Mary Gauthier

In 2018, Mary Gauthier joined Folk Alley for an exclusive session at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. Here she talks about working alongside combat veterans and with the SongwritingWith: Soldiers organization to share their experiences. Listen to the interview and watch performances of songs from her album, 'Rifles and Rosary Beads.'

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier has experienced abandonment from her mother, put herself in positions where she would inevitably be betrayed, come to terms with the power of her anger, and found herself struggling with addiction and alcoholism. But for Mary, so much of that tumult and life experience came from a sense of internal intensity. “The self-destructive and self-constructive forces inside of me,” she says, “are both very, very strong.” That conflict often can be too much to bear for many. But for Mary, it was songwriting that gave her the space and opportunity to work it all out.  In the end, those six decades were time enough for her story to be reframed, rewritten, and even redeemed.  To learn more about Mary, follow her on Instagram, check out her new book, Saved by a Song, or visit her website.

The pandemic hasn’t been easy, of course, but it has provided at a new way for Mary Gauthier to engage with her music. Her story songs have comfortably made the jump to virtual performances, as she’s embraced the talk show host inside. Earlier this year, she released Dark Enough to See the Stars – her 11th album overall and the first in eight years made up entirely of her own songs. The album follows 2018’s Rifles & Rosary Beads, a collaborative effort that found providing music for lyrics penned by Iraq War veterans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grammy Award-winning songwriter Mary Gauthier (@MaryGauthier_) talks about her memoir Saved By a Song, and describes grappling with her history as an adopted child and the birth mother who refused to meet her. Songwriter Kelley McRae (@KelleyMcRae) talks about her long admiration for Mary’s art and philosophy, and her struggles with organized religion, and performs her song "What Do You Do?"SongWriterPodcast.com/Mary-Gauthier-Kelley-McRaeTwitter.com/SnogWriterFacebook.com/SongWriterPodcastInstagram.com/SongWriterPodcast

Amy Wright sits down with acclaimed singer-songwriter, much-admired activist, and champion of civil rights and progressive thought, Mary Gauthier. Mary made a breathtaking collection of songs that she recently released as a studio album titled, Dark Enough to See the Stars, and you’ll get to hear all about the inspiration behind and making of the record today. It’s her eleventh album, the follow-up to the profound, Rifles & Rosary Beads, her 2018 collaborative work with wounded Iraq war veterans. That record garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, as well as a nomination for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association, so that should give you an idea of the caliber of artist Mary truly is. We’re honored to host her on the show today and excited to hear what she has to say.Part of Pantheon Podcasts 

Amy Wright sits down with acclaimed singer-songwriter, much-admired activist, and champion of civil rights and progressive thought, Mary Gauthier. Mary made a breathtaking collection of songs that she recently released as a studio album titled, Dark Enough to See the Stars, and you’ll get to hear all about the inspiration behind and making of the record today. It’s her eleventh album, the follow-up to the profound, Rifles & Rosary Beads, her 2018 collaborative work with wounded Iraq war veterans. That record garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, as well as a nomination for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association, so that should give you an idea of the caliber of artist Mary truly is. We’re honored to host her on the show today and excited to hear what she has to say.Part of Pantheon Podcasts 

Mary Gauthier is known as one of the best songwriters of her generation. Originally from New Orleans and currently based in Nashville, Gauthier has battled back from hard knocks and bad habits. It wasn't until she was in her mid-30s that she started her career in music - once she got started, songs poured out that told the story of her life as a drunk and addict, a chef and restaurant owner, an androgynous lesbian, and an adoptee who spent the first year of her life in an orphanage. Her songs have been recorded by dozens of artists, including Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton, and Tim McGraw, and have appeared extensively in film and television, most recently on Yellowstone and ABC’s Nashville.If you travel in Nashville's singer-songwriter circles, literary circles, or progressive activist circles, you've probably witnessed Mary Gauthier bring a room to tears. She’s a unique, intrinsically valuable musical voice with a razor-sharp eye for detail and commitment to unsentimental self-reflection. Her most recent album, Dark Enough To See The Stars, has received rave reviews from The Associated Press, No Depression, Americana Highways, and more.

