The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Margo Price

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

Margo Price and Andy Richter love country music… but not modern pop country. The country singer-songwriter and author joins Andy to discuss the current state of country music, getting signed by Jack White, how a girl from Illinois found herself in Nashville, her short-lived alter ego as Sylvia Slim, and much more. Her new album, "Hard Headed Woman,” is out now. Do you want to talk to Andy live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Tell us your favorite dinner party story (about anything!) - leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTER. Listen to "The Andy Richter Call-In Show" every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Channel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the three questions. I'm your host, Andy Richter. Today I'm talking to Margo Price. She's a country singer-songwriter and an author, and she is fantastic and probably said too much. She has a memoir. Maybe we'll make it that's available wherever you find books. And her latest album, Hardheaded Woman, is out now. Here's my great conversation with the wonderful Margo Price. Can't you tell my love? I have heard. I actually have to go to fucking four hours of dance for her.

Amazing. I'm going to watch the show now. Oh, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Thank you. No, it's, I mean, it's been, it's been, it's been quite a ride from going from being like, what the fuck have I done? what did I say yes to and then all kinds of like fat kid guilt shame things coming out you know

I know I know yeah yeah but it's there and it's like yeah and also but just being fairly like I don't know if I can do this I mean it's hard I mean I was on Conan's podcast talking about it and and he's like I don't think I could do it and I said you could because I can't you know like I just go in there and just repeat repeat and um but it is like it's been like this amazing thing for me of like oh something I was totally uncomfortable with was set in my ways you know like and like this is outside of my comfort zone like why would you go outside your comfort zone it scares you it's nice and comfortable in there um and now this is about as as big of a do things that scare you kind of That's awesome.

Experiences one can have, you know. And it's made me feel like, no, I'm going to keep doing this sort of thing. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah. Not dancing necessarily, but just like doing stuff that. Taking risks. Yes. Yeah.

It's so easy. Yeah, yeah. My uncle just hit me up. My uncle's kind of like legitimately. Yeah, yeah. She slid off his cracker, but he texted me like three days ago. He was, you need to go on dancing with the stars. And I was like, what?

And then today when I was driving over here, they were like, He's been on Dancing with the Star. I'm tuning in now. I haven't watched it in a long time. I used to be a dancer. If you want, I'll put your name in. Please do. Yeah, yeah.

I used to be a serious dancer. I was like a college cheerleader. It's my dirty secret. But I now I'm just to be a musician. Yes, for the Huskies. Yeah, because you're Illinois too. I'm an Illinois boy. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, because you're from by the Quad Cities. Yeah. Like, Moline was the big city. for you. Yeah, we'd say going to town when we were going into Alito and then we'd say going to the cities. Yeah, yeah. And then all my friends that didn't live in my town, they'd be like, going to the cities.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where are you? What town were you? I'm from Yorkville, which is straight west of Chicago. Yeah. Which is kind of, you know, and at the time, it's more, now it's kind of been swallowed up by, you know, the, you know, it's like a best buy. Like what used to be soybean fields is now like a best buy and all the other.

kind of malls kind of stuff. But at the time, it was a pretty small town, and there was no, nobody commuted to Chicago from there. It was like its own thing. You stayed there. Yeah, if you commuted, you were going to like Montgomery to work at the Caterpillar Tractor Factory, you know. My sister works at Caterpillar.

Yeah. Yeah. There you go. But it was, now it's kind of spread. And because, you know, the Chicago land area, as they call it, it's not just, people aren't just going into the city. there's all kinds of industrial centers, business centers around. It's like you might go from, you know, Evanston to Naperville, you know, and this fall

fascinating for people. I just played in Evanston. Yeah, right. Everyone's like, where are they talking about? When is it going to get going? But, yeah, but for us, too, like going into, we didn't go into the city. That was terrifying. Yeah.

Like, we would go to Aurora, which is the next, like the biggest sort of, it's like a medium Yeah, like a medium-sized city. And so that was for us. Like, that was... You went to University of Illinois? I went to Yovine and Champaign-Urbana for two years. And then I went to Columbia College for film school. Awesome.

Because I couldn't afford New York or L.A. But Chicago. That's why I moved to Nashville. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Parents are like, you can't move to Los Angeles. You don't even know how to drive on the interstate. Yeah, tell me about that. What was it like growing up in a small town in Illinois?

Do you have any, like, well, although you do, don't you have a great uncle or something who is a country songwriter? Yeah, yeah. I have this uncle who kind of made it big. He moved when he was in his 40s and had a wife that, like, supported his crazy, I'm going to move to Nashville and be a songwriter. Wow. Dream. And he ended up. I'm from Illinois.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. And actually in Iowa, too. I'm trying to think if it was Wilton, Iowa, where him and my grandma were from. But he wrote songs for George Jones, for Reba McIntyre, for Charlie Pride, all these people. And so he was there. I had a cousin that lived there, too, that was kind of more my age.

