Margaret Glaspy Logged Off and Found Herself Again
Words by Matt Keenan
Photo Credit: Ebru Yildiz
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it would be like to stop doomscrolling and get away from social media. That’s what drew me to Margaret Glaspy’s new album, I Am Both, which just released via ATO Records. It was born from exactly that: a retreat from social media that led her back to what she calls original thought, freed from the noise of everyone else’s opinions.
The album was produced by three-time GRAMMY winner Joe Henry, whose credits include Aimee Mann and Joan Baez; this album leans into contradiction rather than resolving it. The title track makes the central thesis explicit, and Glaspy has said it was inspired by a woman she admires who “contains a multitude while seeing reality very clearly,” and who refuses to be flattened into a single category for anyone's convenience.
That theme of this refusal runs through the roots of the entire album, and Glaspy wrote much of it in longhand before typing it up. She worked through materials that range from fictional character studies to unguarded self-exposure to clear-eyed observation of what she sees as a fraying world. The album’s opening track, “Michigan,” draws the scene of a post-breakup escape to the Midwest.
The sessions of making this record mirror that immediacy: Glaspy recorded live over three days at Reservoir Studios in New York with her band, which includes drummer Jay Bellerose, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and bassist Ross Gallagher. She described the setup as closer to photography rather than sculpture, capturing a moment rather than building one up piece by piece. Most of what made the album, according to Glaspy, actually came from the first take, which even further illustrates the role intimacy had to play during this record.
I Am Both is the follow-up to 2023’s Echo the Diamond, and critics are already treating it as a step forward: NPR named it one of its New Music Friday top picks, and others are praising the record’s confidence and emotional precision as evidence of an artist settling more fully into her own voice.
Glaspy’s also announced a tour spanning North America, the UK, and mainland Europe. The run starts on September 11th in Minneapolis. It wraps on December 12th in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, with stops along the way at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on September 26th and the Troubadour in Los Angeles on November 17th. Tickets are on sale now at the linkhere.
Tour Dates:
9/11 -- Fine Line -- Minneapolis, MN
9/12 -- Vivarium -- Milwaukee, WI
9/13 -- Evanston Folk Fest -- Evanston, IL
9/14 -- The Ark -- Ann Arbor, MI
9/16 -- Mod Club -- Toronto, ON
9/17 -- Beachland Ballroom -- Cleveland, OH
9/18 -- Mr. Smalls -- Pittsburgh, PA
9/20 -- The Blue Room at Third Man Records -- Nashville, TN
9/21 -- Eddie's Attic -- Atlanta, GA
9/22 -- Cat's Cradle -- Carrboro, NC
9/24 -- Iron Horse -- Northampton, MA
9/25 -- Brighton Music Hall -- Boston, MA
9/26 -- Music Hall of Williamsburg -- Brooklyn, NY
10/3 -- Assembly -- Kingston, NY
10/9 -- Prachtwerk -- Berlin, Germany
10/11 -- TivoliVredenburg (Club Nine) -- Utrecht, Netherlands
10/12 -- Witloof Bar -- Brussels, Belgium
10/14 -- L’Archipel -- Paris, France
10/16 -- St Matthias Church -- London, UK
10/17 -- Halle St. Michael’s -- Manchester, UK
10/18 -- St. Luke’s -- Glasgow, UK
10/20 -- Lantern Hall -- Bristol, UK
10/21 -- Howard Assembly Room -- Leeds, UK
10/22 -- Kitchen Garden Cafe -- Birmingham, UK
10/23 -- Boia Festival @ Tabernacle -- St Davids, UK
10/25 - Sligo, Ireland @ Knocknarea Arena w/ Rosanne Cash
10/26 -- Cyprus Avenue -- Cork, Ireland
10/27 -- Upstairs at Dolan’s -- Limerick, Ireland
10/28 -- The Deer’s Head -- Belfast, Ireland
11/4 -- Off Broadway -- St. Louis, MO
11/5 -- Bottleneck -- Lawrence, KS
11/6 – E-Town w/ Cactus Blossoms – Boulder, CO
11/7 -- Ophelia's -- Denver, CO
11/9 -- Urban Lounge -- Salt Lake City, UT
11/10 -- Shrine Basement -- Boise, ID
11/12 -- Tractor Tavern -- Seattle, WA
11/13 -- Biltmore Cabaret -- Vancouver, BC
11/14 -- Mississippi Studios -- Portland, OR
11/16 -- The Chapel -- San Francisco, CA
11/17 -- Troubadour -- Los Angeles, CA
11/18 – Musical Instrument Museum -- Phoenix, AZ
11/20 -- The 04 Center -- Austin, TX
11/21 -- The Kessler Theater -- Dallas, TX
12/11 -- The Atlantis -- Washington, DC
12/12 -- Sellersville Theater -- Sellersville, PA
I Am Both is out now via ATO Records; you can listen to it below or wherever you find your music.
