Show Notes
Margo Price’s music education and evolution, from 1. Growing up making plays for her sister and friends → 2. Buying herself her first guitar with her eighth grade graduation money → 3. Moving to Nashville and wanting to play a different kind of country music → 4. Pawning her wedding ring and selling her car to pay for recording at Sun Studios in Memphis, making the record, and then pitching it to every label and no interest for a year, until eventually Jack White’s Third Man Records picked it up → 5. Navigating political influences on country music → 6. Facing pain and learning how to channel it through her music.
Margo Price has something to say but nothing to prove. In just three remarkable solo albums, the singer and songwriter has cemented herself as a force in American music and a generational talent. A deserving critical darling, she has never shied away from the sounds that move her, the pain that’s shaped her, or the topics that tick her off, like music industry double standards, the gender wage gap, or the plight of the American farmer (in 2021, she even joined the board of Farm Aid). While the last few years have seen remarkable moments of acclaim – a Best New Artist GRAMMY nomination, Americana Music Honors, a Saturday Night Live performance, and just about every outlet and critics’ year-end Best Of list – Price is still hungry. On her fourth full-length Strays, a clear-eyed mission statement delivered in blistering rock and roll, she’s taking on substance abuse, self-image, abortion rights, and orgasms. Musically extravagant but lyrically laser focused, the 10-song record tears into a broken world desperate for remedy. And who better to tell it? Price has been to the mountain and back, but finds herself, at long last, free. Feral. Stray.
Follow Silverlake Conservatory of Music at @silverlake_conservatory For more information on Parallel, visit parallel.la Follow Cadence13 at @cadence13 Follow Margo Price at @missmargoprice Follow Flea at @flea333
More from This Little Light
Anthony Kiedis’ music education and evolution, from 1. Experimenting with his earliest form of special expression via dance → 2. Meeting Flea in high school and starting his musical journey → 3. Embracing his role as a singer → 4. The RHCP very first show, where they played a single song → 5. Navigating relationships with different producers → 6. Being influenced by Nina Hagen → 7. Meeting John Frusciante and building their creative partnership.
John Frusciante’s music education and evolution, from 1. First picking up an acoustic guitar (that he wished was electric) → 2. His first experiences with teachers, including ones that inspired him and ones that discouraged him → 3. Discovering punk rock in LA → 4. Playing his first show in LA → 5. Joining the RHCP and embracing his own signature style.
Earl Sweatshirt’s music education and evolution, from 1. Growing up in Chicago, lying on his family’s Persian rug listening to jazz, African horns, and gospel music → 2. Being a dad now, watching his son learn rhythm → 3. Learning saxophone in elementary school → 4. Starting writing rap at 16 and also listening to music like Dr. Dre’s ‘Chronic 2001’ and Lil Wayne’s ‘Money on My Mind’ → 5. Visiting his dad in South Africa and starting to write music in earnest in his spare time → 6. Finding inspiration in J. Dilla’s book, Dilla Time.
Tenacious D’s music education and evolution, from 1. Kyle learning to play the flute, and Jack learning piano → 2. Jack meeting his creative hero, Bobby McFerrin, and being inspired to think of his voice as his instrument → 3. Tenacious D being encouraged by Harry Shearer at an early concert → 4. Building a creative process based in acting.
Cory Henry’s music education and evolution, from 1. Watching his mom perform as choir director and lead musician at his church in Brooklyn and eventually playing with the choir by age five → 2. In high school joining the jazz band and going to the Village Underground open mic nights for soul and gospel music → 3. Expanding his taste beyond gospel to include hip hop → 4. Playing with Snarky Puppy and living a scrappy existence; doing it for the love, not the money.