For our first episode of this year's Pride Month, Dr. Ron Hirschberg had the privilege of sitting with Mary Gauthier. Mary is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, author, a military family member and huge supporter of veterans, and a savior so many with her songs. Author of the new book Saved By A Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, and with eleven original albums out (including the brand new album Dark Enough To See The Stars which was released in early June), Mary is a prolific artist. A New Orleans native, Mary spent many years grappling spiraling with addiction, alcohol, failed relationships, and depression before discovering her gift as a songwriter. Through song, she discovered that she could express things that she was not able to express in other ways, and gained a new confidence through writing and performing. She writes about trauma and resilience, about family, alcoholism, and her “three wars” growing up – Vietnam, her parents war with each other, and the war between she and her father, who served in the Korean War.  She has co-written songs with veterans through the program Songwriting with Soldiers. She writes about love, pride, and healing.  In today's episode, Mary and Ron speak about trauma, about the power of music to support healing for veterans and civilians alike, about pride, openness and being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and so much more. ###THE ANNUAL RUN TO HOME BASE IS 7-30-22 THIS YEAR! ALL FUNDRAISING GOES DIRECTLY TO THE CARE OF OUR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES, SO SIGN UP HERE: www.runtohomebase.org###If you are your loved one is experiencing any emotional, mental health struggles, you are not alone and please contact Home Base at (617) 724-5202, or visit www.homebase.orgTheme music for Home Base Nation: "Rolling the tree" by The Butler FrogsThe music heard in today's episode is by Mary Gauthier, and is used with the artist's permission. In order, the songs are: "Rifles & Rosary Beads" (co-written by Mary Gauthier and US. Army Veteran Joe Costello) off 2018 album Rifles & Rosary Beads, followed by "Fall Apart World", and "Dark Enough to See the Stars", off of the just-released 2022 album Dark Enough to See the Stars.If you have not listened already, we have an episode called Warrior-Healer February 17th, 2020, that highlights a song cowritten by one of our veteran alumni at Home Base Air Force Veteran Blair Morin and James House through Songwriting with Soldiers.Also, Mary and I met in 2018 on a podcast I was cohosting called Above The Basement. If you are interested in a show that covers the lives and stories of musicians, check out the show Produced and Hosted by my friend Chuck Clough, which has about 200 episodes in the vault. The episode we refer to in today’s conversation is #81, February 2018.And Check out Mary’s conversation on the November 2021 Episode of Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast Broken Record###Follow Home Base on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedInThe Home Base Nation Team is Steve Monaco, Maureen Roderick, Laurie Gallagher, Karianne Kraus, Lucy Little, Taylor Orlando, with COO Michael Allard, Brigadier General Jack Hammond, and Peter Smyth.Producer and Host: Dr. Ron HirschbergProducer, Sound, Editor: Lucy LittleChairman, Home Base Media Lab: Peter SmythHome Base Nation is the official podcast of Home Base Program for Veterans and Military Families, a partnership of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation. To learn more and connect with us at Home Base Nation: www.homebase.org/homebasenation. To Donate to Home Base where every dollar goes to the care of veterans and military families that is cost to them, go to: www.homebase.org/donate.The views expressed by guests to the Home Base Nation podcast are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by guests are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Home Base, the Red Sox Foundation or any of its officials.

This week, the show dials into the Nashville studio of one of the most gifted songwriters and empathic storytellers of her generation: Mary Gauthier. While Mary has become known for her darkly honest tales of overcoming addiction and seeking truth and joy after overcoming her troubled upbringing in Louisiana, she was nominated for a Grammy for her devastating record Rifles & Rosary Beads (co-written with U.S. veterans and their loved-ones) and her new record may be her most surprising and moving collection yet. Dark Enough To See The Stars, which drops June 3rd on Thirty Tigers, is in many ways an unabashed romance album, celebrating, in her own sardonic John Prine-meets-Anthony Bourdain style, how lovely it can be to find true love and creative joy at long last. During the pandemic she began performing a weekly stream with her amor, the talented songwriter Jaimee Harris, called Sundays with Mary - and while Gauthier has now returned to the road, the cathartic weekly song sharing show has continued too. Harris helped write the swoon-worthy traveling song “Amsterdam” on the newest LP.Gauthier’s road to stability and creative contentment was a long one. As she gamely explains in this intense conversation, she made the leap to leave the relentless life of being a cook and restaurant owner (and partaker in too many illegal substances) and devoted herself to songwriting after getting arrested at thirty. Was she an instant hit on folk stages in her then base of Boston? Not exactly. In fact, she couldn’t step on any stage without shaking. But she kept at it and the stories flowed. Early tours with Prine gave her confidence. Her breakout record Mercy Now (2005) chronicles her technicolor debauched early years with the clear-eyed grace of the newly sober, trying to give forgiveness to her troubled family and to herself for making it through. Being an openly gay songwriter, she took early inspiration from her heroes the Indigo Girls who showed her there was a place for a new kind of empowered songwriting, not just for women, but for anyone who wanted to look deeper into what women are experiencing behind closed doors.If Gauthier has one superpower as a songwriter it’s her ability to empathize with everyone around her - even the troubled soldiers who she teamed up with on Rifles & Rosary Beads. We have way more in common with each other than many may think - overcoming trauma is pretty damn universal. Her book Saved By A Song: The Art And Healing Power Of Songwriting is her most powerful collection of stories and may explain best how her art has evolved in the last two decades, plus on the road.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-show-on-the-road-with-z-lupetin1106/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mary Gauthier is a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter who moved to Nashville at the age of 39 to start her career in music. She battled addiction early in life and overcame it with the help of writing and performing music. She's been named one of the greatest songwriters of her generation because her work pierces and transcends with its grit and honesty. This episode is for you if:-You struggled with addiction-You love incredibly deep and introspective conversations with artists-You appreciate a good story with a late-bloomer main character-You're obsessed with Mary Gauthier (as is Host Lauren Lowrey) What's in this episode?Mary does a deep dive into the healing power of music and the role it plays in helping people know they're not alone. She goes into great detail about her struggles with drugs and alcohol and how she found her purpose. Mary's story expresses two powerful ideas. First, that purpose can call at any time. She was a head chef who opened and owned restaurants around Boston in her 20's and 30's. At age 39 -and eleven years sober- she left it all to move to Nashville to write songs full time. Mary's story also illustrates the way her soul's purpose communicated with her, describing it as "a whisper." Best of all, Mary uses her guitar to show how she translates emotion from a story to a song and her process of co-writing songs with people who need the most healing: combat veterans. 📝 SHOW NOTES 📝 Direct link to full show notes, including transcription and mentions here: https://www.ampstigator.com/blog/mary-gauthier-show-notes