Kacey Musgraves' childhood home in East Texas inspired her upcoming album Middle of Nowhere, out May 1
NEED TO KNOW
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The Grammy winner opened up about the "sacred" property that has been in her family for 100 years in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE
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Fans can explore the home in an immersive listing on Zillow, which Musgraves calls a unique way to honor her past
Kacey Musgravesis pulling back the curtain on a deeply personal part of her story that has shaped her into the artist she is today: her childhood home.
Ahead of the release of her new albumMiddle of Nowhereon May 1, Musgraves, 37, opened up about her family's historic East Texas abode and how it inspired her upcoming record during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. Fans can explore her “sacred” abode through an immersive listing onZillow, which offers a unique glimpse of where Musgraves grew up.
“My special little place in Texas has just exponentially shaped who I am as a person,” Musgraves tells PEOPLE of the pink bungalow. “It's always this quiet and very simple place that I can return to in all the chapters of my life and really re-ground.”
The Grammy winner adds that whenever she's at her family's longtime property, she always encounters “reminders of who I really am” and various remnants of her childhood. She credits the inspiration that the property radiates to her ancestors, as they created a home there 100 years ago and it has been in her family ever since.
“There has been just so much human experience on those acres,” Musgraves reflects, noting that her family arrived at the property around 1909 and built a farmhouse.
While that house "sadly, unexpectedly burned down” in 2014, the “Deeper Well” singer says she was able to purchase the smaller house next to it, which has also been in her family for generations.
She notes that she's grateful she was able to “keep it in the family,” and later painted it pink in honor of her late grandmother. It also features other nods to her family's legacy, including the giant flag of Texas painted on the ceiling of the front porch.
“There's something about it that feels really sacred to me,” Musgraves adds of the serene property. “I think it was the intentions and the creativity and the love that was there for literal decades — over 100 years. It just feels like a really special place.”
Looking inside the property, Musgraves says it's a “really beautiful time capsule,” as much of the interior has remained untouched. She notes that she's hesitant to update certain things because she loves being able to step back into her childhood and be reminded of a more analog lifestyle.
“It's really hard for me to change it because it holds so many memories,” she says. “And it's not a house that a lot of people would walk into and go, ‘Oh, this is really nice.' It's imperfect. It's old.”
She recalls how they didn't have cable or internet growing up, and they only just got Wi-Fi “a few years ago.” There's also no dishwasher and no central heat or air conditioning.
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“It's super rudimentary,” she continues. “It really reminds me of just growing up being barefoot on that porch and singing to the trees before I ever had any kind of audience.”
The “Golden Hour” singer says the experience the home represents for her, as well as the small town that it's located in, is what inspired her new albumMiddle of Nowhere.Fans recently got a little preview of the upcoming record during Musgraves'performance at Coachellaon April 18.
Of the album's inspiration, she recalls how she was “meandering around town” one day with her friends when she noticed a sign that read, “Somewhere in the middle of nowhere."
Musgraves says she immediately found a song in that sign and it “ended up really shaping the ethos of the rest of the record.”
“It's just kind of this notion that I'm somewhere in the middle of nowhere and no one can reach me on my phone, and I'm totally fine with that. And even if I had service, I probably wouldn't call you back,” she tells PEOPLE. “I'm not lonely, but I'm totally fine being on my own. It's really coming from a place of confidence and freedom.”
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As for why she wanted to partner with Zillow to share such a personal place, Musgraves says she is a longtime fan of the real estate platform.
“I'll be on tour and be like, ‘Oh, let's look at houses here. Am I moving here?' And you start imagining a different life in a different place. My therapist was like, ‘You need to stay off Zillow,'” the singer jokes. “I found my current house on Zillow, actually.”
Musgraves adds, “I just think it's a fun and unexpected medium to tell a story and sort of honor my past.”
To view Musgraves' childhood home in East Texas, check out the new listing onZillow.
Read the original article onPeople
