While I am aware at the time I write this article this is old news, I don’t think it has been given the attention it deserves. Nearly a month ago, the 2019 Grammy Awards were held. Like most people I know, I was not super interested in following the award show. However, when the news headlines came out the next day, I suddenly became a lot more intrigued. Kacey Musgraves had taken home the Grammy for Album of the Year.

For those who are unaware, Kacey Musgraves is a country artist. That said, sticking her as solely a country artist seems a bit reductive of her talents. She has flown relatively far under the mainstream country radio airplay crowd, which is strange considering she has an almost cult-like following and has always gained praise from music critics. I like to say Musgraves is the country artist for people who like indie music. She seamlessly blends traditional country with very non-traditional sounds. I admire her for her often sassy, tongue-in-cheek songwriting.

Her newest album

Golden Hour

came out last year, and I thought it was a solid album. Controversial opinion: I don’t believe it was her best work. I think that goes to her sophomore album

Pageant Material

. Personally, I felt that

Golden Hour

, with the exception of the song “High Horse,” was lacking her usual sharp wit and pithy lines that attracted me to her in the first place. It could be that

Golden Hour

just presents a much more mature and polished portrait of Kacey than her previous albums. I will say, this album has some fabulous songs that I continue to find myself listening to repeatedly. In my opinion, the standout songs are: “Butterflies,” “High Horse,” and Rainbow.”

While I took notice of

Golden Hour

upon its release, apparently I was not the only one. The Grammy’s decided to (unsurprisingly) put Musgraves in the running to win the country category. However, it was interesting that it was also decided that she should be in the overall Album of the Year category. She was up against competition from the heavyweights of the commercial music industry like Cardi B’s

Invasion of Privacy

, Drake’s

Scorpion

, and Post Malone’s

Beerbongs & Bentleys.

Shockingly, she won. This came as a huge surprise to everyone, and nobody was more astonished than Musgraves herself, whose reaction instantly became a meme.

At the time, I am sure that many people were questioning who this woman is that came out of nowhere to win this very coveted category. When the dust settled over the following days post-win, I saw a huge spike in interest in Musgraves’s music. I would hope that after people gave her discography a listen, they no longer question why she won.

I count Kacey Musgraves’s Grammy win as a win for country music as a whole. And not just mainstream country either.

Golden Hour

has enough traditional sounds in it to give me hope that a new wave of neotraditional country could again become popular. Only time will tell if this surprising win will increase radio airplay of both Kacey, and authentic country music itself.