“When I rolled out of town on the unpaved road/ I was 57 dollars from being broke.” With this autobiographical couplet, Margo Price kicks o the first track on her recent solo debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, a collection of tunes that delves into the past and present of a singer-songwriter who was raised as part of a rural community in small-town Illinois and moved to Nashville at 20 to pursue her musical dreams. The album touches on the various hardships that Price faced before and after the move, including the loss of her family’s farm, the struggle to make it in Music City, her battle with alcohol and even the loss of her first child—and that’s all in the first song.

But the record isn’t necessarily a downer, at least not musically. “As depressing and as dark as the topics are on the album, there’s hardly any minor chords,” she says. That juxtaposition is part of why Price sees writing and playing music as cathartic experiences in trying times. “I felt like it was therapeutic for me,” she says of the record. “Music and performing have always been that way. It’s a bit of an escape, to perform and feel happy.”

After overcoming all of those troubles—along with the breakup of her former band, Buffalo Clover—and turning her struggles into a record, Price finally found a label that was excited to release her music, Jack White’s Third Man Records. “It was really a blessing. Everybody there is so nice, so supportive—just the best people,” she says. “They’ve turned my mind around about evil people in the music business.”

Price affirms that despite the Nashville rat race, there’s a small-town, neighborly vibe to the city as well. “There is a camaraderie and a lot of people collaborate, but there still is this jealousy and competitiveness, for sure,” Price says. “But there’s a great spirit in competitiveness— that’s why The Beatles were so amazing, right? John and Paul were so competitive. It’s a beautiful place, and I’ve always had a lot of love for it. As much as I rag on it, it’s definitely home.”