We're estranged now for many reasons. Yeah, yeah. But my uncle, I, like, really kind of think that my mom and I thought that he could plug me into the social pipeline and get my career going or something. And basically, I went over to his house. and playing him a couple songs. And he was like, you got to keep working. Like, you know, he gave me the tough love of like,

oh, really? Your songs aren't good enough. Oh, wow. And how old were you at this? Had you moved there? I was 20. Yeah, yeah. And, I mean, they weren't.

They were just, you know. Yeah, yeah. I was just figuring out at that point, but. No, that's always like from looking back on film school. Yeah. Where you're supposed to be making movies. And it's like, I don't know shit about anything. You don't have life experience.

in 20 years old. What am I going to, you know? And that's why, like the cliche in film school. And it is true. I saw it over and over that to the point where they started to make a rule where your first film that you make. And in those days, we were shooting on 16 millimeter film was no suicides. No suicides.

Because if they didn't say it, there'd be four suicide movies. That would be the, yeah. What was the big plot? Because it's like, I don't have any ideas. I do think about killing myself. Yeah, why else would you be in film school? That's pretty deep, right? But yeah, I just, I just wonder, were you always like a performer?

Did you always kind of have this bug to do something in performing? I definitely did. I always loved even just writing things. And I thought, you know, even I used to be a big, like, Saturday Night Live watcher. Yeah, yeah. Like, oh, maybe I'll be on the cast of Saturday Night Live and do sketch comedy. When I first, you know, took off and went to college, I didn't put my phone on, do not disturb. When I first, yeah, when I first went to college, like, it was, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to major in theater and dance because that just felt more comfortable than, I don't know, being a musician.

And the, like, NYU had a pretty good. It is, it's funny how you're like, there's these compromises because I kind of had compromises too that were like, every bit as silly as saying I want to be an actor, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I'm going to be a journalist. I mean, I guess that's not as silly, but it's like, no, I'm going to be a TV writer and then finding out like, oh, that's really fucking hard too. That's hard too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think being in the theater or being a dancer for a career, like, that's also equally challenging. Yeah, but it's just funny that like, I can't admit I want to be. a singer, probably an actress and a dancer. I definitely had my yeah, exactly. I had this she was a guidance counselor

I guess and we had career day. It was like write down on your piece of paper, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I think I, you know, I wrote like singer or something and she, this was an eighth grade, she kind of shamed me like, oh, that's not a career. That's not a job you can have. And my mom kind of like fought with her. And so then she was the one that was like, okay, well, you can go to this theater and you can watch them.

It seemed like that was like, seemed more, more like a path that might happen. Right, right. That's not my calling. Well, was there, I mean, was there like school plays in Alito or? Yeah, there was. I was always doing, like, writing skits and being in plays. And when I first moved to Nashville, I did, like, there was a children's theater. And I think I landed a role as.

uh, Gretel and Hansel and Gretel. I was 20. And I think the guy acting, Hansel was like 12. Wow. I looked really young. Um, but yeah, it was, uh, it was not, it was not easy to tell people like, yeah, in my high school or, you know, even my boyfriend that I was dating in college. Like, no, I think I'm going to move to Nashville and be a musician. Right. They just laughed at me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Was there a lot of country music around you growing up? Because it is, people don't expect that in Illinois, but. Right in the Midwest. Yeah. But there was, like I remember not so much we're in our house, but in relatives' houses because my dad's family is all from Springfield.

Yeah. Like I, like, my memory of my Aunt Helen's house is like that he-hall was playing constantly. Yeah. Like it was always on TV. Same at my grandparents. I think my dad listened to a lot of classic rock. My mom listened to kind of more like whatever was contemporary at the time. But both of my grandparents loved country music.

And lots of people in my class listened to country music. I think I rejected it for like a very long time. I was listening to more like rap and I don't know, just didn't want to identify as like, you know, the kid from the corn that I wanted to do it. Were you, because I definitely was like, I, for me,

it was like new wave music. Ooh. Because it was not being played on the radio. Yeah. And, and so, you know, like having a talking heads album in Yorkville,

Illinois, people were like, what the fuck is that? Yeah. Freak them out. Yeah. But there were, I mean,

I do look back and there was like almost, you know like a pretension to me because it's like you know like uh acdc highway to hell is one of my favorite albums of all time but i didn't really let myself enjoy it till it was in my 20s yeah you know you know it's just like oh that's what all you know gearheads are listening to yeah totally totally yeah i think uh it really wasn't until my mid 20s that i kind of started listening to country music. And even when I moved to Nashville, I was like, I don't want to be a country singer because everything I was seeing on the radio and the TV at the time, it was like, you know, like Nashville Star was going on, which was kind of like the American idol for country people. And I just,

I didn't like any of the music on the country radio. And I still don't today. Yeah, that's, I still hate all of it. Because I, that's whenever I say, because I have to say, I like old countries. Yeah, you have to. Because it's like, and it's like, because it's such a loaded question. People are like, do you like country music? It's like, well, what kind? Yeah, yeah.

