Getting Over Me” with Ronnie Milsap. The song is available since 09/28.
The other duets: Dolly Parton (“Smokey Mountain Rain”), Willie Nelson (“A Woman’s Love” – released), George Strait (“Houston Solution”) & LBT on “Lost In The Fifties” + Billy Gibbons, Montgomery Gentry, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Leon Russell, Steven Curtis Chapman, Lucy Angel & Jessie Kay.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:10 pm
Is Montgomery still using that band name? Kinda weird but also deeply respectful.
October 8, 2018 @ 1:05 pm
In a recent interview, Eddie said that long ago he and Troy talked about how they promised one another that they would keep the band going if something ever happened to one of them, which is why Eddie is still performing as “Montgomery Gentry.” Some show posters highlight his performances as “Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry.”
October 8, 2018 @ 10:25 am
Actually… Dying Star, the new record by Kacy’s husband Ruston Kelly is probably one of the best albums you will hear this year! Get it, and listen for yourself! I live in Nashville and there is a huge amount of CRAP that is released on a steady basis coming outta music row, BUT… I’m actually proud to live in a town that has produced artists like Kacy Musgraves & Ruston Kelly, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Chris Stapleton, the very much overlooked Mathew Ryan, Elizabeth Cook, The Mark Robinson Band, Will Kimbrough, Justin Townes Earle And Todd Snider. Not to mention non household names like… Malcom Holcomb, Tommy Womack, Tim Carroll, Aaron Lee Tasjan! And up and comers Delta Rae ( They’re definitely worth checking out! ) and Snider’s East Side Bulldogs, and big timers like Old Crow Medicine Show, plus many more! All of these artists are just that… Artists!
Look people, Country Purist is just BULLSHIT… fodder to sell what the corporate country music “BUSINESS” wants you to drink cheap beer and drive pickup trucks to! Don’t buy into the hyped up shit those greedy bastards who don’t know a lick about what real music is about sell you! Those guys should get a clue! Regardless of what the “Country music machine” wants shove down your throat don’t buy it!
Country is a genre, as is Americana, and genres are Bullshit! Music made by incredibly talented people is real! So dispell with all the goddamn labels and go hear some real music played by real people… and if you like their music, then support them by going to their shows and buying their merch! And here’s another heads up… Josh Headley is another guy to watch, not to forget Liz Longley who is also just a wonderful singer songwriter… there is so much good stuff out ! Seek and ye shall find! And remember… Life is way too short to drink shitty beer and to fill your head with shitty lowest common denominator Country Music from Music Row! Dig deeper friends! That’s where the Treasures lay!
Also … check out The War & The Treaty. Saw the at The Cannery Ballroom during Americanafest and they blew the roof offa the place! And lastly… American Aquarium! Their set at 3rd & Lindsey, also during Americanafest, was revelatory! A powerhouse band
with solid songwriting and superb musicianship!
And look… it’s not lost on me that this site is called
Saving Country Music… but in the simplest of terms music is music, there’s great new artists and vital new music out every day, be it whatever label it’s placed under! Go see a show, and decide for yourself what you dig and don’t dig! Don’t let some corporate muckity muck tell you what you should or should not listen to or what Country music is or isn’t… you’ve got ears, decide for yourself! That being said, don’t listen to me either! The artist I’ve mentioned here are some of my favorites and I thought worth mentioning… so check em out if you’re so inclined and if not… it’s your thing, do what ya wanna do!
October 9, 2018 @ 5:39 am
If you’re a War and Treaty fan, I urge you to take a few minutes to read this article. It outlines Michael Trotter’s time in the military and how it resulted in him learning to play piano. Simply one of the most fascinating and moving stories I’ve ever heard. I listened to it on a Sirius XM interview which went a little more in depth but no different, this article outlines just how incredible of a story it really is.
http://www.realclearlife.com/music/michael-trotter-jr-found-voice-one-saddams-bombed-palaces/
October 8, 2018 @ 10:26 am
I love Kacey, but anyone who thinks Golden Hour is the best country album of the year clearly hasn’t heard Sarah Shook & The Disarmers.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:25 pm
I do not think Golden Hour is the best country album of the year, but I will say it is more enjoyable than Sarah Shook’s latest. Dont get me wrong, it’s not bad, but Golden Hour is much more accessible and I think more replayable
October 8, 2018 @ 11:24 pm
love Sarah ….but YES , Benjamin
October 9, 2018 @ 6:04 am
I agree that in a broad sense, Golden Hour is more accessible. It strikes me as an easy listening adult contemporary album, which is more accessible than an unvarnished, punk inspired, hard country album by a singer whose voice is an acquired taste (I have acquired it).
