The Austin Music Minute didn’t mince words on today’s feature: Margo Price has been to hell and back. Been there, done that, wrote the book, sold the movie rights. Figuratively speaking, of course, but you get the idea. Life’s journey was not a pretty one at certain points, and Price was faced with immeasurable heartache and grief.
It was literally a country song that could write itself – the loss of her family’s farm, men bringing nothing but misery, lovin’ the bottle a bit too much…and the horrific loss that only a parent could comprehend. “I lost my firstborn son to a heart ailment, and I was really down and depressed,” Price said. “I was drinking too much. I was definitely lost. I did some things that I regret very much now that resulted in a brush with the law. Thank god I had my friends and family to keep me going. Coming through that, I thought, ‘I’m just going to write music that I want to hear.’ It was a big turning point.”
That eye-opening revelation led to the recording of Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, released last year on Third Man Records. Price brings a fresh voice to a classic Nashville sound, resilient amidst the personal turmoil with a stark lyricism that just seems to nail those moments in time. (Check out “Four Years of Chances,” featured on today’s AMM, and you’ll get a pretty clear picture.)
Price is in town for a must-see performance tonight at Emo’s, 2015 E. Riverside Dr., featuring special guest Colter Wall opening the show. Doors at 8 p.m. Recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
