Margo Price releases surprise protest mixtape Days Of Unrest with Joan Baez and others

Produced by long-time collaborator Matt Ross-Spang and recorded across Nashville, Memphis and San Francisco, the record opens with the three-part instrumental suite “San Marcos”, co-written with Price’s husband Jeremy Ivey and performed with her band the Price Tags. Its centrepiece is a duet with Baez on Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)”, backed by Memphis Mariachi.

The track follows Price’s headline-making set at last year’s Newport Folk Festival, where she led a “Fuck ICE” chant before debuting the song; a new video spotlights ongoing injustices against migrant workers. Price said: “I’ve been singing ‘Deportee’ for a couple decades now, so it’s only fitting that I would cover it on Days Of Unrest. I first heard it when I was watching Joan Baez and Bob Dylan sing it on The Rolling Thunder Review. Joan Baez has inspired me beyond words, so to have her voice on this recording feels surreal. I’ve taken cues from her career both musically and as I’ve moved into the role of ‘cultural worker.’”

Elsewhere, Price tackles Blaze Foley’s “Oval Room”, a 1984 takedown of Ronald Reagan that she recontextualises for the Trump era, accompanied by a video that draws a direct line to the current administration. “He wrote the song about another famous movie star turned politician - President Ronald Reagan - back in 1984, but it feels like it could have been written for any president, especially Trump,” she explained. “The system has always been set up to keep the rich in power and divide the people. Covering this song, as well as the other tracks on Days Of Unrest, is how I protest.”

Price, a vocal advocate for prison reform, marijuana legalisation and farmers’ rights, rounds out the set with the traditional Spanish-language farmworking anthem “De Colores” (again featuring Memphis Mariachi), Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm”, and a version of Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Girl” with Billy Swan. The sole original vocal track, “Can’t Stand Still”, harks back to her early days fronting the Nashville rock and soul band Buffalo Clover, while the “San Marcos” suite weaves through the tracklist, opening and closing the record.

A portion of direct-to-consumer vinyl proceeds will benefit the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. The mixtape follows Price’s 2025 Grammy-nominated album Hard Headed Woman and lands ahead of her September performance at Farm Aid, where she’ll debut songs from the new release. Price, the first female artist on Farm Aid’s board of directors, is also currently nominated for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year at the upcoming Americana Honors & Awards.

Days Of Unrest artwork

Days Of Unrest tracklist

“San Marcos”
“De Colores feat. Memphis Mariachi”
“Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos) feat. Joan Baez & Memphis Mariachi”
“Oval Room”
“San Marcos Theme”
“Long Haired Country Girl feat. Billy Swan”
“Can’t Stand Still”
“Maggie’s Farm”
“San Marcos el Fin”