By Ian Bremner

Country music is a tough scene to break. There are the obvious barriers of the multi-billion dollar industry on music row and the team of producers and songwriters pumping out songs as if they were on an assembly line. But, there are also the country music fans and listeners whose demands and requirements for “real country” are very specific. To garner respect as a new country act you must stick to the roots without knocking off any country elders. You must be “authentic” but not cliché. You must push the envelope, but not too far.

Margo Price knows this more than anyone. She has spent the last decade in Nashville working odd jobs and playing as many gigs as she needed to get noticed. With the support of her husband and guitar player Jeremy Ivey, they bet the farm (almost literally) by pawning her wedding ring, selling some music gear and even liquidating the family car to make the record that was going to “make her.”

After some personal setbacks and the proverbial, “thanks for your interest, but…,” letters, a career in music was very much in question. The dark times were often met with alcohol and uncertainty, but Margo Price refused to give up. Her determination and will eventually led to the ears of Jack White and his label, Third Man Records, who rave about Margo but choose to let the music speak for itself.

Her debut album, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter has been met with immediate acclaim and has been drawing comparisons to Loretta Lynn and Elliott Smith, while still feeling like a modern record. Where her country colleague, Kacey Musgraves laments she doesn’t wan to be part of the Good Ole’ Boys Club, Margo Price seems to be more comfortable at a bar with the boys and that is perfectly alright.

Country music and more importantly, country music FANS are in good hands. With Sturgill, Isbell, Stapleton, Musgraves and now Margo Price, the club is growing.

Midwest Farmer’s Daughter

Official Video for Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)

Interview with CBS