''Same Trailer Different Park'' is the debut studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

, released on March 19, 2013, through

Mercury Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records N ...

. Musgraves co-wrote all 12 tracks and co-produced the album with

Luke Laird Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in Hartstown, Pennsylvania) is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one ''Billboard'' singles, including Carrie Underwood's "So Small", "Temporary Home", and " Un ...

and

Shane McAnally Shane McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Originally a solo artist for Curb Records in 1999, McAnally charted three singles on Hot Country Songs, including the No. 31 " Are Y ...

. The album won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors ...

at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

Conception

''Same Trailer Different Park'' draws on styles such as

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

, blues rock,

country folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from tradit ...

, and catchy

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

. Its songs are performed

midtempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

, and written from a Middle-American perspective, featuring stories of challenges and setbacks faced by men and women who struggle with their surroundings. "Follow Your Arrow" examines the small-minded perspective of small-town life. On "

Merry Go 'Round "Merry Go 'Round" is the debut single by American country music artist Kacey Musgraves. It was released in September 2012 as the lead single from her debut album '' Same Trailer Different Park''. Musgraves co-wrote and co-produced the song with Sh ...

", Musgraves sings over a

shuffle beat In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

and banjo about emotional, material, and addictive liabilities that prevent people from escaping restrictive lifestyles. Jonathan Bernstein of ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' wrote that Musgraves's characters are "well-wishers and help-seekers, deadbeats trying to be better and do-gooders that are falling behind", and that she focuses on "small, pivotal moments, when they come to terms with their own faults and dreams, when they’re on the verge of a breakthrough or a meltdown."

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 89 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 12 reviews. Tammy Ragusa of ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overview ...

'' called it "distinctive in both its arrangements and lyrics."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Steve Leggett commended Musgraves' "flair for telling it like it is and making it sound like bedrock, obvious wisdom", and said that the album is "more than a collection of songs just aiming for the country charts." ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

''s Robert Christgau called her "the finest lyricist to rise up out of conscious country since

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

, if not

Bobby Pinson Bobby Olen Pinson (born August 10, 1972) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2005, Pinson made his debut that year with his album '' Man Like Me''. Its lead-off single, " Don't Ask Me How I Know", peaked at No. ...

himself."

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' observed "a boatload of identifying details" in Musgraves' lyrics and called it an "acidic and beautiful" album that is indebted "at least a little bit to Ms. Lambert's durable template."

Will Hermes Will Hermes (born December 27, 1960 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City) is an American author, broadcaster, journalist and critic who has written extensively about popular music. He is a longtime contributor to ''Rolling Stone'' and to National Pu ...

, writing for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, said that her "wordplay feels effortless and conversational", and found Musgraves' "spirits of carpe diem and dysfunctional romance" to be "squarely" in the tradition of country music. Grady Smith of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' said that the album "continually showcases ... her writing prowess" because "Musgraves has a way of injecting humor into even her most melancholic musings." At '' Paste'', Holly Gleason noted Musgraves "sings unvarnished truths" while maintaining "the sunniness that is the right of the young" that is done "With a voice that’s pretty, but brazen, Musgraves has no problem slinging attitude, crying bullshit or coyly advocating same-sex amour/dope-smoking while skewering hypocrisy." In addition, Gleason saw this album as "a manifesto that'll never come true," which she asked the question "is dignity enough to get by on?", and her response was that by a "thin margin, but one Musgraves walks straight into the sunset."

Jody Rosen Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''. Career Journalism Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' felt that, although Musgraves lacks a powerful singing voice, the album "showcases a songwriting voice you won't hear anywhere else in pop: young, female, downwardly mobile, fiercely witty." David Burger of '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' vowed that the album "is not only intriguing vocally but engaging lyrically".

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

's Billy Dukes commented that the album "is well-written, edgy (yet familiar) and coated in 'cool.'" Jerry Shriver of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' said the songs are "honest with themselves and don't wallow in self-pity", and that Musgraves' singing is "pretty and clear but usually unsentimental." In December, ''

'' ranked ''Same Trailer Different Park'' number 28 on its list of the 50 best albums of 2013. It won the

award at the

in January 2014. On April 6, 2014, ''Same Trailer Different Park'' won Album of the Year at the 49th Annual

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academ ...

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Same Trailer Different Park'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week. It also debuted at number one on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart. The week after the album won two awards and was performed at the 2014 Grammy Awards, sales in the United States increased 146 percent. The week of February 6, 2014, the album returned to number one on the US Top Country Albums chart and saw sales increase a further 177 percent. As of July 2015 the album has sold 519,000 copies in the US. On April 4, 2018, the album was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units in the United States.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by

, and

Personnel

Credits adapted from

and liner notes. Musicians * Kacey Musgraves – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica,

whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

, gang vocals * Matt Stanfield – keyboards,

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...

* John Henry Trinko – accordion * J. T. Corenflos – electric guitar *

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, gang vocals * Dave Levita – electric guitar * Rob McNelly – electric guitar * Kyle Ryan – electric guitar, backing vocals, gang vocals *

Ilya Toshinsky Bering Strait was a Russian country music band, whose style was sometimes called "redgrass". In 2003, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award and appeared on the TV show ''60 Minutes''. The group disbanded in 2006. The lineup on their first alb ...

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo,

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator guit ...

* Oscar Aranda – acoustic guitar * Misa Arriaga – acoustic guitar,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

, backing vocals, gang vocals * Josh Osborne – acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Bucky Baxter William "Bucky" Baxter (1955May 25, 2020) was an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of Steve Earle and The Dukes and as a member of Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-90s during the Never Ending Tour. He released his only solo ...

– pedal steel guitar * Russ Pahl — pedal steel guitar *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the po ...

– bass guitar * Fred Eltringham – drums,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, foot stomping * Claire Indie –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

* Hannah Schroeder – cello *

Kree Harrison Kree Annette Harrison (born May 17, 1990) is an American singer and musician, who was the runner-up on the twelfth season of ''American Idol.'' Early life Kree Annette Harrison was born on May 17, 1990 at St. Mary's Hospital in Port Arthu ...

– backing vocals *

Natalie Hemby Natalie Nicole Hemby Wrucke (born March 24, 1977) is an American country music songwriter and singer. She has written songs for Lee Ann Womack, Eli Young Band, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Sunny Sweeney, Little Big Town, Jon Pardi, Kacey Musgra ...

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals, gang vocals * Waffle House background noise on "Blowin' Smoke" recorded by Luke Laird. Production and technical * Luke Laird – producer * Shane McAnally – producer * Kacey Musgraves – producer, art direction * Charlie Brocco – recording * Ryan Gore – additional recording, mixing * Leslie Richter – recording assistant * Mike Stankiewicz – additional recording assistant * Andrew Mendelson – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee) * LeAnn "Goddess" Bennett – production coordination * Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination * Ilya Toshinsky – track coordination * Kelly Christine Musgraves – art direction, photography * Karen Naff – art direction, design, illustrations * Steve Richards – illustrations * Jason Owen – management

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2013 debut albums Kacey Musgraves albums Mercury Records albums Albums produced by Shane McAnally Grammy Award for Best Country Album Country pop albums