Here’s an unexpected bonus for the Track section – the relentless wrestle between videos and tracks has allowed the realm of sound to also sometimes claim performance videos. You do not need to ask us twice when it comes to a performance video by the incredible Margo Cilker who here performs the title track of her new album which is out October 9th, 2026 via Fossil Records. The 10-song set was recorded in Lockhart, Texas with Bruce Robison, the writer/producer behind work by Charley Crockett, Lee Ann Womack, George Strait, and The Chicks. Cilker has said of the album “You could definitely call it a concept record. If that concept is that I got really sad and went to Texas. I had some material so dark I didn’t think I’d show it to [Bruce]. Then I remembered this is the man who wrote Travelin’ Soldier.”
When Cilker revealed to Robison the saddest of her original song, the pair made a conscious choice to let despair lead, recording directly to tape in an all-analog setup with a studio band comprising her “pedal steel secret weapon” Eric Heywood, Geoff Queen (Hayes Carll), Beth Chrisman (John C. Reilly), Lisa Pankratz (Dave Alvin), and Scott Davis (Band of Heathens), among others. They situated Cilker’s originals among a selection of covers that she had taken to playing as a way to process her own pain, some sourced from within her immediate music community. This choice embraces the longtime tradition of Texas troubadours trading tunes and the art of transforming one work into something distinct, while honoring its soul.
At the end of this video you can hear Cilker saying “So Cool” – a sentiment with which we can only agree.
