KACEY MUSGRAVES ANNOUNCES SIXTH ALBUM MIDDLE OF NOWHERE MAY RELEASE

## Texas Roots, Full Circle Kacey Musgraves announced her sixth studio album Middle of Nowhere, which was produced by Kacey alongside longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. The album is set for release on May 1, 2026 via Lost Highway Records, marking a significant homecoming for the eight-time Grammy winner. The album draws inspiration from her home state, and considering there's a sign in her tiny, unincorporated, no-stoplight hometown of Golden, Texas, with a population of under 300 that reads "Golden, TX: Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere," that sparked the idea for the title track and much of the theme for the entire album. "The bulk of this record was made during the longest single period of my life, and I found that for the first time, it actually felt incredible being alone and existing in a space not defined by anyone else," Musgraves said in a press release. "I became fascinated with the concept of liminal space, both geographical and emotional". ## Star-Studded Collaborations Shape Western Landscape The album showcases an impressive roster of featured artists that cement Musgraves' position within country music's lineage. Musgraves has chosen guest performers, including Gregory Alan Isakov, Billy Strings, Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert — with whom she shares a good-naturedly salty, long-time-coming duet called "Horses and Divorces". The project also boasts an impressive lineup of collaborators, including Texas legends and genre-bending artists alike: Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, and Gregory Alan Isakov. Tracks like "Horses and Divorces" with Lambert, "Everybody Wants To Be a Cowboy" featuring Strings, and the reflective "Uncertain, Texas" with Nelson hint at a record that honors Musgraves' Lone Star heritage while continuing her genre-fluid exploration. "Written during a period of reflection and post-breakup clarity, this collection of songs finds Musgraves leaning intentionally into open space and traditional Western elements," the release reads. "Pedal steel, accordion and Texas dancehall rhythms provide a nostalgic framework that she flips on its head in signature fashion". ## Lost Highway Records Reunion Middle of Nowhere is due out everywhere on May 1st, and considering she's back with her label Lost Highway, which Kacey recently signed to as their flagship artist after they relaunched last year, which was a full-circle moment for her considering she returned to the label that first signed her in 2011, before it was previously absorbed by Mercury Nashville. "Lost Highway believed in me when others didn't," Musgraves shared, "coming back now just feels right." Chairman & CEO of Interscope Capitol and IGA John Janick also shared his perspective on the new signing: "Kacey exemplifies the kind of culture-shifting, left-of-center artists that Lost Highway has always been known for". And while the signing news, and Musgraves' cover of Williams' "Lost Highway," might suggest that all this is signaling a "return to country" for Musgraves, she was adamant that: First of all, she never left, and second, she's not going to stop being the same adventurous artist she's always been. "While some might think of it as a 'return,' I want to make it super clear that I never left," Musgraves said. ## Lead Single Showcases Sharp Wit The single marks the first offering from Musgraves' upcoming record, Middle Of Nowhere, out May 1. The new track, titled "Dry Spell," is everything you'd want from a Kacey Musgraves song: it's twangy, it's clever, and most importantly, it's horny. "It's been a real long three-hundred and thirty-five days / And the last time, it wasn't good anyway," she sings in the opening. "I'm so lonely, lonely with a capital 'H' / If you know what I mean, I've been sitting on the washing machine." As if it weren't blatantly obvious, Musgraves confesses she's "going through a dry spell" in the chorus. The song arrives with a new music video co-directed by Musgraves and Hannah Lux Davis, giving fans their first look into the world surrounding the new project. ## Following Deeper Well Success Deeper Well debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with 97,000 album-equivalent units, including 38.06 million on-demand streams and 66,000 album sales in its first week, behind Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine (2024). It became Musgraves's fifth top-ten album on the chart and her biggest week ever by both equivalent album units and traditional album sales. Musgraves also sold over 37,ooo vinyl copies of the record, making it the biggest vinyl sales week of 2024 and the biggest vinyl sales week of her career. Since Luminate tracking began in 1991, this also marks Deeper Well as the fourth largest week for a country album on vinyl. Middle of Nowhere arrives as Musgraves continues to expand her artistic vision while remaining rooted in the Texas soil that shaped her, promising to deliver both the wit and wisdom that have defined her decade-plus career.