October 9, 2018 @ 6:30 am
I have found a lot of more punk inspired americana/folk music is not very appealing to people who listen to “country music” (and I dont even mean pop or bro-country listeners, even though they’re included. I mean people-who-like-George-Strait-type of listeners) I try to get people into Sarah Shook, The Devil Makes 3, etc but they just get turned off almost immediately. Idk why, people just dont seem to have an open mind to other influences unless its pop… (I’m looking at you FGL listeners)
October 12, 2018 @ 7:16 am
Right. I’ve observed that as well from comments here from people who seem to be country music fans only or maybe first. My path to country music was through rootsy rock and roll and I also liked a good amount of punk/new wave/pub rock back in the day (e.g.,The Clash, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Pretenders, Tom Robinson Band), so I tend to like a lot of rock and even punk rock infused countryish music. However, being an old rock guy, I don’t tend to go much for pop influenced country, even the good stuff. I find that I’ll like about half to three quarters or so of what I hear from legends like George Strait and Alan Jackson, but I love a lot of harder country music that might fall under such subgenres as bluegrass, old timey, honky tonk, outlaw and western swing. And what I like from those legends like Strait and Jackson tends to be their more traditional stuff. Personal taste.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
Hahahahaha, holy shit i’m dying. Sarah Shook, man, i won’t say anything but for the life of me i cannot hear what any of you hear in her music. It’s so boring, and her voice is grating as hell.
October 9, 2018 @ 6:17 am
That’s right. You can’t hear why some of us love it. Then again, you have declared an easy listening album as the best of the year, so I’m not surprised.
October 8, 2018 @ 4:03 pm
I don’t think either are “Country” but at least you don’t fall asleep with Sarah Shook.
Kacey is great for the dentist office.
October 8, 2018 @ 4:20 pm
Listening to Sarah Shook sing for an entire album is like ignoring a bad wheel bearing. It just isn’t going to get better–it’ll only get worse.
There’s something to be said about technically bad singers who have pleasant voices (Ben Nichols, anyone?) or rough-edged singers whose voices you grow to love over time (I’m looking at you, Chris Knight), but Sarah Shook flat out sounds terrible. There’s no getting around it. Now, before you bash me for not being open to her music, I feel the exact same way about Hank3. I understand they both make great music. I can’t get around their voices.
October 8, 2018 @ 5:16 pm
Guess its a vanilla/chocolate thing. Springsteen, Dylan and Neil Young aren’t technically great singers, but I dig them too.
October 8, 2018 @ 10:56 am
Well done Trigger. The only nitpick thing I would point out is this:
“Vulture… tried to use her record to create a political and cultural wedge between Musgraves and country fans.”
Though I know what you mean, that statement implies that all country music fans lean right and wouldn’t appreciate what Musgraves is doing. Sure, there is that element out there, and on your page, but FWIW, I see mostly support for her on that front.
I’m totally fine with what she is doing, hate politics in media, and think that album is good, but not the best of the year by a long shot. It might win though, and I can already see people trying to rub that in your face.
October 8, 2018 @ 11:30 am
Also, though I may not characterize him as a country music expert, I’m not sure he is a “hip-hop journalist.” I briefly looked through his twitter feeds well as a link to what he thinks are the best albums of 2018 so far (October) and its pretty diverse. Including Amanda Shires, Arctic Monkeys, Courtney Barnett, etc.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:07 pm
Caveated with “so far”, too.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:20 pm
I think it’s more along the lines of mainstream media perceiving the country music community as right leaning, and that’s why they push these agendas. And that’s why these agendas always fail, because the community is quite a mixed bag these days, and even some right leaning fans couldn’t care less about orientation, me included.
I really believe there’s no such thing as right and left purists anymore for the most part.
October 8, 2018 @ 12:27 pm
Yeah I agree, and understand what the perception of country music is by the mainstream. If we are going to complain about mischaracterizations though, I don’t think we should make mischaracterizations ourselves. Similar to calling Craig a “hip-hop journalist.”
October 8, 2018 @ 11:29 am
It seems this is mostly a formal, long-form response to insincerity and posturing on social media (which I’m not on, and thus a bit in the dark here), but goddamn if this wasn’t inspiring, Trig!
October 8, 2018 @ 11:42 am
This is the worst thing that has ever happened to America.
And a Twitter war, too!
Thoughts and prayers.
October 8, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
Kacey was fun on Ellen. Its nice to see a female country singer who has an actual personality. She’s doing a great job too in building her fan base locally and internationally. She spends a lot of time interacting with fans on SM and yes she has a massive gay following.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:26 pm
The way he fawns over Kacey Musgraves reminds me of the way you fawn over Miranda Lambert.
