Ever since Jack White introduced her to the world by releasing her debut album on his Third Man Records label, Margo Price has made it clear that she’s a little bit country and a little bit rock ’n’ roll. With her third album, she continues to edge ever closer to the latter — while continuing to raise the bar and the stakes on her songwriting. Produced by fellow Nashville outlier and iconoclast Sturgill Simpson and supported by an all-star band, these 10 cuts are primarily powered by Price’s unflinchingly honest lyrics about her tumultuous (and occasionally traumatic) past life and unease with fame. But just as importantly, perhaps, they’re set against a musical backdrop that often seems more reminiscent of Tom Petty’s heartland rock (perhaps no surprise, given the presence of Benmont Tench on keys) or Simpson’s own boundary-pushing approach than anything you’d hear at the Ryman. You don’t need to listen to rumors; Price’s reality is more than compelling enough to pique your interest.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “That’s How Rumors Get Started is an album of 10 new, original songs that commit her sky-high and scorching rock-and-roll show to record for the very first time. Whether she’s singing of motherhood or the mythologies of stardom, Nashville gentrification or the national healthcare crisis, relationships or growing pains, she’s crafted a collection of music that invites people to listen closer than ever before. Margo primarily cut That’s How Rumors Get Started at Los Angeles’ EastWest Studios. Tracking occurred over several days while she was pregnant with daughter Ramona. “They’re both a creation process,” she says. “And I was being really good to my body and my mind during that time. I had a lot of clarity from sobriety.” While Margo Price continued to collaborate on most of the songwriting with her husband Jeremy Ivey, she recorded with an historic band assembled by producer Sturgill Simpson, and including guitarist Matt Sweeney, bassist Pino Palladino, drummer James Gadson, and keyboardist Benmont Tench.”
