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Kacey Musgraves cements her crossover appeal at Coachella

Kacey Musgraves onstage during day one at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.
Kacey Musgraves onstage during day one at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Kacey Musgraves is no stranger to Indio’s Empire Polo Club, having played the Stagecoach country festival that takes place every year on the same grounds as Coachella.

But Friday night marked the singer’s debut at the latter, where she’s on the bill this weekend alongside Childish Gambino and Ariana Grande.

Her main-stage gig, which she played while standing in front of an enormous disco ball, was the latest step in a crossover effort that’s also included a tour with Harry Styles and her winning album of the year at the most recent Grammy Awards with “Golden Hour.”

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Here she leaned into that pop-star potential in grooved-up renditions of “Wonder Woman” and “High Horse,” which featured the roots-music equivalent of a dubstep drop (and had her bassist wearing a rainbow flag).

Kacey Musgraves on the Coachella Stage Friday at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

But she wasn’t disguising her country roots. Before “Velvet Elvis,” she led the crowd in a call-and-response bit straight out of her native Texas.

“When I say ‘yee,’” she told the crowd, “you say ‘haw.’”

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