• NEWS AND NOTES: Kacey, Lauren, Maddie & Tae, Josh and more

    Kacey Musgraves appears on the cover of the new issue of Glamour magazine on newsstands now. Check out the cover story here.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BvkBcvCnIq6/

    Lauren Alaina, Maddie & Tae and Josh Turner are among the artists performing at CMT’s Sweetest Summer Celebration presented by DQ on Sunday (March 31st) at Nashville’s Cumberland Park.

    Don’t forget to tune in to the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday. Brothers Osborne are set to perform their latest song, “I Don’t Remember Me [Before You]” on the show.

    Lauren Alaina will perform at this year’s Nashville Meets London Music Festival July 27th.Nashville Meets London is an international entertainment brand providing opportunities and supporting the globalization of Americana and Country music. The brand’s mission is to expand on the cultural and economic exchange of music while driving more synergy between the recording and live performance industries in the United States and the United Kingdom. It takes place at Canary Wharf in London.

  • LUKE, CARRIE, KACEY, KEITH, JON, JORDAN AND MORE ARE “NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL COUNTRY” ARTISTS.

    The track list has just been announced for the new edition of Now That’s What I Call Country, Volume 12. The collection includes 10 No. 1 songs, as well as several of today’s hottest country hits from some of your favorite country artists, including Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley with Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Thomas Rhett, Luke Combs and many more.

    The latest installment in the popular NOW series will be available March 29th and can be preordered here.

    Now That’s What I Call Country Vol. 12 Track Listing:

    1. Kacey Musgraves                               Space Cowboy
    2. Luke Bryan                                         What Makes You Country
    3. Luke Combs                                        She Got The Best Of Me
    4. Kane Brown                                        Lose It
    5. Keith Urban                                        Never Comin’ Down
    6. Carrie Underwood                              Love Wins
    7. Tim McGraw                                      Neon Church
    8. Pistol Annies                                       Best Years Of My Life
    9. Old Dominion                                     Hotel Key
    10. Dierks Bentley f/Brothers Osborne    Burning Man
    11. Jordan Davis                                       Take It From Me
    12. Russell Dickerson                               Blue Tacoma
    13. Thomas Rhett                                     Sixteen
    14. Chris Young                                       Hangin’ On
    15. Dustin Lynch                                      Good Girl
    16. Jon Pardi                                             Night Shift
    17. Scotty McCreery                                 This Is It
    18. Midland                                              Burn Out

     

    NOW That’s What I Call Music is a joint venture from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. The multi-platinum NOW That’s What I Call Music! compilation series is the world’s best-selling multi-artist recorded music brand with sales topping 103 million in the U.S.  Now That’s What I Call Country Vol. 12 is distributed by Universal Music Group.

    Audio / Kacey Musgraves, who is making her way up the country charts with "Rainbow," talks about the story behind her song “Space Cowboy.”

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    Kacey Musgraves (Space Cowboy inspiration) OC: …include that. 1:20
    “The inspiration for ‘Space Cowboy’ was actually triggered by something that my horseback riding teacher, Lori, said to me one day. We were out at the arena and we were watching this stallion go totally crazy in the arena just galloping from one end to the other, just kind of losing its mind and being really reckless and really powerful. I watched it come charging toward me, and I was standing on the other side of the gate, and Lori was screaming at me, ‘Back up, back up! Move out of the way!’ And I really didn’t think anything of it. I said, ‘I’m on the other side of the gate. The gate’s closed. It doesn’t matter.’ She said, ‘Girl-when they wanna go, they’re gonna go. There ain’t no sense in closing the gate.’ That made a big impression on me and I wrote it down, and then ‘Space Cowboy’ came a couple of days later when I wrote it with Shane McAnally and Luke Laird. It just seemed to kind of apply itself in a metaphorical sense to a narrative that I’ve found myself in many times in my life. It’s a narrative that a lot of people I know can relate to. So, this song was very important song for me to include on the album, because though I am in a really happy place now, it’s not always been that way and it was important for me to include that.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan describes what makes him country.

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    Luke Bryan (what makes him country) OC: …small town. :37
    “I think that what makes me country is where I was raised — Leesburg, Georgia — how I was brought up saying ‘Yes sir,’ ‘No sir,’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘No, ma’am,’ hopefully with manners and raised with a work ethic and raised in the outdoors fishing and hunting and playing sports. But yeah, I would say definitely it starts with my small-town upbringing and how we were raised; church on Sundays as much as we could. But just enjoying life and living life in a small town.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Kacey, Jordan, Adam, Caylee and more

    Kacey Musgraves is set to perform on the iHeart Music Awards airing this Thursday (March 14th) on FOX beginning at 8pm ET.

