Margo Price Drops Surprise Protest Mixtape With Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie Covers

Margo Price isn’t waiting for the next election cycle to make her voice heard. Just before Independence Day, the country singer surprise-released Days of Unrest, a mixtape steeped in the tradition of folk protest—complete with covers of Woody Guthrie’s“Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos),”Bob Dylan’s“Maggie’s Farm,”and other songs that have soundtracked American dissent for generations.

What makes this project especially striking is the company Price keeps. On“Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos),”she’s joined by Joan Baez, the legendary folk icon who performed the song alongside Dylan during the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. For Price, having Baez’s voice on the recording feels surreal—and for good reason. She’s spent years studying Baez’s blueprint for being what she calls a“cultural worker,”someone who uses music not just as entertainment but as a tool for change. Price has been singing“Deportee”for two decades, making this cover feel like a natural culmination of a long artistic journey.

The mixtape cuts deeper than nostalgia, though. Alongside traditional protest standards, Price includes Blaze Foley’s“Oval Room,”a song written in 1984 about Ronald Reagan that, as Price notes, could’ve been written for any president—especially in the current moment. She pairs these studio recordings with real-world action: marching alongside Representatives Justin Jones and Pearson, showing up at the Capitol. For Price, singing these songs isn’t separate from activism; it’s inseparable from it.

Days of Unrest also features Price originals like“Can’t Stand Still”and the three-part instrumental“San Marcos,”penned with her partner Jeremy Ivey and recorded with her band the Price Tags. The mixtape is available now on streaming platforms, with vinyl proceeds benefiting the Florence Immigrant&Refugee Rights Project—a choice that speaks to the project’s priorities and where Price’s activism is focused.

In an era when protest music can feel like a boutique concern, Price’s move feels deliberately rooted. She’s not inventing a new tradition; she’s stepping into one that stretches back through Dylan, Baez, Guthrie, and beyond. Days of Unrest is her way of saying the fight isn’t over, and the songs that mattered fifty years ago still matter now.