October 8, 2018 @ 7:03 pm
I like my peanut butter and chocolate together.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:34 pm
Golden Hour is still the best album of the year, in any genre. And here we are in October. I don’t expect that to change unless the Pistol Annies wreck my soul.
1. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour
2. Ashley Monroe – Sparrow
3. Caitlyn Smith – Starfire
4. Ruston Kelly – Dying Star
5. Amanda Shires – To The Sunset
6. Randall King – Self Titled
7. Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain
8. Lori McKenna – The Tree
9. Christine & The Queens – Chris
10. Lukas Nelson – Forget About Georgia
October 8, 2018 @ 3:55 pm
Decent list IMO overall for country leaning music, though I disagree with number 1. Ever considered the words “in my opinion” or “I think” prior to saying what is and isn’t? You could say it’s implied, but still.
Is that list also “any genre?” To say of any genre is pretty presumptuous, unless you’re fully immersed in Jazz, Classical, World, Electonic, plus all the usual suspects…
October 8, 2018 @ 7:48 pm
I really don’t see the point of this comment. Are you trying to tell me that my subjective taste in music isn’t objective and that I haven’t heard every album released this year across every genre?
Thanks for pointing that out to me? I have a lot to think about here today.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:39 pm
Golden Hour is still the best album so far in 2018.
Kacey Musgraves is a gay icon and you thinking a gay icon has to be gay to be one is a mess. Carrie Fisher, Madonna, Judy Garland, David Beckham, and Dolly Parton are all straight; gay icons to name a few.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:32 pm
“you thinking a gay icon has to be gay to be one is a mess.”
As I said, I do not think it’s my place to name who gets to be a gay icon because I’m not gay, just like I would never name the best album in hip-hop on March 30th as a country writer. I just have too much respect for the gay community and hip hop to interject my vote in matters I’m not informed about. That said, I still hold the right to have an opinion, and it’s my opinion that there are some excellent gay country artists out there like Brandy Clark and Brandi Carlile that could benefit from that label and also happen to be gay. I’m not calling them gay icons (I thought we were supposed to be looking beyond people’s sexual orientation anyway), but I just feel to add my 2 cents that there are actually gay country stars, and they could use more attention.
October 8, 2018 @ 3:59 pm
How does a straight white girl become a “Noted Gay Icon” ?
I guess by saying they love glitter,doing all you can to look and dress like Katy Perry, and asking the oh so original question “Where’s My Gays At” while singing “Follow Your Arrow”
October 8, 2018 @ 4:08 pm
Or how about just having music and an aesthetic that appeals to an LGBTQ audience? That whole being supportive of the cause even if it means you get shit for it from super conservative country music fans might also have something to do with it.
October 8, 2018 @ 5:13 pm
The list of reasons I want Kacey Musgraves to vanish and stop making music just keeps getting longer and longer.
When will this ridiculous stuff end?
Guess it goes to show you the type of people who listen to songs like “Biscuits”
Best country album? PFFFFFFT that idea bites the big hairy meatball.
Stapleton? a purist? now you’re just making stuff up
I swear the only think more absurd than her lyrics is some of the stuff people make up whenever she comes up in conversation.
Sort of like hipsters, but really embarrassing ones
October 8, 2018 @ 6:09 pm
At the risk of overgeneralizing, it seems this is fairly typical of someone from a large coastal city telling everyone what is right and/or wrong with the rest of America, and if someone dares disagree with them, the echo chamber and loyal Twitterbots attack.
October 8, 2018 @ 8:35 pm
It’s incredible how the defense of Craig Jenkins has been almost solely perpetrated by blue checkmerked members of the media on Twitter. Whether it’s sports, politics, movies, etc., it’s the blue checkmark brigade that believes they’re morally superior, above criticism, and can flat out lie like Craig Jenkins did without having to face repercussions. It really is incredible.
October 9, 2018 @ 10:49 am
Kacy Musgraves has been the toast of every major indie rock blog all year, including Stereogum, Pitchfork etc., just an avalanche of gushing reviews and articles, and I’ve been struggling to understand why exactly. I mean, the music seems fine (highly produced soft-core pop) but not entirely revolutionary or anything. I guess I wasn’t reading carefully enough into it.
Now I know. Politics. Can’t help but think Sturgill was also heavily promoted in non-country outlets for the same reason, for a long time. His perceived lefty politics.
October 9, 2018 @ 1:20 pm
Am I the only one who sees Kacey as this generation’s Linda Ronstadt? Country-ish, soft pop with such a naturally soothing voice. I love that she’s distancing herself from lowball pop starlets like Lauren Alaina or Ballerini. She can kind of do anything and be successful at it. I happen to love this new album and its sound. And I am COUNTRY MUSIC fan.