    Jordan Davis, Adam Hambrick
    and Caylee Hammack have been announced to perform during the ACM Party for a Cause events leading up to this year’s ACM Awards in Las Vegas on April 7th. They’ll be joined by Jimmie Allen, Brantley Gilbert, Scotty McCreery, Tracy Lawrence, Carly Pearce, AJ McLean and Cassadee Pope among others. Previously announced artists include Darius Rucker, Lauren Alaina, Maddie & Tae and many others. The events support ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the ACM. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, go to PartyForaCause.com.

  • KACEY MUSGRAVES WILL BE HONORED AT VARIETY’S POWER OF WOMEN LUNCHEON IN NEW YORK NEXT MONTH.

    Kacey Musgraves is among the honorees at Variety’s sixth annual Power of Women luncheon. She will be joined by CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, supermodel Gig Hadid, actress Taraji P. Henson, the iconic Bette Midler and hosted by comedian Michelle Wolf.

    “Women continue to use the power of their voices to speak out about injustices of all kinds — and they are finally being heard,” said Claudia Eller, co-editor-in-chief of Variety. “Our honorees this year have used their influence and platforms to push for change and passionately advocate for others. We hope their work and dedication to social causes encourages future generations to do the same.”

    The event, presented by Lifetime, will take place April 5th at Cipriani Midtown in New York. Each of the honorees will appear on the front cover of the New York Women’s Issue on April 2nd in Los Angeles and on April 3rd in New York.

    Kacey, who recently took home four Grammy Awards and is nominated for three ACM Awards including Album of the Year for Golden Hour, is making her way up the country charts with “Rainbow.”

    Video /

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  • KACEY MUSGRAVES RECEIVES 2019 CMA INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

    The Country Music Association awarded Kacey Musgraves with the 2019 CMA International Artist Achievement Award Wednesday night (February 27th), surprising her backstage prior to her performance at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The award recognizes outstanding achievement by a United States-based artist who has demonstrated the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the Country Music industry outside of the United States during the eligibility period.

    Since her first visit to the U.K. in 2012, Musgraves has developed an international touring base, headlining C2C: Country to Country festival in 2018 and becoming the first Country artist to perform at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan before launching her own international headline tour in Oslo last fall, which included a performance at London’s Wembley Arena. This marks the second time Musgraves has received the CMA International Artist Achievement Award, previously winning in 2016.

    “Thank you so much to the CMA for honoring me with the International Artist Achievement Award. I absolutely love experiencing new cultures and playing overseas,” said Musgraves.

    “Kacey has made touring internationally a huge priority throughout her career,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve witnessed the international fanbase for Country Music expand immensely and we applaud Kacey for her continued engagement to reach Country fans around the globe.”

    The CMA International Awards honor industry executives and artists who have supported and made a difference towards the growth and promotion of Country Music in the international market place. Nominees are recognized in five categories acknowledging their dedication and efforts in growing opportunities for Country Music in their local territories.

    Winners for the four remaining 2019 CMA International Awards categories will be presented with their awards in March as CMA hosts several events in international territories including Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

    Kacey is making her way up the country charts with “Rainbow” from her award-winning album, Golden Hour.

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Kacey, Luke, Adam, Brothers O, Lauren

    Kacey Musgraves paid tribute to Selena at the Houston Rodeo on Monday (February 25th), singing “Como La Flor,” the last song the Queen of Tejano Music performed at her last show—the Houston Rodeo — almost exactly 24 years after Quintanilla-Pérez performed her last concert at the venue on February 26, 1995.

     

    Luke Bryan will join his fellow American Idol judges on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday (February 27th) and will follow that up with an appearance on Nightline on Thursday (February 28th) and Live with Kelly & Ryan on Friday (March 1st). They’ll stop by The View on Monday (March 4th). The new season of Idol premieres Sunday (March 3rd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

    Adam Hambrick will hit the road with Brett Young next month. The trek kicks off in Denver, Colorado on March 14th.

     

    Lauren Alaina has been tapped as the only country artist as part of the new Pandora Stories, which allows artists of various mediums — musicians, actors, athletes, authors and more — a different way to connect with fans. John Legend, Daddy Yankee and Perry Farrell are also participating.

    Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne will be featured on the cover of the April issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine.