You know, like I don't like Morgan Walmart. Like, no. Yeah, yeah. No, and it's like it's like it's so, it just, it almost seems. And that's why I love about, I don't know if you've seen on AI, like this, like people are writing AI like gay country music. Dude, and it is so spot on. It's so fucking hilarious. But it is. It's like it's all of its programmed. It's like you got to mention drinking beer out of a bottle. Or a can, I guess, is okay too. Pick up truck. Got to pick up truck. Drive down to the river. You know, your girl, your grandfather. You know, it's just like, Jesus Christ. It's like, you know.

It's so cliche that it's. Yeah. I mean, and this is in no way meant to disrespect Mexican food. But it's like the Mexican food of music. Oh, yeah, like the American-eyes just tossed around, just tossed around. Yeah, it's like gringo Mexican food. That's a great analogy, honestly. It's like, well, we got tortillas, we got beans, we got lettuce, we got sour cream. How about a toastata? Sure. How about a taco?

Sure. What about enchiladas? Yeah, that's good too. But it's all just the same, you know. It is. It is. And that's kind of why I think I rejected it for so long. And then I started listening to people like Chris Christofferson and, you know, like

Loretta Lynn. in just like the older shit, and I was like, oh, this can actually be good and have depth to it. Yeah. It was, I mean, even now, I feel like it's, yeah, it's just gotten worse and worse. Like, there was a S&L parody that was, I think the song's called Down at the Lake Beach. And it's so spot out. And it's like, man, that could, that could literally be like a platinum selling song. And that's the weird thing when I think about how hard it is to make it in music.

I mean, and I think the same thing about, like, comedy, like stand-up comedians that just, I want to be a comedian, I know what I'll do, I'll imitate mediocre comedians who are successful. And it's with music, it's like, really? It is a slog. It is tough. Yeah. And you're just going to, you're just going to like, before you even start, go, I'm just going to do the same shit that works. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's such a, like, good old boy.

club down there too and they've got like you know 20 people like on a on a song it's yeah it's really crazy yeah it's such a rat race and i've had so many people like even after you know i kind got my foot in the door in this really weird way by like jack white signing me and and then you know a couple albums down the road i've got people that are like well you should write with these you should write with these top 10 you know country right this guy wrote uh country but chug by Right, right, right. Braxton, keep, you know. My girl's got a long neck, too.

Hey, that's good. Maybe we should get some thin names. We could be rich. Yes, yes. It definitely takes a lot of, I don't know, just stick to-edness to not go down that path. Right, right. a lot of people that really want to push you down that path. Yeah. Did you get discouraged in country, like, as a country musician to be like,

this is, it's, you know, like there is so much, the commerciality of this is so oppressive that maybe I should do something different. Absolutely. Like when I first moved down to Nashville, I was like, I'm, there was a cool, like, kind of grunge, like punk scene going on. And it's like a, like an indie rock scene. And, like, I found those people. I was like, okay, maybe that's what I should do.

Yeah, yeah. And then I started a soul band, and I had a horn section, and I was doing James Brown songs and stuff, you know? And then, I don't know, I always felt like I was trying to be somebody else in a way. You know, you're trying on lots of different styles of things until you find your own voice. I'm sure in comedy, it's the same way, you know, like you were saying. You listen to some people and you kind of pull vibes and things from them.

Yeah, yeah. But after a while, it was like, oh, man, I don't know. Maybe I should write about what's actually going on in my life and not try to, you know, blend into all these different genres that weren't as natural to me as country music. So eventually I relented. Yeah, yeah. I just gave in. Just submitted. What was it like when you first got to Nashville?

I mean, and what we, what? were you hoping to accomplish? Like, had you had your love for country music grown so big at that point? Or did you just know, like, I can work as a songwriter? Because there are, that does seem to be the town for a writer to go to. Absolutely. Yeah. I think I always wanted to be the artist myself. And I definitely tried to write some songs that would be more mainstream. My husband And I, like, came up with pin names. And, like, it was really bad. We, together our names would have, so it was, I was Sylvia Slim, and he was Sam Pickens.

