Kacey Musgraves really, really wants you to know that she’s back home in Texas, both musically and physically.
“I just couldn’t think of a better, more iconic, more historic place than right here at Gruene Hall,” Musgraves told a loud crowd packed into Texas’ oldest dance hall on Sunday night. “I grew up coming here quite a lot, so it just feels like the perfect homecoming.”
Musgraves is in town for three sold-out shows in New Braunfels to celebrate Middle of Nowhere, her album out May 1. The album marked a return to her Texas country roots after drifting more into pop and folk for her last two albums. Similarly, she treated Sunday night’s show like a homecoming. Her family was in the crowd. Out in the beer garden were armadillo races and $6 Shiner Bocks. There was even a near-scale replica of her childhood home in Golden plopped right down in Gruene, courtesy of Zillow.
The Texas native has never fully left the Lone Star State; even those forays into other genres still had a twang to them. But in Middle of Nowhere, it’s the most capital-T Texan she’s seemed since 2015’s Pageant Material. With her hair teased high, a cow-print jumpsuit, and an appropriately massive belt buckle, Musgraves looked very comfortable on a much smaller stage than the multi-time Grammy winner usually occupies.
“This is the first time we’re playing some of these songs for literally anybody, so you should feel pretty special,” Musgraves said near the beginning of her set. Her voice was strong, she bantered with the crowd, and she played all 13 tracks from the album. (No guest appearances from features Willie Nelson or Miranda Lambert, though. Maybe for the grand finale?)
Kacey Musgraves performs at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, on May 3, 2026.
Charles Reagan Hackleman/@Charles.Reagan
Musgraves is a bona fide Texan, make no mistake. She grew up singing traditional country, can comfortably ride a horse through the Whataburger drive-thru, and the title for Middle of Nowhere came from a facetious sign in her hometown. But Sunday night’s show almost felt like Musgraves wanted to prove something to us—this is still her home, even though she’s now a millionaire, doesn’t live in Texas full-time and that some of these songs were first played live at Coachella.
She gave credit to Texas’ family farmers before performing “Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy” (“It’s a lot harder than it freakin’ looks,” she quipped). She plugged the installation of her house outside—again, sponsored by Zillow, which currently has her actual family home featured on the site. (“I haven’t been in it yet because I’ll probably ugly cry,” Musgraves said of her recreated “little pink house.”) Occasionally, it felt like she was choosing her words carefully on stage, especially when she invited openers The Mariachi Brothers back on stage to perform a gorgeous rendition of “Tú Sólo Tú,” a traditional song often credited to Selena.
“Some things don’t need translation,” Musgraves said, bringing out the mariachi band of three brothers that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously detained. “This is Texas at its best.”
The night felt like Texas at its best, even though the crowd at times felt more Marfa or Austin than Golden, and resale tickets to this particular show were going for hundreds of dollars.
Kacey Musgraves performs at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, on May 3, 2026.
Charles Reagan Hackleman/@Charles.Reagan
Musgraves has had to answer the authenticity question a few times over her career, especially as she’s stretched her musical boundaries. It took spending more time in Golden to make Middle of Nowhere, which has plenty of steel guitar, música mexicana influence, sign-offs from fellow Texans and a ready-to-go line dance.
I understand the insecurity of leaving home and wondering if your people still accept and recognize you as they once did. Can you ever really go home again after worldwide tours, countless accolades and endless jet-setting to Los Angeles? Is home still actually home? Of course, I will never know for sure if Musgraves has those things in mind while she promotes Middle of Nowhere.
But at Gruene Hall, the crowd welcomed Musgraves back to Texas with deafening stomps, cheers, and yes, line dancing. If she is feeling insecure or unsure at all about her place back home, she doesn’t need to. “I really was not gonna do this,” Musgraves said after the crowd refused to leave, forcing her into an apparently unplanned encore where she pulled out Golden Hour‘s “Slow Burn.” A perfect homecoming, truly.
