“I want to be doing everything I can to change the world and it’s hard to know where to start, but I guess this song is as good a place as any,” Margo Price told Salon, speaking about her performance of Blaze Foley’s scathing “Oval Room,” one of five performances of protest songs now available on “Days of Unrest,” a nine-track EP available on streaming services as well as on vinyl, with proceeds from the physical release going to The Florence Project, an organization that assists immigrants facing detention and potential deportation.
This is a carefully curated offering: five unequivocally intense cover songs, beginning with the traditional Mexican folk song “De Colores,” Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos),” Blaze Foley’s “Oval Room,” a gender-swapped romp through Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Girl,” and Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm.” There’s also three original instrumentals and a song out of Price’s early archives, “Can’t Stand Still.” The collection is both furious and joyful, beautifully and carefully cohesive. It’s a significant assemblage of material worth your attention. The band is firing on all cylinders, the production is lively and open, and Price’s voice sounds fantastic. The emotional tone of each vocal performance is beautifully keyed to each song’s context. When you’re trying to make a point, that matters a great deal.