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Luke, Kacey, Kip, Darius, Keith, LBT, Lauren, Clare, Kassi, Travis, Caylee

    Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry will be featured in a new half-hour American Idol special on ABC to air ahead of the 91st Oscars on Sunday (February 24th). In American Idol: A New Journey Begins, Seacrest sits down with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie to discuss the Season 2 return of the series and share a preview of this year’s crop of new talent. The panel also will answer fan questions and share behind-the-scenes secrets. It will air at 4pm ET Sunday. In addition, ABC will air a musical performance featuring some of the auditionees from the upcoming premiere episode to air during the live broadcast. The new season of American Idol will premiere March 3rd at 8pm ET.

    Speaking of the Oscars, don’t forget to tune-in on Sunday to watch Kacey Musgraves present at this year’s Oscars. The 91st Academy Awards will air live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday (February 24th) at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC.

    Kip Moore will be featured in a new special on the Audience Network on DirecTV/UVerse on March 1st, which will include performances from his show at L.A.’s Wiltern Theater, as well as footage from his Journey to Slowheart documentary. The special will air at 9pm ET/PT.

    Darius Rucker
     has been announced as the recipient of the Music Business Association’s Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for his years of charitable contributions, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and MUSC Children’s Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina (Darius’ hometown). He will accept the honor during the annual Music Biz 2019 Awards & Hall of Fame Dinner May 7th in Nashville. Previous recipients of the Humanitarian Award include Martina McBride, Melissa Etheridge, Annie Lennox and Bonnie Raitt, among others.

    Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Lauren Alaina, Clare Dunn and Kassi Ashton are among the artists playing the first annual Hometown Rising Country Music & Bourbon Festival September 14th and 15th in Louisville, Kentucky. Tim McGraw, Dwight Yoakam, Brett Young and Jake Owen will also perform. For ticket information, go to hometownrising.com.

    Kassi Ashton, Travis Denning, Clare Dunn and Caylee Hammack are on the bill for the “Next From Nashville” stage at this year’s Country LakeShake Festival in Chicago June 21st-23rd.

  • ACM AWARDS NOMINATIONS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED, AND CHRIS STAPLETON IS LEADING THE LIST.

    The nominations for this year’s ACM Awards have been announced and the reigning Male Artist of the Year Chris Stapleton leads the list (ties with Dan + Shay) with six nods, including Entertainer of the Year. He is also nominated twice, as both artist and producer, for Album of the Year for From A Room: Volume 2, which he won last year for From A Room: Volume 1. Plus, he’s nominated for Song of the Year twice, as both artist and songwriter, for “Broken Halos.” He’s also up for Male Artist of the Year. He’s won numerous awards over the past few years, and while he’s grateful for every single trophy he takes home, he has a special affinity for the Album categories.

    “They are all significant and if you get one award for anything it’s a treat. But any of the awards that awarded the album, the album awards, because I really wanted to make an album that was good,” says Chris. “I wanted that to be a thing, again, more than I wanted it to be, ‘Well here’s the single and eight other songs.’ So, the album awards for me were important in that we did our job in a good way, you know. Just I have such an affinity for albums that I don’t know if I want those more or if they mean more, but they are all meaningful.”

    Kacey Musgraves earned five nominations in three categories, including a nod for Female Artist of the Year. Additionally, she is nominated in the Album of the Year Category twice, as both artist and producer, for Golden Hour, as well as in the Song of the Year category twice, as both artist and songwriter, for “Space Cowboy.” Kacey, who took home four Grammy Awards a couple of weeks ago, most recently won an ACM in 2016 in the Video of the Year category for “Forever Country” and previously won in the Album of the Year category in 2013 for Same Trailer Different Park.

    Dierks Bentley received four nominations, including his fourth nod for Album of the Year for The Mountain. Dierks is also nominated for “Burning Man” (featuring Brothers Osborne) in both the Music Event of the Year category and Video of the Year category. He is also nominated for Male Artist of the Year. If he were to win for Video of the Year this year, it would mark his third win in this category.

    Reigning Duo of the Year and Video of the Year winners, Brothers Osborne earned four nominations in three categories, including a nod for Duo of the Year. They are also nominated for Music Event of the Year for “Burning Man” with Dierks Bentley. Additionally, Brothers Osborne are nominated twice in the Video of the Year category for songs “Shoot Me Straight” and “Burning Man.” The guys tweeted, “Unreal. Beyond grateful. Love y’all.”

