Music Forecast: Carly Rae Jepsen, Kacey Musgraves, Ben Rector
Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves has a playful, tongue-in-cheek approach to modern country. Her lyrics are filled with rather harmless humor (I ain’t pageant material, I’m always higher than my hair, she quips on the title track of her latest album, Pageant Material), and her melodies are buoyant and cheery, letting you know that no matter what she says — even if it’s a gentle rib or two toward Southern life — she means it with love. With Pageant Material and her 2013 debut, Same Trailer Different Park, Musgraves has managed to win fans over with a wholesome image — but never holier-than-thou, which was always the subconscious feeling we got listening to Taylor Swift back when she was still dealing in twang. Saturday night at the Midland, Minneapolis brother duo the Cactus Blossoms opens. Get there early to hear cuts from their gorgeous debut record, You’re Dreaming, that are filled with all the right references to classic country.
Saturday, March 5
The Midland, 1228 Main
Ben Rector
If you don’t walk away from Ben Rector’s latest album, Brand New, charged with a feeling of hope and optimism, you’re probably dead inside. For the rest of us, the Tulsa native brings a certain lightness to pop balladry. Rector’s voice is not spectacular or even all that distinctive, but he wields it as a capable and pretty instrument, and his lyrics contain just the appropriate mix of personal and universal (I feel like a young John Cusack, like making big mistakes, he announces on Brand New‘s title track) to make him more than a blip on the dial. Let him lift you up Saturday night.
Saturday, March 5
The Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway
Carly Rae Jepsen
Flash back to the summer of 2011. Imagine yourself driving along a highway at midday, when the sun is at its brightest. Your windows are down. The radio is on. Without realizing it, you find yourself singing along to the biggest song of that year: Hey I just met you, and this is crazy / But here’s my number, so call me maybe. You hate yourself a little bit, but you don’t change the station. (It’s futile anyway. That song is probably in the queue at every station on the dial.) And while there isn’t a single song on Jepsen’s latest album, Emotion, that has achieved “Call Me Maybe” status (her lead single, “I Really Like You,” hasn’t reached a No. 1 spot on any chart), the album as a whole should not be underestimated. It is one pristine power-pop track after another, each polished so brightly you can see your reflection in them — and at the center is Jepsen, an exceptionally worthy frontwoman.
Tuesday, March 8
The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence
