Kacey Musgraves may be best known for sassy, tongue-in-cheek bangers like "Follow Your Arrow" and "Biscuits," but as she shows here, homegirl sure knows her way around a mopey barroom ballad. Musgraves teamed up with her former tourmate—the indomitable weed advocate and country god Willie Nelson—for this slow jam, and it flows as smoothly as a well-poured measure of bourbon. They recorded a cute little behing-the-scenes clip, too, just in case your heartstrings needed tugging.
Directed by Reid Long, @kellicopter, and myself. Thank you @willienelson for doing this with me. You're a gem. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/A53J6b5qUO
— KACEY MUSGRAVES (@KaceyMusgraves) September 10, 2015
If it sounds even more old-school than Musgraves's usual output, that's because it is: this version (which was released as a hidden bonus track on her last album, Pageant Material) is a cover of Nelson's "Are You Sure." The two Southern songbirds bridge the generational gap with ease, as his whiskery burr slides over the words and Musgraves's honeyed tones dip low down into a wistful lament.
Pour yourself something strong, and settle in.