And then together, we would be Slim Pickens. Slim Pickens. It was so stupid. Wow. I can't believe I told you that. But those things, yeah. You know what, thank God it didn't work out. Thank God it didn't work.

Because I'd be carrying that around with you today. It's the worst. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when I first moved there, I, you know, I was trying. so hard to just go out and play at open mics and meet people, meet bands. And like I said, there was a cool indie scene and there were other things happening. But it was just like, it was not easy to get. I had a couple like album deals that I ended up signing and I had some

managers that I was working with and the album deals were all really bad. Everything just was, it would circle back to a dead end. It would be like, oh, you signed this contract and you didn't know, but you gave away your song rights for ever, you know, or like, it was, it was really messy. Even when I signed with third man, I kind of was in this deal with this woman who was managing me, but like she was on a retainer. So I was paying her like $250 a month, but like not making any money. Oh, wow. So there's just so many.

It wasn't a percentage deal? I thought, wow. It was like, yeah, 10% of nothing of nothing. So she didn't want that. That's like a mall modeling. agency or something. Yes, I felt so, like, had by her. And I got this lawyer who finally kind of got me out of it, thank goodness, because it was right around that time when things were finally starting to take off. But it was just one, yeah, one bad thing after another and just not really,

I mean, it was 12 years at that point. And I kind of was like, okay, maybe this isn't my calling, you know? I was starting to like mess around with photography and try to think of other things that could be a calling. Right, right. What do you think would have been just out of curiosity? I think probably like teaching children working with kids. I loved like, I taught dance lessons for a really long time to kids and I loved choreographing dance routines and stuff like that.

But then I got a misdemeanor and they were like, you can't work with kids anymore. What the heck? Yeah, it turns out when you get a Dewey and you try to outrun the cops. Try to outrun them. Well, that's your problem. How is my problem? Yeah, yeah. Although that is a country song.

Yes. Sit down and start writing that. That's right. Yeah, because I, there are time. I'm like, I don't know what to. Well, for me, my fallback was always like, there's always advertising. Oh, yeah. I can't, you know, like.

Like writing copies for ads and stuff. Yeah, exactly. So how long were you? kind of like in the mire before you know what i actually in in retrospect i i did i started making money pretty quick awesome in a i was i went to film school in chicago and then which was at nineteen eighty eight and the conan show was on in 1993 so i went from i did you know doing improv and then doing a live show that kind of took off and then because of that show having an agent and it all kind of happened pretty quickly but the cone i mean the conan show

was it was interesting because i was trying to be an actor i did not want to be myself yeah i was not a fan of myself so why would i want to be that guy jesus christ um but the the conan show happened and it was and i mean and it was we were a a rag tag band of people that didn't know what the fuck they were doing but all my favorite like really really into doing comedy and making something funny and making something we could be proud of and sort of a little clueless I mean Conan had been on SNL and written for the Simpsons and Conan was the most grown up of us and Robert Smigel was the head writer at the time and he was a grown up but most of the rest of us were like kids in a way And I mean, I'd worked and I've gotten some acting work, but I didn't know, you know, like I submitted a packet of material for the job. And I was like, well, I guess I just sort of like it's like, what does that mean? And so I just wrote like, well, I guess there's desk bits. I'll write a desk, a few desk bits and I'll write some monologue jokes and sketch ideas. But I didn't, you know, it was all just sort of fumbling around in the dark and, you know,

Kind of like, fake it to make it as you're learning to fly it. Yes, absolutely. I always said, too, the way that that show was as we were in terms of, especially like the preciousness of it and the, in contrast to L.A. where it takes fucking forever to do anything, I always said we were laying tracks for a train that you could hear coming. Like we didn't have time. We did not have time to figure out like to worry, just like get it on and get, you know,

and get it out the door. So good. But yeah, but that was that, I mean, I was in a, I was in a sort of spaceship, you know, onto itself in term, in comedy terms. And was one of the, and of my peers was one of the first ones to get a job, which means I picked up the check for about five fucking years. Relatable to. Yes, yes. But yeah, no, it was, I, I, you know, it, I don't want to, it wasn't, I didn't luck into anything. And there was, and I was kind of, and I also feel sometimes I feel weird about like, oh, I, it was hard work.

It was like, I was fucking around, you know, I mean, my work is fucking around. But it's perfect timing, perfect timing, all those things coming together. Yeah. It was so fun. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Did you at least in Nashville, did you feel like, like there was a sustained.

community for you. And did you find that pretty quickly? I did. I found so many talented musicians that were also undiscovered. And we kind of like formed this little like loser club together. It was like, oh, we might not be, we might not be like making it or like even paying the water bill. But we're all here together. And there was just so much. And forming bands together too. Yeah. Yeah. Playing together. And like. Like, there were so many people that I met at the time that were just kind of coming up and, like, you know, just meeting people working at restaurants and all those, like, weird, odd jobs and stuff. And, yeah, it was, it was a sweet time. It was a sad time.

