Up-and-coming country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves performed her recent career-launching hit "Merry Go Round" on the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (May 19), delivering a performance so subtly nuanced that it seemed almost out of place in the setting of the elaborate, made-for-TV Vegas production.

The 24-year-old musician scored a huge hit right out of the box with the track -- and its stripped-down instrumentation and organic feel are perfect for the simple treatment Musgraves gave the song Sunday night. Wearing a simple blue dress and accompanying herself on acoustic guitar with a band consisting of electric guitar, cello, keys and backing vocals, she gave an understated performance that had about as much in common with most young female country singers as Paul Simon has to do with KC and the Sunshine Band.

She and her simple band performed in the round, surrounded by an audience who had witnessed a number of huge, spectacular performances — and who were being reverentially quiet while she delivered the song.

"Merry Go Round" recently helped Musgraves' debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album chart.

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