Rising country artist Kacey Musgraves will be performing live at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union Great Hall, backed up by the duet John and Jacob.

The concert was initially slated for Oct. 23 but was postponed until early December to serve as the Student Union Board’s final show for the fall semester.

Musgraves is a quickly climbing country star who has released four albums and is making an impression in the country scene. She has been nominated for Country Artist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music Awards, has toured with Lady Antebellum and is gaining attention with her recent major label debut.

Opening for the show are singing duo John and Jacob. Along with Musgraves, their songs have gained exposure by being featured on ABC’s musical series “Nashville.”

Musgraves was raised in Golden, Texas, a small town of 600, roughly 80 miles outside of Dallas. 

“[Golden] is kind of out in the middle of nowhere,” Musgraves said. “[My parents ran] a little mom-and-pop Kinko’s kind of thing.”

When listening to her self-written album, it should come as no surprise that Musgraves’ strong suit growing up was creative writing.

“I love words,” Musgraves said. “I love how intricate they can get. Even in simple conversation, I like it when language is colorful.”

At 8 years old, Musgraves made her public singing debut in her church. Her first song was written at age 9.

“It was called ‘Notice Me,’” Musgraves said. “I can’t help but wonder now what the hell a 9-year-old would’ve had to write about.”

After Musgraves’ first live performance, she moved up to the regional opry circuit.

“In Texas, every few towns have an opry house,” Musgraves said. “Performers come up on stage and sing old country songs with a live band. I did that every weekend. It got me familiar with being in front of people and working with musicians.”

Musgraves learned to play mandolin when she was 12 from local artist John DeFoore.

“[Learning mandolin] was one of the most important things that ever happened to me,” Musgraves said. “He could tell early on that I wasn’t the kind of student who was going to go home and shred scales, so he taught me chords and encouraged me to write. My homework every week would be to write a song. I’d bring it back to him the next week, and he would critique it.” 

Before she was 18, Musgraves self-released her first record with the help of her parents. Soon after she was selected to compete on USA’s “Nashville Star,” where she finished 17th. 

“When I first started writing my own songs, they were pretty bad,” Musgraves said. “I hadn’t found my own voice yet. But it made me appreciate the creative process, and it made me better. I learned not to be scared to just throw an idea out there. I had no clue how useful this would be to me when I moved to Nashville and signed a publishing deal.”

Musgraves moved to Nashville in 2008 to pursue a career in songwriting. She started out adding vocals to other artists’ demos.

“I was, like, ‘Hey, you might need a new voice for demos … and also, these happen to be my songs,’” Musgraves said. “I developed a real passion for the construction of songs and probably wrote a couple hundred during that time, putting aside the ones that felt the most like me.”

During 2012, Musgraves toured with the likes of country icons Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and Lady Antebellum.

“I opened some shows for Willie Nelson in Texas,” Musgraves said. “Down there, that’s like Jesus coming back, you know? It was amazing.”

Musgraves made her major label debut in March, when she released her fourth studio album, “Same Trailer Different Park,” under Mercury Nashville. The album has been acclaimed by music critics of Rolling Stone, AllMusic and USA Today, to name a few.

“I’m just stoked that I get to wake up every day and do what I really love,” Musgraves said. “As long as it lasts, I’m grateful.”

Tickets for Musgraves’ concert are available in person at the Maintenance Shop box office or online at Midwestix.com at $20 for students and $25 for the public. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.