Last year Margo Price guested on Swamp Dogg's album Blackgrass: From West Virginia To 125th Street, contributed to a Margo Guryan tribute LP, and teamed up with Billy Strings for the Stereogum-favorited collaboration "Too Stoned To Cry." Now, the country iconoclast is announcing her new record Hard Headed Woman to follow 2023's Strays II.
The lead single "Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down" was co-written with her husband Jeremy Ivey and a pair of legendary veterans: Kris Kristofferson and Rodney Crowell. It alludes to the phrase from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale but is more specifically a nod to what Kristofferson whispered in Sinéad O'Connor's ear when she was booed on stage at a Bob Dylan anniversary concert. Here's what Price said about the track:
I always hope to do like Johnny Cash did, which is speak up for the common man and woman. But there have been so many threats and anger and vitriol over the years, when I am only coming from a place of love. So I made the decision to rebuild everything from the ground up. I hope this album inspires people to be fearless and take chances and just be unabashedly themselves, in a culture that tries as hard as it can to beat us into all being the same.
Hard Headed Woman was produced by Matt Ross-Spang and recorded in the historic RCA Studio A. It features duets with Tyler Childers and Jesse Welles. "Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down" is as snarky and fun as a song could get, especially when Price quips, "All the cocaine in existence couldn't keep your nose out of my business." Ian Blair's music video makes it even better; watch below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Prelude {Hard Headed Woman}"
02 "Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down"
03 "Red Eye Flight"
04 "Don’t Wake Me Up" (Feat. Jesse Welles)
05 "Close To You"
06 "Nowhere Is Where"
07 "Losing Streak"
08 "I Just Don’t Give A Damn"
09 "Keep A Picture"
10 "Love Me Like You Used To Do" (Feat. Tyler Childers)
11 "Wild At Heart"
12 "Kissing You Goodbye"
TOUR DATES:
06/18 - London, UK @ Scala
06/20 - Grolloo, NL @ Holland International Blues Festival
06/21 - Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/28 - Eau Claire, WI @ Blue Ox Music Festival
07/27 - Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
07/29 - Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park*
07/31 - Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater*
08/01 - Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater*
08/03 - Portland, ME @ Back Cove Music & Arts Festival
09/06 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Grand Rapids Riverfest
09/07 - Evanston, IL @ Evanston Folk Festival
09/13 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks^
09/14 - Templeton, CA @ Whale Rock
09/20 - Minneapolis, MN @ Farm Aid
09/27 - Dana Point, CA @ Ohana Music Festival
10/02 - San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic (A Tribute to Emmylou Harris)
10/05 - Ocean City, MD @ Country Calling Festival
10/11 - Livingston, KY @ Moonshiners Ball
3/20-3/25 - Miami, FL @ Outlaw Country Cruise
*with Mumford & Sons
^with Greensky Bluegrass
Hard Headed Woman is out 8/29 on Loma Vista. Pre-order it here.
