Kacey Musgraves Announces Sixth Album 'Middle of Nowhere,' Drops "Dry Spell" Today
Kacey Musgraves just ended her own dry spell. The East Texas singer-songwriter announced her sixth studio album, Middle of Nowhere, dropping May 1 on Lost Highway Records — and launched it this morning with lead single "Dry Spell," a sharply funny country confessional that makes her intentions for this record unmistakably clear.
The Rollout Was Half the Show
The campaign started March 5 with billboards appearing across New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville bearing the message "Dry Spell? Call For A Real Good Time" alongside a working phone number. Fans who dialed were greeted with a voicemail from Musgraves herself: "This is Kacey Musgraves, and you've reached the middle of nowhere. No service available. Please try again later or press 1 for a really good time."
Callers heard a snippet of the new track. Then they got a text. It was a masterclass in organic pre-release tension — no algorithmic rollout, no streaming platform teaser, just a phone number on a billboard and a cow emoji on X.
What "Dry Spell" Actually Sounds Like
The single is vintage Musgraves at her most unfiltered. The track blazes with sharp wit, including the sequence: "ain't nobody's tool up in my shed / ain't nobody's boots under my bed / ain't nobody's truck in my drive / for a late night call for a real good time."
The music video, co-directed by Musgraves and Hannah Lux Davis, finds her strolling through a grocery store full of low-hanging fruit — pausing to pick up eggplants and caress watermelons. It's funny, pointed, and exactly the kind of work that reminded Nashville in 2013 that a different kind of country voice was possible.
A Return to Texas Roots
Middle of Nowhere was produced with longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk and features 13 tracks. The album draws on pedal steel, accordion, and Texas dancehall rhythms — described officially as "a sonic love letter to the musical borders of country" pulling from bluegrass, pop, Norteño, and zydeco.
The title comes from a sign Musgraves spotted in her hometown. Golden, Texas has a population of under 300 people. She went back there to write. The album title followed.
"The bulk of this record was made during the longest single period of my life," Musgraves said in a statement. "I found that for the first time, it actually felt incredible being alone and existing in a space not defined by anyone else. I became fascinated with the concept of liminal space, both geographical and emotional."
The Guest List Says Everything
Willie Nelson appears on "Uncertain, Texas." Miranda Lambert joins on "Horses and Divorces." Billy Strings features on "Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy." Gregory Alan Isakov guests on "Coyote." That's four collaborators — each one a statement about where Musgraves is planting her flag artistically.
The Lambert duet is the one fans will reach for first. The two share what the album's description calls a "good-naturedly salty, long-time-coming" collaboration — two of country's most outspoken women, finally on the same track.
The Label Reunion
Middle of Nowhere marks Musgraves' first release since returning to Lost Highway, the label that originally signed her in 2011 before being absorbed into the Nashville major label system. When she re-signed, she made one thing clear. "I want to make it super clear that I never left," she said, pushing back on any narrative that positioned this as a genre homecoming.
Her previous album, Deeper Well, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Country albums chart. Its track "The Architect" won the Grammy for Best Country Song. The bar she's set for herself is already high. Middle of Nowhere arrives May 1.