October 9, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
I like that description a lot.
October 11, 2018 @ 12:39 pm
I can’t really read through all of the backstory and various articles from across the web, but I can say this: when I was in college in California, far away from my humble North Texas roots, the early Avett Brothers and Turnpike records kept me alive. Kacey came along right as I wrapped up and set out into the real world, totally lost from my time in California and not quite country enough to go get a job in petroleum and marry someone I went to high school with. There was something so profoundly comforting about the “self-aware southerner” writing that all of them offered me.
Then she followed it up with the incredible ‘Pageant Material,’ which was musically flawless and contained tons of lines for people who also grew up in small towns but somehow had a worldly enough perspective to know how funny small town life can be. It made me feel a lot better about the choices I had made and the world that I came from. Hell, she even threw a direct jab at Nashville (“another wheel in a Big Machine”) in there, even as she continued to Instagram her new house and sparkly wonder world in Nashville. Her Christmas album was something fun and surprisingly substantial, and I missed her performance at Billy Bob’s with hometown hero Leon Bridges because what should have been a relationship with the girl I was going to marry was instead imploding all around me.
Golden Hour, though, lost me completely. It has some good lines, some twinges of the voice and musicality that made me feel safe in my identity as hopelessly country but also not that simple at all, but it is a record made for people who think Taylor Swift is better now than she was a decade ago. To me, the only thing more obvious than Kacey making another Linda Ronstadt-esque country record with Nudie Suits and clever phrases was Kacey making a full on dream-pop record that almost feels like it uses its relationship to the country genre ironically. As if you can look back and smirk and sprinkle rainbow unicorns all over your back catalog and suddenly everyone will be along for the ride.
I’m all for her outlook on life and her love of all people and all things sparkly, but Golden Hour really bummed me out. I’m a straight white dude with a slight Texas drawl who wears hiking boots every day of the year, and I used to be an unabashed Kacey Musgraves fan. I still am when it comes to her first two records, but I can’t say that there’s a single song off Golden Hour that will ever affect me the way every song off her first two albums did. It comes as no surprise to me that heady coastal critics think GH is a work of genius; to them, it is proof that “even country is woke now.” Because talking about weed and acid and gay rights is somehow more enlightened than writing about heartbreak, backstabbing, love, loss, and finding your way in a confusing-ass world.
Then there are the orchestral arrangements on Golden Hour, which are admittedly gorgeous from a musical point of view, but lose much of what made Kacey so special. The girl can play guitar and sing, and it was a bummer to find that she’s hiding all of that behind digitzed string flourishes and shoegaze reverb effects. I get that it’s art and that all musicians change and evolve, but I guess what perturbed me so much about Golden Hour and its critical reception was that it highlighted to me the same conundrum that everyone from Sturgill to Father John Misty have encountered in recent years. The more you troll people and do something predictably unpredictable, the more critics will suddenly ‘get’ you; which then feeds your appetite for irony and your true fans’ sense that nobody, like, actually gets you, man.
I’m glad Kacey got to make the record she wanted to make. I’m going to put it on now so I can reflect on it after reading and writing all of this. I just wish the media didn’t declare people genius once they dumb down their message. Remember when Eminem rapped about killing gay people and most of the media thought he was the Devil Incarnate while his true fans knew he was actually calling out homophobes in the hip hop community? For some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that everyone suddenly celebrating Kacey is a strange inverse of that. Once she sings about drugs and talks openly about themes she’s actually written cleverly about for over five years (and removes the banjo and upright bass from her songs), the media declares her the best thing to happen to music since Oasis.
Last thing: a few weeks ago, Kacey did a few of her new songs with her band ‘unplugged’ for her Instagram audience, and they sounded phenomenal. Her songwriting, voice, and arrangements are world class. I just wish the big-city music critics (and major award shows) didn’t reward people so much for abandoning their roots. Much as people at my west coast liberal arts college would pat me on the back and patronizingly say, “It’s so cool that you escaped Texas,” it feels as though Big Music Media is telling Kacey, “We’re so proud you’re like, not actually country anymore.”
I moved to the woods of Arkansas after college. Here’s hoping Kacey follows her arrow wherever it goes.
October 13, 2018 @ 4:53 pm
Ugh…Kacey Musgraves is just godawful..
Utterly forgettable songs…hokey lyrics..mediocre singing at best.
Linda Ronstadt on the other hand is an ICON.
She is a musical giant who will be revered for light years to come.
Kacey will be lucky if anyone gives a shit 5 years from now.