But we all kind of, yeah, we clung to each other and lifted each other up. And a lot of those people were more talented than me and never made it. Yeah. You know, it's like, it's really, it's so hard to see people's dreams, like, not come true when you're like, they have everything. Yeah. They have a great voice. They have great songs. And, like, sometimes I just think that I'm more stubborn than most people.

But it was also just luck, timing, everything. Like, you know, it's just like a career is like a plant. It needs all those perfect things to make it grow. I was, I wanted to ask you this because I'm just curious about it because I'm, I'm, you know, thinking about myself, which I do all the time. But like, if, if you had been there and, you know, and like, say you ended up working with kids or you decided like, I'm going to put music to the side, would you still perform? Do you still, like, do you have enough of a love of the actual doing of it that you would? I think I would. I think I would, I would still be singing. I mean,

I sing my kids to sleep every night. It's like the toughest crowd I get usually. But I would love to think that I would still be singing. And I do have a lot of friends that, you know, maybe like they don't have a career per se, but they're still making music. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things about anybody who just does something because they love it because it's something that kind of is not sexy about it when it comes to, it becomes your job, you know? Oh, yeah, no, absolutely.

You know, it just changes it. And so you really have to, like, work to keep. Transactional. Turned on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Because I don't, you know, I wonder sometimes. And I, because like going out and just doing little shows, because I still have friends that, you know, make a living doing this. But they still will go do shows that are, you know, I mean, for free or just for the hell of it. Absolutely. And I just don't, like, I don't have that in me anymore. And I just, and I also think, too, like doing the Conan show for years, like doing a live show in front of people every day. I got plenty of that. You got so much of that love coming back in you.

That vitamin, I got a ton of that vitamin. And like, and I also just like there's part of me, it's like if I have a creative itch, it can get scratched by making dinner, you know, like by going like, what's in the fridge? What's in the cupboards? Oh, look at this. I invented this. You would probably still be like funny in your day to day life. Oh, absolutely. Because like, you know, like the world is your stage, right?

Well, and I do, I do like to, Tony Hales, a friend, and he on this podcast, I felt it was such a beautiful company. He said, like, you still, you were about as playful an adult as I know. Oh, that's like, I was very, that was very flattering and very, and I mean, and I'm very glad because that's like, yeah, I don't, I just, yeah. I have a, my aunt, my mom's older sister, my aunt Pat, was sort of like, you know, like the superstar of my childhood. And, you know, like, she passed away and her eulogy. And I didn't even, this just came out. I said, she insisted on having fun. And that was so inspiring to me and kind of, I think, in some ways gave me permission to do this stuff for a living because it just like, I was like,

compared to her, like, most people are boring, you know, and life is really boring. Right, everybody gets serious and they grow up. And this town is boring, you know. So much posturing and showbiz. I'm glad that it's just to get out and have fun. Yeah. And I go, you know, I workplaces and nobody's having fun. I'm like, why don't you just go do something else?

This is so hard to do this and you don't want to have fun doing it, you know? Yeah, it should be fun. Sometimes I get a little caught up in the minutia of things, too, and I'm, like, stressing about the details. Oh, yeah, it's a grown-up life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did, because there is, you know, life on the road, touring musician, musician in general,

there is like a definite, and it's all over your songs, a party aspect to it. And was that like in the beginning, like, is that just sort of like, that was just a side dish to the main course, Or was that also like, kind of like, oh, this is, I like this, I like this part too. It was my whole personality for a while. It was like, that'd be the fun party girl.

Yeah, yeah. I think I was a bit shy, a little quiet. And so it was like, oh, just add whiskey or, you know, just add the beers. And I definitely lived it a little too hard. Yeah. Where I was like, concerned about my health. And like I said, you know, hitting a telephone pole. and outrunning the police and going to jail.

And that didn't stop me from drinking for at least six more years. But I'm not sober. I'm not sober, but I've just, like, kind of taken booze off the table for the moment. Yeah. And it's been helpful. I smoke enough weed to put down a tiny pony, but we'll just, you know, trying to get my medication right. What they call California sober.

