Today, Margo Price fully expands her 2023 opus with the release of Strays II. Building on and further intensifying the resilient, resounding and hard-rocking proclamations that made Strays her "strongest solo work yet" (The New Yorker), and "the most comprehensive iteration of her continually evolving palette" (Rolling Stone), this expanded collection delivers both a double album and a psychedelic sequel. With production and special appearances from Jonathan Wilson, as well as new collaborations with Buck Meek of Big Thief, Mike Campbell and Ny Oh, its nine new songs unfold in the form of three distinct acts, each telling its own unique story of love, grief and acceptance. Act I: Topanga Canyon reflects on wild young lust, the cost of living and the sacrifice it takes to find freedom. Inspired by beat poetry, out-of-body experiences and the loss of Price's family farm, Act II: Mind Travel enters the parts of a trip where one ponders the past but embraces the present with open arms. Out now via Loma Vista Recordings, Act III: Burn Whatever's Left is the come down and the reckoning.
Listen to Strays II and the previously unheard Act III: Burn Whatever's Left, including "Homesick (feat. Jonathan Wilson)," "Where Did We Go Wrong" and "Burn Whatever's Left"
"We are at the end of the journey," says Margo Price. "You might feel nostalgic that it's over. You may have regrets but you're not going to dwell on things you can't change. After all, what would Joan of Arc do? 'Strike a match and start again, light the rope from either ends, so many pages I can't forget, tear them out and burn whatever's left.'"
Recorded at Jonathan Wilson's Topanga studio during the same life-changing sessions as the rest of Strays – and partially written amidst the formative, six-day psilocybin trip that Margo Price and Jeremy Ivey took the summer prior – Strays II reveals more of what makes Margo Price so "unstoppable, unsinkable, uninhibited" (The New York Times). Surmounting loss, trauma, substance abuse and demons of self-worth, these "stoic pearls of wisdom" (Pitchfork) have cemented her place as a singular storyteller, with so much to say but nothing to prove.
Since the release of Strays, Margo Price earned nominations for Artist of The Year, Album of The Year and Song of The Year at the Americana Honors & Awards, tying for the most nominations of any single artist in 2023. She has brought Strays songs and stories to CBS Mornings, Howard Stern, NPR and The Late Late Show with "Radio" collaborator Sharon Van Etten, discussed her memoir Maybe We'll Make It during the closing keynote of SXSW, appeared on the covers of Relix, Pollstar and The Nashvillian magazines, reigned for 14 weeks at #1 on the Americana radio charts with "Change of Heart," and released a new version of that song with Sierra Ferrell. Throughout the year she also celebrated Willie Nelson's 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl, published a powerful, personal essay about gun control at Rolling Stone, met with Tennessean lawmakers, sang alongside Dr. Jill Biden at Nashville's vigil for the Covenant shooting victims, and headlined sold-out tour dates across the country.
Margo Price will perform songs from Strays and more in her new episode of Austin City Limits, premiering October 28th on PBS. In recent weeks, Price has also shared the stage with Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers, detailed the new Jessi Colter album that she produced, and welcomed Sturgill Simpson to her set at Farm Aid, where she is the first female artist to sit on the board of directors, alongside Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Between now and the end of the year, you can catch her on the road for shows with Jason Isbell, Orville Peck and more at margoprice.net/tour.
