Margo Price doesn’t care about your party
Third Man Records’ first country signee is no newcomer, but a model for new Nashville
In September, Margo Price walked onto the stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to accept an Americana Award for Emerging Artist of the year. For most of those in the audience, she was far from a new voice. Long beloved as the frontwoman of eclectic Nashville five-piece Buffalo Clover, Price has performed on stages for the better part of her life. “I was always a big ham,” she says. “I always liked to make people laugh, and I started doing that when I was very young. I don’t even know when I got my first guitar — probably around 12 or something. I got bit with that bug pretty hard.”
Now, Price and her band are headlining gigs across the nation, owning late night television and reaching across genre lines to showcase country’s grittier roots. “I feel very fortunate,” she says. “I never was much for getting up and abiding by anyone else’s schedule.”
As the first country act signed to Third Man Records (Jack White’s Nashville-based record label), she’s not exactly bowing to industry norms, either. She’s one of a growing class of country artists finding success outside the traditional model of radio play and major label money.
“Country is going through an interesting change right now. A lot of artists who are more pop or more commercial are trying to come around and do something more authentic,” Price says. “It’s interesting how that run-off gets to people.”
She goes on to say that she feels “a lot more at home” in the Americana and punk spaces.
As Americana album sales start to compete with those of mainstream country on the charts, the industry is ripe for the rise of a star like Price, whose debut full-length, Midwestern Farmer’s Daughter, buoys gut-wrenching depth on some numbers with honky-tonkin’ good times on others. Catchy debut single “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)” makes for a strong introduction not only to Price, but also to other rising Nashville talents, like co-writers Caitlin Rose (who hits Smith’s Olde Bar for a show on Nov. 17) and Mark Fredson.
“That song happened by complete accident,” she says.
The whole thing transpired on her back porch with Fredson, Rose, and her husband (and frequent co-writer) Jeremy Ivey. “We were all blind drunk. I had sung on Mark’s record earlier that day, and he bought me a giant bottle of Bulleit bourbon, and we nearly polished the whole thing off with just the four of us. I had one eye open, I’m sure, and I said, ‘Man, we put a hurtin’ on that bottle.’”
“Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)” may be lighthearted fare, but Midwestern Farmer’s Daughter holds its share of hushed confessions, too. “Hands of Time” glosses over regret in the style of country’s classic leading ladies, while “Weekender” was written from jail to document a real-life low point.
The record is a return to classic country and a breath of fresh air for listeners who have leveled criticism at entities like the CMAs for skimping on tradition — not that it’s stopping Price or her peers from being heard.
“Maybe it’s just best I ain’t invited to the party,” she laughs. She’s right, really. Killing bottles of bourbon on the back porch makes for better country songs, anyway.
Margo Price plays Terminal West on Mon., Nov. 7. $16-$20. 7 p.m. With Hugh Masterson. 887 W. Marietta St. N.W., Studio C. 404-876-5566. www.terminalwestatl.com.