Hard headed women are forever causing trouble in country music history, but very few of them own their narratives. Margo Price does. On her latest, Hard Headed Woman, Price returns to a classic country sound reminiscent of her early albums full force, but plants her feet firmly on her own turf, terms, and technical prowess.
“I’m a hard headed woman and I don’t owe ya shit / I ain’t ashamed, I just am what I am,” Price begins the album. She follows her declaration of independence immediately with the anthemic “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down,” inspired in part by the words of support Kris Kristofferson once whispered to Sinead O’Connor on stage, and featuring Kristofferson’s gruff outro of those same words. That spirit returns throughout the album with the gnarly “I Just Don’t Give a Damn,” the cantina-inspired “Wild At Heart,” and “Keep A Picture” in which Price simultaneously eviscerates and eulogizes a long-gone lover.
