{"id":2293155,"date":"2026-02-21T22:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2293155"},"modified":"2026-02-21T22:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:36:34","slug":"margo-price-on-newport-folk-battling-ai-and-bro-country-and-meeting-joan-baez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/margo-price-on-newport-folk-battling-ai-and-bro-country-and-meeting-joan-baez\/","title":{"rendered":"Margo Price on Newport Folk, battling AI and bro-country, and meeting Joan Baez"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEntertainment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
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Ahead of her Boston show, the Grammy nominee discusses her inspirations \u2014 and reveals her unexpected Massachusetts connection.<\/h2>\n
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\n\tMargo Price. Yana Yatsuk<\/em>\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Lauren Daley<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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8 minutes to read<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

Joan Baez once told me something that has stood out in my mind ever since as embodying the Baez Ethos.<\/p>\n

I interviewed<\/a> the former Belmont resident and one-time Boston University art student to ask about her paintings in 2020 \u2014 portraits of MLK, John Prine, Patti Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn these times, there are bastards and there are heroes. And painting the heroes is a no-brainer,\u201d Baez told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The line surfaced somewhere in my head when I heard Margo Price\u2019s song, \u201cDon\u2019t Let the Bastards Get You Down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because Baez, 85, has long been a torchbearer for Truth and Peace in this world. And Price carries that\u00a0fire. That flame lights Price\u2019s path, and she walks it with a Johnny Cash-don\u2019t-eff-with-me swagger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, Joan Baez is the queen for me,\u201d Price tells me in our recent phone call, ahead of her Boston show Feb. 21 at The Royale<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baez, who cut her teeth <\/a>on the Boston folk scene, is \u201cthe whole reason I operate the way I do,\u201d Price tells me.\u00a0 Everybody can learn a lesson from Joan Baez on how to lead with your heart, and use your voice for a bigger purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Margo Price \u2013 Yana Yatsuk<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read about Margo Price, and you\u2019re bound to see the description \u201coutlaw country.\u201d If supporting women\u2019s rights and speaking up for what you believe in is \u201coutlaw,\u201d well, call her Calamity Jane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a voice that harkens back to early Grand Ole Opry days and John Prine-esque writing chops, Price, 42, has bushwhacked her own path in a mainstream Nashville paint-by-number country algorithm. Like Baez, she does not paint the bastards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her latest album, \u201cHard Headed Woman,<\/a>\u201d nominated for two Grammys last month, begins with \u201cPrelude,\u201d a near thesis statement: \u201cI\u2019m a hard headed woman and I don\u2019t owe you sh\u2014\u201c Price sings in a near-lullaby, a la old-school bluegrass gospel singer.<\/p>\n

On CBS Saturday Morning last month, the hard-headed woman covered Woody Guthrie\u2019s \u201cDeportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n

Last fall, she played \u201cDon\u2019t Let The Bastards Get You Down\u201d on\u00a0 \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a>\u201d just hours before the show was pulled off the air for \u201cindefinite hiatus.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later posted a clip<\/a> of that performance \u2014 in which she sings: \u201cFrom Aberdeen to Austin, Saint Augustine to Boston \u2026 Don\u2019t let the bastards get you down\u201d\u2014 to social media with the caption: \u201cIf this was the last word, I\u2019m glad it was mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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