merchandise
After Kacey Musgraves released her 14-song Deeper Well — a project that delved into self-reflection while excavating raw truths — she found that she still had perspectives to share and more songs to sing after the March release.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Deeper Well was so cathartic to me, I just didn’t want that era to end,” the seven-time Grammy winner tells Billboard of her fifth studio album.
So earlier this month, Musgraves released the extended deluxe album Deeper Into the Well, adding seven new songs, a mix of older and newer tracks, with some that she calls “just further ruminations on some of the emotions that I explored on the original record. I thought, ‘What if Deeper Well had some summer bops, what would those sound like? So, there’s a couple on there.”
Trending on Billboard
New songs include the funky Leon Bridges collaboration “Superbloom,” and the solemn “Irish Goodbye,” which Musgraves notes as “an anthem for anyone who’s been ghosted. I think that’s something that happens these days in this kind of transient temporary mindset that a lot of people have when it comes to dating and love.”
[embedded content]
Alongside the release of Deeper Into the Well, she’s inviting fans to dig deeper into a curated collection of approximately 50 Etsy pieces — all hand-selected by Musgraves — that complement the album’s music.
Earlier this year, she also co-designed a range of necklace charms, sold on Etsy, that highlight different songs on Deeper Well. A self-described “Etsy superfan from way back,” Musgraves says that many of her favorite pieces of home décor and clothing were found on Etsy.
“It’s a treasure trove of unique things you can’t find anywhere else. It’s like the world’s greatest estate sale at your fingertips,” Musgraves says. “I find myself on Etsy at all hours of the night when I can’t sleep, and I get into these crazy wormholes finding the most interesting things.”
The new collection features a range of items selected by Musgraves, including hand-painted candles, quilts, wicker baskets, wooden cardinal whistles, boots, incense holders, ceramic mugs and printed linens, including pieces from Etsy designer Julie Peach.
“I love that folk art and cottage core have been having such big moments, because those are a lot of the things that I gravitate towards myself,” Musgraves says. “So, Etsy is the perfect place to find all kinds of things like that.”
For Musgraves, supporting small businesses was an integral element of her work with Etsy. “I come from two small business-owning parents,” the Texas native says. “They’ve had a small print shop ever since I’ve been alive, and every paycheck mattered greatly to them. I just have always known the true effect of putting your money in the hands of people, that it really can make or break things for them. And so, I would much rather shop at Etsy than go to a big box store where it’s just not going to have the same effect.”
Musgraves’ mother, Karen Musgraves, is one of the featured artists in the Etsy partnership. Among the items the singer-songwriter favorited is a piece her mother crafted, a black ceramic container with a bunny-shaped lid.
“I have one in my house in my bathroom, but I was like, ‘Mom, I have to put this on my favorites list,” Musgraves says. “She’s a brilliant creator in all mediums. She’s mostly a painter, but her brain is always coming up with the coolest things. And she’s been inspired to make ceramic vessels and things like that.”
On Aug. 4, Musgraves surprised fans to celebrate the release of Deeper Into the Well with pop-up shops at farmers markets in Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York City, where fans could buy merchandise including T-shirts and vinyl records. Ahead, Musgraves’ Deeper Well World Tour runs through the end of the year. Having already completed a slate of U.K. tour dates, the outing will return stateside Sept. 4 and will feature openers Father John Misty, Lord Huron and Nickel Creek on select dates.
“Designing this show has been so fun and therapeutic and I think it’s going to be a stunning mix of eye candy and music,” Musgraves says. “I can’t wait for people to see it.”
The Rolling Stones’ famed “tongue and lips” logo is at the center of a new federal lawsuit, launched by a small clothing chain that says it was unfairly threatened by Universal Music Group’s Bravado merch company with “unfounded” infringement litigation over a similar logo.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday (March 29), apparel retailer Simply Southern claimed it had received a cease-and-desist letter from Bravado, a unit of UMG that sells licensed merchandise for the Stones and dozens of other major artists. The letter allegedly took aim at T-shirts that featured a “disembodied mouth,” claiming they were confusingly similar to the iconic logo.
But lawyers for Simply Southern say its apparel designs were “clearly and demonstrably different,” and they want a federal judge to rule that the company “has not infringed Bravado’s asserted intellectual property rights.”
“Simply Southern’s mouth images show many elements that are very different from Bravado’s asserted tongue/lips image,” the company wrote in its complaint. “For example, Simply Southern’s images have a more plump lower lip, more square teeth, and a wider and more open mouth when compared to Bravado’s asserted image.”
A representative for Bravado declined to comment. The Rolling Stones themselves are not named in the lawsuit and are not accused of any wrongdoing; a rep for the band did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.
Called “the most famous logo in rock ’n’ roll” by the New York Times, the “tongue and lips” image was created in 1970 by John Pasche, a London art student who had been commissioned by the band to create a poster for its upcoming European tour. The design was then tweaked slightly by designer Craig Braun before it appeared in its final version on the back cover of the band’s 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
Since then, the Stones logo has appeared countless times — on music releases, T-shirts, stickers, posters and even as the stage for the band’s halftime performance during Super Bowl XL.
According to Wednesday’s lawsuit, Bravado sent Simply Southern a letter on March 1, claiming to be the exclusive licensee to sell Rolling Stones merchandise. The lawyers for Bravado warned Simply Southern that its products were “confusingly similar” to the tongue and lips design, and that such offending merchandise infringed the band’s trademarks.
The complaint filed in federal court (available in its entirety here) includes images Simply Southern’s two offending logos. Both appear visually similar to the Stones logo, but with differences. One is highly similar in shape, but features a different pink-and-leopard print color scheme; the other features the same red color scheme as the Stones logo, but includes a different orientation with different tongue placement.
From Simply Southern’s perspective, that’s enough difference to avoid liability for trademark infringement.
“Because the mouth is an inherently expressive body part, subtle changes in shape and positioning result in markedly different interpretations of emotional expression,” the company wrote. “Bravado’s asserted image is mostly devoid of emotion but has slight hints of either playfulness or defiance. By contrast, Simply Southern’s images are deeply expressive.”
Read Simply Southern’s full complaint here:
-
Pages