13 is a lucky number for Margo Price

Thirteen, it turns out, is a lucky number for Margo Price.

Thirteen years ago this month, the country singer-songwriter left her native Illinois and came to Nashville. She wasn’t expecting to be an overnight success, and well, that definitely didn’t happen. She made a list of local clubs she wanted to perform at, and gradually crossed them all off. Then, she played them again. And again.

Speaking to The Tennessean, Price laughs as she remembers thinking to herself, “All right, now I'm going to play the Springwater 50 times, I guess.”

But 12 years later, after countless rough gigs, day jobs, label rejections and bad business partners, perhaps no other unsigned artist in town had earned more respect and goodwill — and a knack for crafting a traditional country anthem — than her. That added up to a deal with Jack White’s Third Man Records, which released her solo debut, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.”

This year — year 13 — Price’s star has skyrocketed. It started with a January appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show.” Not long after, she took the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first time. She’s been celebrated in the pages of Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The FADER, which called her “country’s next star.”

Then a few weeks ago, she was asked an unexpected question. Do you want to play “Saturday Night Live?” In eight days?

“It just happened so fast,” she says. “By the time I got back, I didn't even know if it had happened.”

“When I first got there, I had flowers in my room, and it had a card signed from Lorne Michaels and the cast. That was such a surreal moment. I've watched the show for years and years, and dreamed about being on the cast, before I ever really aspired to be a musician. I loved the skits. That whole day was kind of dreamlike. Everybody there was so nice, and I didn't feel nervous at all.”

Those nerves of steel were plain to see during her commanding performances of “Hurtin (On the Bottle)” and “Since You Put Me Down.” Price had quite the homecoming a few days later: a sold-out record release party in Third Man’s Blue Room. That space only fits a few hundred, though, and there’s a lot more interest in her music these days. Luckily, Price is set to play two night at 3rd & Lindsley — a club that was on her gig list way back when — on June 14 and 15. Tickets for the first show sold out in a heartbeat, but at press time, there were still tickets available for the June 15 show.

All this activity hasn’t slowed down her songwriting, however. Price says she has about 20 new tunes ready to go, and would like start recording a new album this winter. Until then, she has some big gigs to look forward to, including a stop at the Austin City Limits festival and a few dates opening for legendary songsmith John Prine.