“It’s gonna be a really special show! It’s gonna be completely solo and acoustic, all around one mic, which I’ve never done,” says NYC singer/songwriter and longtime phriend of PHILTHY Margaret Glaspy (who we first met in October of 2016, prior to a Johnny Brenda’s show where she was supported by Adrianne Lenker, and last spoke with in September of 2023, prior to headlining Underground Arts in support of LP #3, Echo the Diamond). Margaret’s telling me about her short run of upcoming dates, which kicks off next Wednesday, October 15th, at MilkBoy, which I’m pretty sure will be the most intimate space she’s ever played in the 215. “I like small spaces, for sure!” she tells me of playing exceptionally cozy rooms, during a recent phone chat.
The dates come behind the September release of The Golden Heart Protector (via longtime home ATO Records), a collection of seven covers, almost all of which feature a rather notable collaborator. While some of the songs are things Margaret has been playing for years, like Lucinda Williams’ “Fruits Of My Labor,” which she recorded for the album with husband Julian Lage, she also admits that there were some songs that she was notably less familiar with playing, including the one track that she does all on her own: “[CCR’s] ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ I had never actually played before in my life [laughs].”
The Golden Heart Protector apparently came about quite whimsically over a weekend in Ryan Lerman’s LA studio, when many of these musical collaborators just happened to show up (James Bay, who appears on Nico/Jackson Browne’s “These Days,” happened to be in town from London, while Lage brought in childhood friend Alam Kahn for a take on Blake Mills’ “Curable Disease.”): “I was in the studio with my friend and producer, Ryan Lerman, and it was really just off the top of my head. I just dove into the songs that I was thinking about and the songs that I love.”
Although the whole collection is great, I think the highlight just might be the opening track, a rendition of The Magnetic Fields’ “The Book Of Love” that features (another phriend of PHILTHY) Madison Cunningham, who Margaret tells me she’s actually known for some time now: “Madison and I have so much musical community in common; we have a mutual friend and collaborator in Tyler Chester. I remember when she first started, and then we’d just start to see each other backstage and at shows. We were always just buddies, but we’d never played together, and she just happened to be in town that day!”
Prior to The Golden Heart Protector’s release, Margaret Glaspy appeared on Mountain Stage this August, where she performed a handful of the covers (in addition to few stripped-down versions of her own songs) for her third appearance on the public broadcasting program (which you can stream here), which she says is always a great experience: “Mountain Stage is such a cool and iconic musical community, a really cool, charming community of people fighting the good fight for music.”
And just last week Margaret Glaspy appeared at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. In addition to her own set, she says she especially enjoyed performances from Hannah Cohen (whose set followed hers), Marc Ribot, and Steve Earle. She also got a chance to sit sidestage for the [mostly] brand-new set from Jeff Tweedy, of whom she’s a major fan… and apparently the feeling is mutual. “Holy shit! That’s all I’ve ever wanted my whole life—somebody else to sing my songs in a way that allows me to hear them as something new. So beautiful. Made me cry quite a bit,” Tweedy recently said of Glaspy’s cover of Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” featuring Norah Jones, which appears on The Golden Heart Protector.
Margret tells me that fans can definitely expect to hear some of the covers from The Golden Heart Protector when she plays MilkBoy on October 15th, but she also says they can expect to hear some originals that they may not be familiar with: “It’ll be kind of a nod to my next record, exploring a lot of music I’ve been working on, and also me playing my favorite covers, including some of the ones from The Golden Heart Protector.” While she says she can’t give details yet, she tells me the new album will drop next spring, accompanied by more touring. She also says that fans should get to the MilkBoy show early to catch Daphne Gale and Brooke Annibale, who will be providing support and who she’s a big fan of.
While Margaret Glaspy’s sounds aren’t the most traditionally suited to Halloween and Spooky SZN, I can’t help asking if she has any thoughts on the holiday. “I really like passing out candy! That’s my favorite thing about Halloween. I’m not a big dresser-upper, but I love watching the kids and digging on their costumes,” she says, before admitting that she does have one pretty amusing Halloween story: “I think the last time I dressed up was for a party, and my friends took me. I showed up as a big chef with a big belly and a big mustache, and it turned out to be a supermodel party [laughs]. They all had their really stealth and chic outfits, and I was this giant chef with a big white ladle [laughs].”
*Get your tickets here.
**Listen for a Margaret Glaspy classic on the latest edition of Philthy Radio, now streaming.