     

    Luke Bryan has won a handful of ACM Awards over his career, including the New Artist of the Year Award in 2010 and following it up with two Entertainer Awards just a few years later. He tell us he is honored to be included in both the Entertainer and the Single of the Year categories. “The opportunity to go to the ACMs with two nominations – Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year – is just a huge honor for me. When I was able to record ‘Most People Are Good,’ I just felt like it was a really, really important song for the world to hear, an important song for me to have in my live show and to put out on radio, and to have it nominated is so rewarding for me and I’m so happy for the songwriters. And also, to have an Entertainer of the Year nomination is a huge honor for me. It’s something that I really, really work hard at every year to try to be a better Entertainer, a better singer and a better performer.”

     

    Keith Urban has a pair of nominations at this year’s ACM Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. Keith picked up the CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year in November and says he is absolutely elated.”

    Maddie & Tae are looking forward to being in Vegas for this year’s ACM Awards where they’re nominated for Duo of the Year.

    https://twitter.com/MaddieandTae/status/1098298938711592962

    Jordan Davis, who was the most played new artist of 2018, is up for New Male Artist of the Year.

    The 54th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 7th at 8pm ET on CBS.

    Entertainer of the Year
    Jason Aldean
    Luke Bryan
    Kenny Chesney
    Chris Stapleton
    Keith Urban

    Album of the Year
    Dan + Shay — Dan + Shay
    Desperate Man — Eric Church
    From A Room: Volume 2 — Chris Stapleton
    Golden Hour — Kacey Musgraves
    The Mountain — Dierks Bentley 

    Single of the Year
    “Down to the Honky Tonk” — Jake Owen
    “Heaven” — Kane Brown
    “Meant to Be” — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line
    “Most People Are Good” — Luke Bryan
    “Tequila” — Dan + Shay

    Female Artist of the Year
    Miranda Lambert
    Ashley McBryde
    Maren Morris
    Kacey Musgraves
    Carrie Underwood

    Male Artist of the Year
    Dierks Bentley
    Luke Combs
    Thomas Rhett
    Chris Stapleton
    Keith Urban

    Group of the Year
    Lady Antebellum
    LANCO
    Little Big Town
    Midland
    Old Dominion

    Duo of the Year
    Brothers Osborne
    Dan + Shay
    Florida Georgia Line
    LOCASH
    Maddie & Tae

     Song of the Year
    “Break Up in the End” (Cole Swindell) — Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill, Jon Nite
    “Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton) — Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton
    “Meant to Be” (Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line) — David Garcia, Tyler Hubbard, Joshua Miller, Bebe Rexha
    “Space Cowboy” (Kacey Musgraves) — Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves
    “Tequila” (Dan + Shay) — Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds, Dan Smyers
    “Yours” (Russell Dickson) — Casey Brown, Russell Dickerson, Parker Welling

    Video of the Year
    “Babe” — Sugarland featuring Taylor Swift
    “Burn Out” — Midland
    “Burning Man” — Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
    “Drunk Girl” — Chris Janson
    “Shoot Me Straight” — Brothers Osborne
    “Tequila” — Dan + Shay

    Music Event of the Year
    “Burning Man” — Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
    “Drowns the Whiskey” — Jason Aldean featuring Miranda Lambert
    “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” — David Lee Murphy featuring Kenny Chesney
    “Keeping Score” — Dan + Shay featuring Kelly Clarkson
    “Meant to Be” — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line

    New Female Artist of the Year
    Danielle Bradbery
    Lindsay Ell
    Ashley McBryde
    Carly Pearce

    New Male Artist of the Year
    Jimmie Allen
    Luke Combs
    Jordan Davis
    Michael Ray
    Mitchell Tenpenny

    New Duo or Group of the Year
    High Valley
    LANCO
    Runaway June

    Songwriter of the Year
    Ross Copperman
    Ashley Gorley
    Shane McAnally
    Chase McGill
    Josh Osborne

    Audio / Chris Stapleton is going into this year's ACM Awards with six nominations, but one probably means the most to him.

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    Chris Stapleton (affinity for albums) OC: …any one of them. :45
    “They are all significant and if you get one award for anything it’s a treat. But any of the awards that awarded the album, the album awards, because I really wanted to make an album that was good. I wanted it, I wanted that to be a thing, again, more than I wanted it to be, ‘Well here’s the single and eight other songs.’ So, the album awards for me were important in that we did our job in a good way, you know. Just I have such an affinity for albums that I don’t know if I want those more or if they mean more, but they are all meaningful. They are all are things that one of them would feel like a career. One of them. Any one of them.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about his ACM nominations for Male and Album, but he's also nominated for two other awards.

