Review: Kacey Musgraves Commands the Stage With Pure Talent, Quirky Covers

Country music is in good hands with Kacey Musgraves. Although she's a relatively new artist, having only released one album, the singer-songwriter has more than enough material -- and, more importantly, the quirk, charm and incredible talent -- to command the room as a headliner.

Musgraves' hour-and-a-half-long set on Saturday night (March 28) in Buffalo, N.Y., mixed songs from her Grammy-winning Same Trailer Different Park record with a few newer tunes and some covers. Her "live and let live" mantra runs through many of her songs, conveyed through cute metaphors and catchy melodies, but Musgraves also knows how to motivate, tell off the naysayers and put herself in someone else's shoes to tell a darn good story, all through music.

After opening with "Silver Lining," "Stupid" and "Blowin' Smoke," Musgraves delighted the crowd with her newest single, "Biscuits," and, shortly after, "The Trailer Song." Musgraves also included "Cup of Tea," a song that has yet to be released but that she has been playing live for some time, in her encore.

About halfway through her show, Musgraves broke out Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart," which Musgraves wrote with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark. Musgraves' version of the hit song was largely the same as Lambert's, but it was interesting to hear the tune performed by one of its writers -- when you could hear her over the crowd.

Throughout the evening, Musgraves also covered Bob Marley, segueing into his "Three Little Birds" from her own "Step Off;" TLC, putting her own spin on the '90s R&B girl group's classic "No Scrubs;" and Nancy Sinatra's sassy "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." However, the biggest cheers came when she sang a few lines of Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" and expressed her support for the song.

Musgraves' signature neon cacti adorned the stage throughout her set, while her band donned light-up jackets and she wore light-up cowboy boots, but those elements really came into play for her final song of the night. The singer and her band gathered together at the front of the stage, lit simply by their clothing and the cacti, and -- without any amplification -- serenaded fans with the classic "Happy Trails."

Opening act John & Jacob, a five-member group led by John Davidson and Jacob Bryant, were a wonderful surprise for early-arriving fans. Their retro look and sound -- country mixed with peppy '60s pop -- got concertgoers dancing, and they likely won quite a few new fans with their covers of the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie" and the Band Perry's "Done," the latter of which Davidson and Bryant wrote with the Perry brothers.

Musgraves' Same Tour, Different Trailer Tour is set to continue through April, with John & Jacob as special guests. She also mentioned from stage that her eagerly awaited sophomore album will be coming out in June, though no other details are known at this point.

See Kacey Musgraves With Her Cute Pup Pearl