SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Grammy-winning artist Kacey Musgraves isn't afraid to consider the cosmic in her music. Take the song "The Architect" from her latest album "Deeper Well."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE ARCHITECT")
KACEY MUSGRAVES: (Singing) This life that we make, is it random or fate? Can I speak to the architect?
DETROW: That's the kind of question we love to ponder on NPR's Wild Card, where famous guests answer questions about their life drawn from a deck of cards. So Musgraves was a perfect fit. Here's host Rachel Martin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
RACHEL MARTIN: You ready?
MUSGRAVES: I am.
MARTIN: All right, Kacey, one, two or three?
MUSGRAVES: One.
MARTIN: One - what's something about the place you grew up that you couldn't wait to leave behind?
MUSGRAVES: That's a funny question. Well, first of all, I'm going to say that I had a wonderful childhood. But I did grow up in, like, a very conservative part of East Texas.
MARTIN: Tell me the name of the town.
MUSGRAVES: Golden. It's really small.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MUSGRAVES: There is a post office, but there's not a school. It's not big enough for a school. So I think growing up there, it's different than growing up in a city where there's, like, a million different viewpoints, and there's a million different religions and a million different cultures and languages. There's a lack of diversity, like, where I grew up. And I just had this urge to, like, see the world, travel. And that's when I started really understanding that everyone is the same, you know? And I wouldn't have gotten that if I would have stayed there.
MARTIN: Yeah. I mean, I get that. I came from a small town in Idaho. I totally felt that, too. But I can't figure out how I knew any different. You know what I mean...
MUSGRAVES: Right.
MARTIN: ...Because it was just my whole world, and my family had been, like...
MUSGRAVES: Totally.
MARTIN: ...From that same place for five generations, six generations.
MUSGRAVES: Right.
MARTIN: So, I mean, for you, how did - I mean, did you have other family who lived in other places? Like...
MUSGRAVES: No.
MARTIN: ...How did it come into your imagination that there was a different way to live, there were other...
MUSGRAVES: Well...
MARTIN: ...Places that could open up your imagination?
MUSGRAVES: I think it's just a natural curiosity and thinking that, like, really anything is possible. Like, I don't have to do it the same way as everyone else. Like, academics are not my strong suit. I was diagnosed ADD in fifth grade. So there was a lot of, like, talking, fidgeting, not paying attention, failing classes, to be honest. Like, my parents eventually got to a point where they were like, if you can just bring home a C, we will be really proud of you.
MARTIN: Yeah, yeah.
MUSGRAVES: And my mom, she's an artist.
MARTIN: Oh, she is?
MUSGRAVES: And - yeah, and my parents, like, they've owned a small print shop. Like, I've always seen my parents be their own bosses. They've never answered to anyone, which there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying I think that compounded with, like, kind of the artistic nature in the household, too, it was just kind of, like, OK, well, I don't really have to play by any certain rules, you know?
MARTIN: Yeah. All right. We're moving on.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Three more cards, three more questions.
MUSGRAVES: All right.
MARTIN: Pick a card - one, two, three.
MUSGRAVES: Let's go for two.
MARTIN: Two - was there a bedrock truth in your life that you came to find out wasn't true?
MUSGRAVES: I wonder if this goes back to, like, where I grew up, and the acceptance of people in the queer community was kind of nonexistent. I could count on one hand the amount of times I encountered an openly gay person. That's not to say that I didn't encounter people who were closeted. But there was a very kind of typically majority, one-way view of - it's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve - that kind of, like, mentality. And so I kind of like left Texas with sort of this idea that, well, people choose to be that way.
And when I moved to Nashville, I started making friends in that community. And I actually had a boyfriend at the time who did me a huge favor. He was from a completely different upbringing than me. He was, like, from a liberal family, like upstate New York, and he had a ton of gay friends. And he just sat me down one day, and, like, we had a real, hard and honest conversation about it. And he was like, listen, like, you do not have the right perspective on this. And he, like - I don't know. He just helped me completely open up my eyes and see. And I was just like, d***, I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to get out of where I came from and to have my eyes and my heart opened to this really wonderful group of people. And they've made me way more well-rounded.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Last question, three more cards - your last three cards - one, two or three.
MUSGRAVES: Three.
MARTIN: Three - does time feel like a positive or negative force in your life right now?
MUSGRAVES: That's a really good question. Honestly, the passage of time is something that, like, really [expletive] me up.
MARTIN: Really?
MUSGRAVES: It's - yeah, there's something so melancholy about it, you know, just seeing your grandparents get older, your parents get older, relationships changing, you know, looking in the mirror and seeing wrinkles that were there that weren't there before, you know?
MARTIN: Yep.
MUSGRAVES: You know, it's - time is really trippy, like, how it moves and bends and - I don't know. I'm just thankful. I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful for the time I have. And I do feel like life keeps getting better as I get older. And it's something that everyone that's older than you tells you, and you're like, yeah, yeah, whatever. But I do feel that. I think I'm in this place that feels kind of liminal, I guess, in terms of just - even just, like, relationships. Like, I'm in a period of time where this chapter is not defined by anyone but me, anyone else but me.
MARTIN: Yeah, yeah.
MUSGRAVES: And I don't know what's going to come next in that sense in my life. And that's rare for me. I feel like I'm usually jumping kind of sort of to the next relationship because I love companionship. And it's just been really nice to, like, slow down time, enjoy exactly where I'm at and kind of enjoy the not knowing of what or who might be next, you know?
MARTIN: That's such a lovely answer.
MUSGRAVES: I really am enjoying it. Like, I'm kind of drinking each day, each moment in, and I'm trying to not, like, wish myself to the next whatever's on the horizon.
MARTIN: Yeah, 'cause it'll come, and then you'll wish for the other one to have stayed. Yeah. Yeah.
MUSGRAVES: Yeah, and it's funny. It's like, we - even in terms of, like, looks, you know, we see pictures of ourselves five years ago, and we're like, d***. I wish I would have known how great I - how - like, how in shape I was then. I was so down on myself or...
MARTIN: Kacey, we are the youngest we will ever be right now.
MUSGRAVES: Right now.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MUSGRAVES: I know. I hate it. I'm just kidding. It's like - it's what I say a lot, like, when I kick off my shows. Like, I'm like, hey, everybody. We are existing right now at the same exact time on this crazy planet in the middle of this, like, crazy universe. It's a miracle that we are here at the same time. And, like, this moment, right now, who you're with tonight, what you're going through in your life, what I'm going through in my life, it's never going to be the same, like, as right now. So, like, let's just be as present as possible.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MUSGRAVES: And it's just it's a nice reminder, you know? It's like, let's put our phones down. I mean, you know, take some cute pictures. Get the good angles. Tag me.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MUSGRAVES: You can tag me. But let's be present.
MARTIN: Kacey Musgraves, her newest album is "Deeper Well." Kacey, thank you so much for being here.
MUSGRAVES: Thank you. I loved it so much. That was so fun.
DETROW: Follow NPR's Wild Card podcast to hear a longer version of that conversation. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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