That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm living in the wrong damn state. For so many different aspects of a creative life is there is like, it's like, oh, wow, there's this whole, there's a fun involved too. Like, there's a party, you know, with all these fucking weirdos that I've, that I've been longing for. Totally. Yeah. I mean, and it was like, I think I had some problematic drinking, like, well, I know I did before my career.

took off but some of it was fun and then after my career took off it was like it wasn't always problematic sometimes it was just really fun and blown off steam and but then yeah I mean it's just I feel like when you have those really really high highs and like you're you're bound to have that crash at some point and it definitely it was kind of COVID when I was not performing anymore and it was like I just felt kind of purposeless. It was, it sucked, you know. And here I had like kids at home and I should have just been like enjoying being a mom and all that. But I just felt like what was the point of anything?

And then it would be like a random Tuesday. I didn't have 20 white claws. I mean, that was just COVID, you know? But yeah, yeah, then I took this huge mushroom trip and because I'd been reading about how like the founder of AA, his name is Bill Wilson. He was curing everybody in those early days of AA with LSD. And I was like, hmm, that's interesting. They leave that out of the general story of that organization. Because they joined with a bunch of Christians and nobody wanted them to know about it.

But like, I just did this mushroom trip. And I was like, hey, like, what if I just kind of thought about this? And then I just stopped. I read a couple books. I had a surgery coming up. So it was like, you know, I was trying to get my health, like, right? so I could, so I could deal with this hernia that I, it's just so sexy. And, you said surgery and I was like, ick, and then I heard hernia and I was like, ooh, a little golf balls and it's hurting.

Nice. But, yeah, then it was just like, oh, maybe this is, maybe this is what I need to be doing right now. And so it's not like I'm like, I'm never drinking again or anything. It's just like, I have young kids at home. It work is so crazy. And it would be like, it's like, everyone. where every single night is the party. It's just like, it doesn't matter if it's Tuesday or Thursday or Wednesday.

If you have a bottle of tequila and a bottle of champagne on the rider, it's going to be there. And then everyone's like, thinks that that's like what we run off. Right, right. You know, it's like it's not sustainable. Yeah. Well, is it hard now, you know, like to go into the atmosphere of it or you just... Not at all. Not at all.

It's so weird. I feel really lucky that I read a couple books, did the mushroom trip. and like I hang out at the bars like maybe even more now because before I used to be like I got to get home I've already had two or three I've got to do the math and like figure out because I could carry on the party at home I'm like well I'll stay as late as you want right right watch the end of the show

and I yeah I was just in New York for this thing that I did it was this place called Ray's bar and I was like pouring shots at tequila down everybody's throat oh so you're a facilitator now Yeah, I'm like, I don't know. I don't feel like I'm missing out anything because I started drinking when I was like 12. Yeah. I used to have sober friends.

I used to have sober friends that would, we'd go out to dinner and then they would like watch me drink. It felt like, I felt like old men watching me dance or something. It was just like, yeah, like I, you know, or I'd be, they'd be like, are you going to get a drink? And I'd be, well, okay, I'll guess I will. I'm like, all right, I don't have a martini. Okay, and then be done. Are you going to get another one? Weird.

Keep in your pants, boys. Seriously. Weird. Well, now you can drink weed, so that's kind of fun, you know? I have these, like, weed drinks that I just came out with this company. It's like a non-alcoholic beer. Yeah, yeah. It's like a sweet tea.

Everybody's got to have their own weed things. Everybody has to have their own weed. I mean, there's no money in music anymore. What are they called? Yeah, it's well-being brewing. And it's like Margo Price, a sweet peach tea, peach sweet tea. And yeah, I mean. And it's like a THC thing.

Yeah, yeah. It's like 5 milligrams, CBD, 5 milligrams, THC. And have one or two of them and then pass the fucking up. You're like. Yeah. I had to stop smoking weed because it just was. Well, A, I realized like I'm never going to stop eating after 8 p.m. If I keep smoking weed.

And it fucks with my moods, too. I'm on, as I've said, I'm on medication to stabilize my moods. And then I would be like, well, what would happen if I dump this box of marbles on the floor? Right. Like, I'm not stable anymore for some reason. So I just kind of, I just, and recently, actually, I was out of town working by myself and I, and I bought a vape in New York City. And then, and I found, and because I had a couple days off. And I found, and I remembered like, oh, yeah, why you didn't do it.

Yeah, I remember because I mean, it was, and getting, and for me, too, like, like, I, I, you know, I, I, I still drink. I've drank, drank forever, but I can kind of take it or leave it, you know, like, boost does not speak to me the way that weed did. Weed is like a toggle switch of contentment. Like I go from, I go from like, life kind of sucks and I suck and then like, well, how about the, try this thing. Hey, you know what? I feel good. Life is good. Life is good. Yeah, yeah. And exactly, I'm kind of chatty now. I like to talk rather than just sit there like a lump. I feel that. I've had so many like ups and downs with my moods and stuff as well. And I've been microdosing a lot just to keep at that baseline. But I mean, the older I get to, I feel myself leaning more into that, into the world, which they work very much like an SSRI, I believe. And I'm talking about mushrooms? Yeah, yeah, just like there's such a small dose that you don't even like, no, but I. But you can tell a difference.

