Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes album: companion set due in January

Kacey Musgraves is not done with the world of Middle of Nowhere yet. On October 22, the singer announced a 16-track companion album, Middle of Nowhere Vol. 2: Tex Mex Tapes, arriving January 15, 2027 through Lost Highway. The new Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes collection picks up where this year's album left off, leaning into the Texas and Mexican sounds that shaped it. It follows Middle of Nowhere, the standout country record she put out this spring, and deepens the cross-border sound that record introduced.

The track list mixes eleven original songs with five covers. Four of the songs are sung entirely in Spanish. The Spanish material includes a newly recorded version of "Uncertain, TX" with norteno mainstays Intocable, plus "Tu Solo Tu," recorded live in Mexico City with Mariachi Oro de America. The Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes set also carries "Pretty Horses," "Hard Conversations," "Caballero," "Denim on Denim," "Desert Eyes," "All My Exes," "(Hey Baby) Que Paso?," and "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." Other titles on the record include "Rodeo," "The Vacation Song," and "Pity Party." According to the announcement, the album expands on themes of solitude, contentment, and finding beauty in the in-between.

First taste arrives tonight

Two songs from the set land at midnight Eastern Time on October 23. "Weekend in Texas" is a breezy tribute to her home state, where Consequence of Sound reports she has "tequila for breakfast" and can "leave all [her] cares behind." "Mi Tesoro" is her take on a norteno classic, delivered in a reverb-heavy style with a nostalgic glow, the outlet reports. Both serve as an early preview of the Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes rollout and its Spanish-language material.

Closing out the Middle of Nowhere era

The announcement lands as Musgraves wraps her 2026 Middle of Nowhere Tour. The 34-date run kicked off August 21 with a sold-out show at Chicago's United Center and has included a pair of sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden. The tour was produced by AEG Presents and built around career-spanning sets drawn from the new album. Final dates in Oakland and Seattle close out the month for the Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes tour cycle, with the last show landing on the 27th.

Middle of Nowhere is Musgraves' seventh studio album, released in May through Lost Highway after she signed with the relaunched label. She produced it alongside longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, drawing on Texas dance halls, traditional country, and the musical borderlands she grew up with. Singles included "Dry Spell," the title track, "Loneliest Girl," and "Mexico Honey," and the record reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, according to Backstage Country.

The record has also earned Musgraves nominations at this year's CMA Awards, including Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Song of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Dry Spell," plus Musical Event of the Year for "Horses and Divorces" with Miranda Lambert. Signed CD and vinyl pre-orders for the Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes companion sold out shortly after the news broke, The Music Universe notes. That appetite for physical editions lines up with the companion record's retro-leaning Tex-Mex sound.

Musgraves has spent the past few years deepening her connection to regional Mexican music. "Uncertain, TX" with Intocable started as a standalone collaboration before earning its place on the new record. "Tu Solo Tu" was captured live in Mexico City with a full mariachi ensemble, and "Mi Tesoro" reaches back to the norteno songbook for one of the collection's covers. According to the announcement, the album explores the deep-rooted connection between Texas and Mexico, two places close to Kacey's heart, bound by generations of shared music, culture, and tradition.

The album continues her run with Lost Highway, the label she joined after its relaunch; she had been the final artist to sign to the original incarnation before it shut down in 2012. Coming just months after Middle of Nowhere, the Kacey Musgraves Tex Mex Tapes companion makes clear the Tex-Mex direction was planned as a two-part story.

Sources: Consequence of Sound, Backstage Country