6 stellar all-female country duets6 songs, 20 min 51 sec
Dear listeners,On Friday, Kacey Musgraves released a very good new album called “Middle of Nowhere,” a characteristically idiosyncratic return to her country roots. (I reviewed it, and named it a Critic’s Pick.) One of my favorite of its songs is “Horses and Divorces,” a biting, hilarious and beautifully sung duet with her fellow country star and — as Musgraves recently admitted — former rival Miranda Lambert. In a world full of fake niceness, there is something refreshing about two artists admitting that they just didn’t like each other — and something even more refreshing about hearing them overcome those feelings, with self-effacing humor, on a song. (They wrote it with Shane McAnally, one of the Nashville scribes we recently interviewed for The New York Times Magazine’s 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters package.)
After trading a few good-natured barbs, the duet finds Musgraves and Lambert at the bottom of a shared bottle, realizing, “We’ve got a few things in common, like horses and divorces and we both like to drink / Maybe we’re more alike than we think.” Like Charli XCX and Lorde before them, they worked it out on the remix. It’s also refreshing just to hear two female country stars sing together. Though country music has a grand tradition of male-female duets — think George & Tammy, Johnny & June or Loretta & Conway — there are far fewer songs that explore any of the complex dynamics that can arise between two women. Still, there are a handful of great ones, and in honor of “Horses and Divorces,” I compiled some of them on today’s playlist. You’ll hear another song featuring Lambert (perhaps one of the most prolific current country stars, when it comes to duetting with other women), and a song that features an impassioned vocal from Ashley McBryde, a Nashville maverick with a hard-edged, deeply felt new album, “Wild,” coming out on Friday. (I recommend David Peisner’s new profile of her.) There are some classics in the mix, too, including an epic ballad that finds Reba McEntire squaring off with Linda Davis, along with Lainey Wilson and Dolly Parton’s take on an ’80s country standard. Got a real good feeling somethin’ bad about to happen, Lindsay
Listen along while you read.1. Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert: “Horses and Divorces”“I’d ride in on my high horse, you’d still be higher,” Miranda Lambert sings, referencing a 2018 Kacey Musgraves single — and one of her preferred vices. Musgraves counters, with perfect timing, “And a few years ago, you’d have set me on fire.” But then they shrug and decide, “It’s all whiskey under the bridge.” Thank goodness these two found common ground, because their voices sound lovely together. ▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
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“6 Stellar All-Female Country Duets” track list
Track 1: Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, “Horses and Divorces”
Track 2: Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
Track 3: Miranda Lambert with Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad”
Track 4: Maren Morris featuring Brandi Carlile, “Common”
Track 5: Lainey Wilson and Dolly Parton, “Mama He’s Crazy”
Track 6: Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, “Does He Love You”
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