Yeah, I can tell I don't get the like real low lows if I can. I ran out though, so. Got to wait until. No, and that was what I mean, I just would have that's, I, I stopped smoking weed and I was like, oh, I'm kind of leveled out. Yeah. This isn't bad, you know, especially for an old man with kids. You know, it's like, it isn't too bad to be level and not be like, not like have days where it's like, you know, oh, this is one of those utterly hopeless days. Yeah.

Wow, that's like, those suck. They do. They really do. Yeah, yeah. I feel yeah. Yeah. Your new, yeah, your new album, Hardheaded Woman. Is there, do you do albums as kind of like.

a theme like you know i mean your first album the the midwest farmer's daughter that was like an introduction and it did kind of seem like the title was it like an ethos of all the songs and how they all kind of clung together do you still doing that like do you still feel like like the album is like a novel it's not just a collection of songs that sort of happened about the same time i feel like it's always intentional but like the first record that i made it was definitely like a concept record about my life, which is like, what's the dumb saying that's like do what you know or, you know, like people write what you know. It was very easy to write about yourself. Yeah. And then, I don't know, on a couple of those albums, it was more like

throwing spaghetti at the wall and like seeing what sticks. I did a couple of psych rock albums. I did one out here in Topanga Canyon with this producer Jonathan Wilson. And it was more like, its shape will reveal itself kind of, you know, you don't know what it's going to be. This album, I definitely knew, like, hey, I've never recorded a record in Nashville and maybe I should.

That's weird. That's, I would think, where was the, where was Midwest Farmer's daughter? Yeah, that one was recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis. Oh, okay. And I felt, I had made albums in Nashville before

at, like, people's home studios and stuff, you know, back when I was broke. And then I just felt so, like, so much of a pariah are like ousted in Nashville. I was like, I'm going to go to Memphis. They know what's going on over here. So I made two records there. It was there an aspect of like, fuck me, no, fuck you.

Yeah, absolutely. I don't need you, Nashville. Memphis and Nashville like hate each other too. Oh, do they? So I was like, oh, I'm team Memphis. Yeah, like Memphis has soul. It's got like, it's got so many, so much, like, musical history there. And so I made two records there.

And then I made two records in L.A. I made one at East West Studio where, like, you know, Fleetwood Mac did rumors and they have the mirrors all over in the bathroom. I was like, oh, why is that bathroom have mirrors all over it? And they were like, oh, that's so Stevie

could get someone to boof some cook. A birch. Why does she, who needs the mirrors? I don't know. I think, you know, when your nose collapses and you got to find another entrance. Yeah, but I know. But the mirrors are still sort of like

maybe she just was supervising and insisted. Yeah, I just wanted to see what was going on back there. Try the other ones. Try the other one. But yeah, they made those records. And then I thought with this last one, I was like,

no, I want to come back to the songwriting. Like we had just, my band and I had just grown together. Everything was getting louder and louder. There was like synthesizers on stage and two drum kits. And I would get back there and play the drums on some songs. And then after a while, it was like, everything was too loud. I need to just strip everything down. and fire everyone.

So that's where I have. Sorry. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, so made this record in Nashville, and I definitely knew I wanted it to be, like, a country record. Like, Dolly recorded 9 to 5 in this room, and, like, Whalen recorded stuff in there, and Willie and all my favorites, and the studio almost got torn down in, like, 2014, and they were going to make it into a coffee shop. Wow. But got saved, and so made the record in there, and,

definitely knew that it was, like, going to be a cohesive country record. But I didn't really have the name for quite a long time. And then it was like, you know what? I don't know. That title really just describes me perfectly. And, yeah, and I mean, and, I mean, it's a, it's a staple to hard-headed woman. Yeah, you know, the Juan Jackson song? I got a shout out to Wanda Jackson.

Yeah, yeah. Definitely pulled it from her. I got drunk with her one time. We ate steaks together. Oh, that's fine. That's fun. She's a live wire. And did, and don't let the bastards get you down.

