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Galliger

Jenna Galliger

ENG 1201-121

Dr. Cassel

20 January 2020

Summary of “Our Freshest Pop and Country Superstar Is Not the Usual Kind of Outlaw” by

Lizzy Goodman

According to Lizzy Goodman’s article Our Freshest Pop and Country Superstar Is Not

the Usual Kind of Outlaw Kacey Musgraves is a country artist who has a more independent and

wild personality that makes her stand out. She is not afraid to do what she wants and a lot of her

songs are about going against society.

A few weeks before Kacey Musgraves would win a Grammy, she was able to relax and

have some time to herself due to one of her shows being canceled due to by bad weather

conditions. This allowed her to catch up on some of her T.V shows, read a book, and watch some

YouTube videos. After accepting her award at the Grammys she gave a speech that talked about

how life is very chaotic for everyone right now, but that is also the reason why art seems to be

growing lately.

Musgraves is well known for pushing social norms and supporting many social

movements like the Women’s March and the L.G.B.T community. She has explained that her

inspiration to her album is about how the Earth sees like a boring thing, but actually there are

many interesting and beautiful things that happen all around people. She has written many songs

over many social issues like feminism and L.G.B.T rights, some of her more well-known songs

she wrote while being on acid because it allowed her to see things from different perspectives.

The reason why Musgraves is such a popular artist right now is because she is able to find some
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positivity in a time where music has gotten darker and depressing. She is able to portray in her

music that there is a chance that society will change and be better.

Growing up in Texas in a small town called Golden, Musgraves credits her parents for

her independent personality. Her parents owned their own printing shop, which meant they were

their own bosses. Her sister always believed Musgrave would be a singer at some point in her

life. While growing up she like the spice girls, her favorite being Ginger because of her wilder

personality. She tended to listen to more emo and punk songs, but she would play very different

music like Western swing and yodeling.

During one of her first big performances Musgraves was advised to sing a safe song that

was not about drugs and kissing. She decided against it because she believes that people should

do what they want because society will judge no matter what. It has always been her dream to

make music, perform, and be a star, but she also believes that she would be happy if she did not

have any of that in her life. She has already planned out her 2020. She hopes to have another

album released but finds it a little intimidating that there is already an album release date without

any of the songs even recorded.

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Works Cited

Goodman, Lizzy. “Our Freshest Pop and Country Superstar Is Not the Usual
Kind of Outlaw.” The New York Times, 2019.