Midwest Farmer's Daughter is the debut studio album by American country singer Margo Price. Released on March 25, 2016, it was the first country album to be released on Third Man Records. Despite the album's limited commercial success, peaking at No. 189 on the Billboard 200, it is considered by many publications and music critics to be one of 2016's best albums.
Production Midwest Farmer's Daughter was recorded live to analog tape at the famed Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee and mixed at the nearby Ardent Studios.
Critical reception
Midwest Farmer's Daughter received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 86 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 13 reviews.
Will Hermes of Rolling Stone gave the album a favorable review, describing the vocal style of Price as "restrained yet mighty, her songcraft amazingly vivid, and the arranging instinct spot on". Hermes noted that Price had a "taste for retro styling", and that starting from the opening song, "Hands of Time", "you're reminded of the incredible power that lies in tradition well-used. It's a power the rest of this record makes plain." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic saw Loretta Lynn as the primary inspirations of Price, but thought that even though the album may drift toward the traditional in some songs, "Price's sensibility is modern, turning these old-fashioned tales of heartbreak, love, loss, and perseverance into something fresh and affecting." Paul Grein of Hits Daily Double predicted the album would be in contention for the Album of the Year award at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Accolades Publication Rank List AllMusic N/A Best Albums of 2016 American Songwriter 3 Top 50 Albums of 2016 BrooklynVegan 23 Top Albums of 2016 Cosmopolitan 11 The 15 Best Albums of 2016 Entertainment Weekly 15 The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2 The Best Country Albums of 2016 Exclaim! 3 Top 10 Folk & Country Albums of 2016 Flood Magazine 25 Best Records of 2016 The Guardian 32 The Best Albums of 2016 NME33 50 best albums of 2016 NPR 20 50 Best Albums of 2016 Paste 12 The 50 Best Albums of 2016 PopMatters 30 The 70 Best Albums of 2016 Rolling Stone 3 40 Best Country Albums of 2016 21 50 Best Albums of 2016 Rough Trade 3 Albums of the Year Slant Magazine 17 The 25 Best Albums of 2016 Stereogum 7 The 20 Best Country Albums of 2016 Uncut 23 Albums of the Year
Commercial performance Midwest Farmer's Daughter debuted at No. 189 on the Billboard 200. It also debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, the first time in the history of the chart (which started in 1964) a solo female has debuted in the top 10 with her first release without also having any history on the Hot Country Songs chart. As of June 2017 the album has sold 52,600 copies in the United States.
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.
Musicians Jeremy Ivey – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica Kevin Black – background vocals Jamie Davis – electric guitar Eleonore Denig – violin Josh Hedley – harmony Micah Hulscher – Fender Rhodes, organ, piano Larissa Maestro – cello Alex Munoz – Dobro, acoustic guitar, mandolin, background vocals Dillon Napier – drums, percussion Margo Price – acoustic guitar, harmony, vocals Matt Ross-Spang – wah-wah guitar Luke Schneider – pedal steel guitar Kristin Weber – fiddle, violin, harmony, background vocals Eric Whitman – background vocals
Technical personnel John Baldwin – mastering Danielle Holbert – photography Alex Munoz – engineer, producer Matt Ross-Spang – engineer, mixing, producer Nathanio Strimpopulos – artwork
Chart positions
Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)62
References
External links