I have, it's a line from the Handmaid's Tale, but I thought it was the Chris Christopherson, what he told Shnade O'Connor. It definitely, that was where I first heard it. Yeah. And, like, and Chris kind of saying that to her, I think her reply was off. awesome too. You know, she ripped up the picture of the Pope and then was at the Bob Dylan concert

and everybody was booing her like crazy. Chris was instructed to pull her off the stage, but he went out and kind of put his arm around her and was like, don't let the bastards get you down. And she turned around and she was like, they're not. He got real spicy. But yeah, I love Chris so much. He was like one of those writers that like came to Nashville and just flipped it on its head because, you know, before he came to, it was like there wasn't a lot of poetry and stuff going on. It was that there was a lot of that like glossy kind of the Nashville sound. Sure. The strings and everything.

Yeah, the strings. All the stuff that drove Willie away. Exactly. Exactly. So it just, yeah, it felt like a good place to land. But did you, I mean, what is the sort of like, what do you feel like is the cohesive message of the album that you'd want people? to take away from like or is that

yeah no no no there there is a cohesive no no no no i think i think especially where i'm living in tennessee they're taking away women's rights and we literally are moving backwards into the handmaid's tail we are we're supposed to be these baby factories

and the curriculum they're putting in the schools and everything is just so insane and i'm i wanted this record to just be a proclamation of what it's like to be someone who's not going to comply or sit down or follow their crazy little plan. And yeah, I'm just the red-headed stepchild of country music right now. But just, I mean, and is that hard in like sort of the institution of country music? Because it's like, you know, that, that, I'm going to get the detail wrong, but the, the, that, is it the Morgan Wallin song about the small town thing? Oh, that's the Jason Al Dean song, the Jason Al Dean song about the small town. And when that came out, like I was, I just was like, you know, that they were sort of like, no, no, that's not what it means.

I'm like, look, I speak white. I knew exactly what that means. Right. And then the fact that they shot, like, they shot it like a lynching location or something. And that, the striking thing to me about that was that wasn't an accident. Like there were people in charge that have to sign off on picking that location, knowing the significance of it and the evleness of it. And they have to go like, you know, I don't think.

I mean, I don't, I, I'm guessing it's not because they're Klansmen. I'm guessing it because they think, oh, this is a shit stirring money factory for us now. And that is like, that made me just about, feel about modern country music like, yuck. Like, what a corrupt structure. What a rotten structure. They don't like anybody who comes in and shakes, shakes things up at all. It's like you have to be compliant in so many subtle ways. Yeah.

I think, you know, it's like, oh, you've stepped out of line where, I mean, I definitely have not been invited to most of the award shows, most of the, like, organizations and things and people that are there. But it's like, we've kind of, there's a group of friends that I have. We've created, like, just a different scene. And then it's funny, you see it, you see the people on the, on the mainstream side of things. being like, oh, yeah, outlaw stuff. We're going to do that too, you know? And then they try to kind of replicate it. And but it's still, it still is so whitewashed.

It's such a, remember like not too long ago? I was like, Oscar's so white, you know? It's like the whole industry in Nashville is very much like that. Like you go back to, who's the guy who did Old Town Road. Oh, and little nanzas. Yeah, and then, like, he, they wouldn't even, like, let the song be on the radio until he got, like, Billy Race Iris to, like, join him. It's just, yeah, they like to keep it nice and whitewashed. Yeah, yeah.

But I don't know, I like to tell them all to fuck themselves. Yeah, it does. I guess it is kind of like, I guess there is something fun to, like, if they did all of a sudden get all woke or whatever fucking word you want to. put like it is like if they did sort of like turn around but like you know what we see the air of our ways and we're going to be more progressive now I'd be like oh shit well that's no fun I know I need someone to rail against the patriarchy yeah yeah yeah well uh thank you so much for coming in and spending time hard-headed woman it was released in August 2025 and it's great and I love to I've been I've been listening to it last few days and I really love it once uh the first single off

the album is don't let the bastard get you down which is is a real banger. And I really, there's a third single. I don't know if it's out yet to love me like you used to. That's such a beautiful song. Thank you so much. Yeah, yeah. One of those sad, happy songs.

It's so sad. My friend wrote it. He works at a grocery store in Nashville. And he is just the most phenomenal writer and singer and performer. And I've had that song in my pocket like about six years. Oh, that's great. We need to record that. That's great.

Well, you're currently touring. I don't know if you know that. Yes, I am. I'm like, if we want to come to a, show anytime, but I know you've got a big schedule right now. I'm a dancer now. You're a dancer now. But Margo Price, thank you

so much for coming in. It's been great talking to you. And good luck and, you know, don't let them get you down. Ditto. All right, bye. Thank you. The three questions with Andy Richter is a team cocoa production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by

Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel, executive produced by Nick Leow, Adam Sacks, and Jeff Ross, talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Research by Alyssa Graal. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to the three questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people?

Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my loves are growing? Can't you feel it ain't you showing? you must be a knowing I've got a big big love This has been a team Coco production