Last week, Margo Price and her band performed a concert for more than 400 inmates at the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center within Henning, TN’s West Tennessee State Penitentiary. In partnership with Tennessee Innocence Project, Price was joined by spokesperson and activist Joyce Watkins, who was recently exonerated after spending 27 years in prison for a crime she did not commit, to shine a light on the circumstances surrounding recidivism, justice and mental health in the US prison system. Together, they strove to create a new opportunity for growth and learning among inmates and the general public, working not only to bring awareness to non-violent incarceration rates, but to support rehabilitation, further the conversation surrounding the importance of education-based activities for inmates and provide a connection through music. 

Fulfilling a longtime aspiration, Price calls the event “one of the most important gigs of my career,” in a new piece published today on Substack. “They needed to hear the music, and I needed to deliver it…For about sixty minutes, we all became one with the music. There was undulation, dancing, cheering, smiling, weeping. I was moved to tears more than once, and even now, thinking back, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude…I learned more from Joyce and from the women inside those walls than I could ever put into words.”

Following the visit, Margo Price is now preparing a new live album and documentary surrounding her trip to the West Tennessee State Penitentiary. Price says, “I’ve always been drawn to the stories nobody wants to hear — the voices who’ve been silenced, the ones behind bars, behind closed doors, behind headlines. Years ago, I was living recklessly and making bad choices. I wound up spending a weekend in jail and even though my stay was short, it left a mark on me. It made me see how broken and unforgiving the system is, especially for folks without money, power, or a second chance.

Like Johnny Cash, I believe that music belongs in places where hope is running low. I want to share my songs with people who could use them the most. I want to raise my voice in a place where people may not have one. This isn’t about glamorizing crime or brushing aside accountability, it’s about dignity, prison reform and reminding people they’re still human. Music has the power to heal, to protest, to connect and that’s what this is all about.

If singing in a jail cell can bring light to injustice, I hope my voice and the six strings of my guitar can rattle the cage.”

Photo Credit: Owen Ela