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    Dierks Bentley (ACMs 2019) OC: …of it. :26
    “It’s like, ‘Wow!’ I look at that list of artists and there’s Luke Combs is probably gonna be a staple on there now, and Thomas Rhett’s gonna be in there every year and it’s gonna be harder, there’s less space. There’s only five guys in there, and to be one of those I think I appreciate it now more than ever. The album, obviously, is like the biggest nomination ever to get for anything. It’s one of the tangible results that you get to physically see from like putting time in the whole, the year and a half that goes into making that. I was very appreciative of it.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan, who is poised to enter the top of the country charts with “What Makes You Country,” is humbled by his two ACM nominations this year for Entertainer and for Single of the Year for “Most People Are Good.”

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    Luke Bryan (ACM 2019 reaction) OC: …the ACMs. 1:05
    “The opportunity to go to the ACMs with two nominations – Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year – is just a huge honor for me. When I was able to record ‘Most People Are Good,’ I just felt like it was a really, really important song for the world to hear, an important song for me to have in my live show and to put out on radio, and to have it nominated is so rewarding for me and I’m so happy for the songwriters. And also, to have an Entertainer of the Year nomination is a huge honor for me. It’s something that I really, really work hard at every year to try to be a better Entertainer, a better singer and a better performer. Nothing is better than going to the ACMs in Vegas, having a couple of nominations and just being out there and enjoying the party and being in the room and seeing what happens. I’m humbled by it, and it’s gonna be exciting the night of the ACMs.”

  • KACEY MUSGRAVES WILL PRESENT AT THIS YEAR’S OSCARS.

    Kacey Musgraves has just been announced as a presenter for this year’s Oscars. Fresh from winning four GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year for Golden Hour, she’ll join previously announced presenters Gary Oldman, Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Daniel Craig, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Charlize Theron, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa and Sarah Paulson, among others.

    The 91st Academy Awards will be handed out live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday (February 24th) at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC. The Oscars will also be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

    Kacey, who has hit the airwaves with her new single, “Rainbow,” from her Grammy-winning album, takes her Oh, What a World Tour to Portland, Oregon on Monday (February 18th) and Seattle on Tuesday (February 19th).

  • KACEY MUSGRAVES WINS FOUR GRAMMY AWARDS!

    It has been a monumental year for critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves, who took home four GRAMMY Awards including Album of The Year and Best Country Album for her #1 third studio album Golden Hour, Best Country Solo Performance for “Butterflies,” and Best Country Song for “Space Cowboy.” People predicted that “Kacey Musgraves just might be the GRAMMY Awards’ golden girl this year,” and Kacey has now made history as the first female solo artist to win Best Country Album twice. These wins bring Kacey’s career total up to six.

    In tandem with her breathtaking performance of new single “Rainbow” on the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards, Kacey has shared the song’s official video. The cinematic visual is a heartfelt message of hope for anyone facing adversity, echoing the song’s lyrics that “it’ll all be alright.” Upon Golden Hour’s release, GQ declared the track “arguably the best song she’s ever recorded,” describing it as “an emotional wallop that’ll knock you sideways if you’re not prepared,” and Noisey pronounced it “a stunner, which makes majesty out of familiar balladry.” The single has been serviced simultaneously to AC, Hot AC, Triple A and Country radio. Listen to and watch “Rainbow” here: http://strm.to/Rainbow.

    Golden Hour has received overwhelming praise and support since its release in March 2018, and Variety notes, “it’s hard to imagine that within the next couple of years Kacey Musgraves won’t be one of the biggest stars in music.” Kacey made her debut on Saturday Night Live with “High Horse” and “Slow Burn,” and made additional high-profile TV appearances surrounding Golden Hour’s release, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, TODAY, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! Golden Hour, which earned Kacey her third #1 debut on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, was named Apple Music’s Global Album of the Year, and has been celebrated as one of the best albums of 2018 by outlets across the board including NPR, The Associated Press, Time, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Complex, Consequence of Sound, USA Today, Noisey, Stereogum, People, and Vulture, among others. The album continues to break boundaries, historically winning Album of the Year at the CMA Awards, with Kacey becoming the first female to win the category in 4 years and only the sixth female to do so in the show’s 52-year history. This April, Kacey will become the first-ever female country artist to play Coachella.

    Kacey is currently on the North American leg of her Oh, What a World: Tour, recently adding 17 new shows in response to overwhelming demand see full list of dates at  http://www.kaceymusgraves.com/tour.