In a stadium of strangers dressed in fabulous fringe, denim, boots, cowboy hats and other adornments in keeping with the immaculate Cowboy Carter aesthetic, I rediscovered something that I had long misplaced: Ebullient joy.

Beyonce has two shows in Houston this weekend and both of the city's major airports are getting in the Cowboy Carter spirit.

More than a year after its release, "Cowboy Carter" is still sparking conversations and upending perceptions about genre, authenticity and who gets to claim country music as their own. The album's gumbo of sounds rattled radio programmers,