Culture / Entertainment

Kacey Musgraves Jumps From Oscars to Houston Rodeo With Super Sweet Homage to Selena

This Emerging Music Mega Star Shows Her Fearless Side in Head-Turning Night

BY // 02.26.19

Kacey Musgraves’ landmark 2018 record Golden Hour was such a satisfying rebirth it was easy to take for granted. The Texas-raised, Nashville-based country star always beat to the tune of her own drum (or yee’d to the tune of her own haw), but Golden Hour racked up nearly unanimous critical raves, culminating with her recent Grammy win for Album of the Year, a star-making moment if there ever was one.

Musgraves even earned the hipster seal of approval, with Golden Hour earning top spots from publications as diverse as Pitchfork, Spin and The Fader. What made such a wistful collection of country-inflected songs cross over so fully was Musgraves did it her way.

She didn’t have to cheekily play to pop fans, like the country-rap of Sam Hunt — and she didn’t crassly telegraph her crossover attempt in the way Taylor Swift did when she transitioned into pop with 2012’s Red.

Golden Hour is mature, assured and subtly progressive, and surely enough Musgraves brought that same energy as the smart choice to kick off this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

In a head-turning white bodysuit and bouffant ‘do, Musgraves, in her characteristically laid-back way, commanded the Rodeo’s signature rotating star-shaped stage with effortless swagger. Coming straight from a surprise appearance at the Oscars, not to mention off of four Grammys, Musgraves deserves that swagger.

She’s confident enough to let the songs do the heavy lifting. Instead of performing to the back row, she opened her brisk hour-long set with Golden Hour’s first song, the appropriately named “Slow Burn.”

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Musgraves followed that with the mid-tempo ode to managing expectations “Wonder Woman,” then said she would mostly be playing songs from Golden Hour. She stayed true to her word.

The classical songwriting of that album translated well live, from the simmering honeymoon waltz “Butterflies” to the lovesick “Velvet Elvis,” complete with stops at Miranda Lambert (a rambunctious take on “Mama’s Broken Heart”) and Brooks and Dunn (a wildly imaginative cover of “Neon Moon” set in the same hazy musical world as the LSD-inspired Golden Hour).

Of course, the moment that everyone will be talking about was Kacey Musgraves’ note-perfect take on Selena’s “Como la Flor,” a performance she teased a few times leading up to her Houston Rodeo moment. The song, dropped in the middle of her set, got the at-times restless rainy Monday night crowd of 53,031 rocking.

It was a beautiful homage to the Houston Rodeo’s most significant contribution to the broader cultural imagination, Selena Quintanilla’s iconic 1995 performance at the Astrodome, which would be her final performance ever.

It’s Kacey Musgraves’ World

Musgraves is keenly plotting her own global takeover. She performed at the Grammys, flew to the Oscars, was on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and is courting her non-traditional fans with pitch-perfect Selena covers.

In a setting where performances can sometimes feel rote, Musgraves trusting her country roots and leaning into her sharp songwriting and clear, restrained vocals made NRG Stadium feel like Gilley’s.

Kacey Musgraves Houston Rodeo
Fresh off her surprise Oscars appearance, Kacey Musgraves seized her Rodeo moment. (Photo courtesy Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo)

The set concluded with “High Horse,” the disco-flavored highlight of Golden Hour. Not since “Islands in the Stream” has a country song made you want to hit the roller-rink with such fervor — and before literally exiting the stage by climbing atop a horse, Musgraves implored the crowd: “This is your last chance to sing with me!” Many obliged.

With such a confident, fun, easygoing set, Musgraves opened the diverse lineup of the 2019 Houston Rodeo with glorious aplomb. If Green Book’s dispiriting Best Picture win had you down, it was nice to feel at home after an on-the-mark rendition of Musgraves’ weed- and LGBTQ-friendly anthem “Follow Your Arrow.”

As my friend turned to me and said after she finished that song: “We stan a woke queen.”

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