Perry, Musgraves Meld Pop, Country Beautifully on 'Crossroads'

by Julian Spivey
The 50th installment of CMT’s “Crossroads” series that pits two artists of differing genres (one of them always being country music) together featuring fast friends Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry, which aired on June 13, was one of the long-running series best collaborations.
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Perry and Musgraves became good friends a couple of years ago when Musgraves popped up on the music scene with the critically acclaimed “Merry Go ‘Round,” which Perry heard and raved about and recommended on Twitter.

Perry’s recommendation of Musgraves likely helped to expand her fan base and popularity. The two seem to have a burgeoning friendship and Perry will be taking Musgraves along with her for parts of her Prismatic Tour this year. Their personalities seem to mesh very well together and helped to make for one of the more entertaining “Crossroads” episodes in quite some time.

Usually the worlds of country music and pop music are something that I don’t like to see mix, and unfortunately have been mixed far too often lately, but Perry and Musgraves teaming up together on their biggest hits and some classic covers was simply perfect. The two beautiful voices on these even more beautiful ladies were simply riveting to listen to and watch.

The episode kicked off with a fantastic version of Perry’s 2010 number one hit “Teenage Dream,” which set the stage perfectly for what kind of combination we were going to get from these two as Musgraves was absolutely flawless on her guest verse. Perry would return the favor with flawlessness on “Merry Go ‘Round” right after.
One of the true highlights of the performance was the selection of Dolly Parton’s beautiful “Here You Come Again,” that showed off both artist’s beautiful vocals. Before the performance Musgraves remarked that Perry “had called her Dolly Parton without the tits.”

The duo kept sharing verses of each other’s hits including Musgraves’ “Step Off” and a fantastic performance of Perry’s 2010 hit “Firework,” slowed down a bit and marvelously showing Perry’s remarkable range.

Following was a performance of Musgraves’ critically acclaimed “Follow Your Arrow,” which the duo said Musgraves had offered to Perry to record during a songwriting session, but Perry told Musgraves it was so good she had to record it for herself. Good advice no doubt.

Another highlight of the episode came on another terrific cover song, this time a take on Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 hit “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” It was simply another perfect song for both Perry and Musgraves to show off their vocal prowess.

The episode ended with the two friends taking shots at one of Perry’s most recent hits, “Roar,” a number one from last year.

As I mentioned earlier I just don’t particularly care for a mixture of pop and country music, but Perry and Musgraves’ performance was one of those rare gems that proves sometimes the genres can meld perfectly. The friendship between Perry and Musgraves is one of the most unique in music and hopefully we will see these two collaborate again in the near future.