The new record from Margo Price That's How Rumors Get Started is The Current's album of the week. At the beginning of this year, back in January, Margo Price shared her new song "Stone Me", which, as a song, is a reaction to her critics and those who feel she's too outspoken. Speaking her mind is part of her identity, so "Stone Me" is another example of Price writing about her own experiences. The song also acted as a great preview to the vibe of the new album.

Margo started work on That's How Rumors Get Started about two years ago, bringing in another modern-day Nashville outlaw, Sturgill Simpson to produce. Price and Simpson have known each other quite a few years and came up together as performers early in their careers in Nashville. Simpson also plays guitar and sings on the new track "Letting me Down". Another big industry name in the producer seat was legendary Nashville producer and sound engineer David Ferguson. I've seen Margo Price live in concert a few times, and her 2018 set at the Hinterland Festival in Iowa was an incredible rock show and I can hear more rock influence drift into this album, especially the guitar riff on "Twinkle Twinkle".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic's effect on stopping the music industry in its tracks, Price decided to delay the album's release, scrapping the May release and pushing it to July 10. Covid-19 also affected Price's life in an even more personal way, when her husband, musician Jeremy Ivey had his own battle with Covid-19 (Ivey has several songwriting credits on the new album).

Margo Price got her big break when Jack White signed her to his label Third Man Records, where she released her first two full length albums, Midwest Farmer's Daughter and All American Made. For the new record, she signed with a different label, Loma Vista, choosing to stay with an independent. In a recent interview with The Current, Price told me that even though she took meetings with bigger labels, it felt like a natural fit to be with Loma Vista, so she could keep control of her song publishing and not sign away her creative output.

Margo Price doesn't easily fit in to the Nashville music machine, but it hasn't stopped her from carving out a name for herself in a highly competitive country/Americana music scene. How has she done it? By making great records and not sacrificing her values and sound just to appease a label or achieve status on country radio (Not that country radio is doing much for female country singers anyway). My attraction to Price's music is through her authenticity and the courage to use her voice to speak out against racism and sexism in the music industry, and beyond. Her integrity may keep her an underdog, but it's also keeping her true to herself. She's not going to get played on "bro country radio", but she'll always have a home here on The Current.

Rock on, Margo.

Find the Margo Price virtual session here.