Kacey Musgraves Talks Quirky Christmas Album, New Willie Nelson Duet
“I’ve always loved a theme,” admits Kacey Musgraves, by way of explaining her first-ever holiday album, A Very Kacey Christmas, released today. “If there is a theme, I love to set the scene, create a world and get inspired by that world.”
Musgraves, who scored her fourth straight Female Vocalist nomination at this year’s CMAs, has spent the past few months in her own, very unique world – the one she created onstage for her glitzy Country & Western Rhinestone Review. With that tour wrapped up, the quirky Texas singer-songwriter is preparing for her new album’s accompanying Christmas trek, kicking off November 26th and hitting cities from Nashville to New York. (On Monday night, she’ll perform on the CMA Country Christmas special, airing on ABC.)
“It’ll be magical wonderland of Christmas songs: classics, old and new, and some of the ones I wrote for the album, and some of my own songs,” she tells Rolling Stone Country of the production. “I’m touring with a bigger band than I ever have. It’ll be more of a musical experience than my normal show, but very classic and festive.”
A Very Kacey Christmas mirrors that aesthetic, a mix of chestnuts like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Let It Snow,” and more culturally diverse fare like “Feliz Navidad” and “Mele Kalikimaka.” A decidedly Latin and Hawaiian sound runs throughout the album. “It’s very me. There are Spanish moments, Hawaiian moments, very Bing Crosby moments,” says Musgraves, “but at the end of the day, you think, ‘That was very her.'”
The highlight of the project, however, is an original song: “A Willie Nice Christmas,” which features Musgraves’ spirit guide Willie Nelson. Written by Musgraves with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, the track is an irreverent look at an, ahem, green Christmas, with Nelson on vocals and guitar. (Listen to the song below.)
“He’s such a good sport,” she says of working with the country-music icon. “I was driving around one day churning with Christmas ideas, and I thought, ‘Have a Willie nice Christmas’ would be a great song and I bet I could get Willie to play on it.’ It’s got a fun, reggae, country, Hawaiian vibe and it’s perfect because Willie lives in Hawaii.”
As the Red Headed Stranger might say, “Mele Kalikimaka, y’all.”