Mary Gauthier
Encyclopedia
Mary Gauthier is an American folk
singer-songwriter
.
, Louisiana
. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian
Catholic
couple in Thibodaux
, Louisiana. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent the next several years in drug rehabilitation
, halfway house
s, and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell. Struggling to deal with being adopted and her sexuality
, she used drugs and alcohol. These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on. Spurred on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University
as a philosophy
major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun
restaurant in Boston's Back Bay
neighborhood, Dixie Kitchen (also the eponymous title of her first album
). Mary ran, and cooked at, the restaurant for eleven years. She was arrested for drunk driving opening night, July 12, 1990, and has been sober ever since. After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She wrote her first song at age 35.
She sold her share in the restaurant to finance her second album, Drag Queens in Limousines, in 1998. The summer of the release of this album, she was invited to play 11 major folk festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival
. Drag Queens in Limousines won in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards
for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song, and she was nominated for Best New Artist of the year by the Boston Music Awards. She was nominated for three GLAMA awards ( Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards) and won best country artist of the year. In 2002 her third album,"Filth and Fire" was named "Best Indy CD of the year" by Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
, in 2002. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee
in 2001 and secured a publishing deal with Harlan Howard Songs
, then secured a record deal with Lost Highway , a division of Universal Music, in 2003. Her first major label release, in 2005, Mercy Now was on the top 10 list for the year in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
, the Daily News, and Billboard Magazine. She was awarded "New Artist of the Year" by The Americana Music Association
the same year. Mercy Now was voted the #6 Record of the Decade by No Depression Magazine. Her second Lost Highway release, "Between Daylight and Dark" appeared in September 2007. She has had her songs recorded by numerous artists, including Jimmy Buffett
, Tim McGraw
, Blake Shelton
, Bill Chambers
and Candi Staton
. Her latest release is called The Foundling and was released by Razor and Tie Records in 2010. It was named the #3 Record of the Year in the LA Times by music writer Randy Lewis.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Life and career
Gauthier was born in New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
couple in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...
, Louisiana. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent the next several years in drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
, halfway house
Halfway house
The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
s, and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell. Struggling to deal with being adopted and her sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, she used drugs and alcohol. These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on. Spurred on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
as a philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun
Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation...
restaurant in Boston's Back Bay
Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes, which are considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States, as well as numerous architecturally significant individual...
neighborhood, Dixie Kitchen (also the eponymous title of her first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
). Mary ran, and cooked at, the restaurant for eleven years. She was arrested for drunk driving opening night, July 12, 1990, and has been sober ever since. After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She wrote her first song at age 35.
She sold her share in the restaurant to finance her second album, Drag Queens in Limousines, in 1998. The summer of the release of this album, she was invited to play 11 major folk festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
. Drag Queens in Limousines won in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song, and she was nominated for Best New Artist of the year by the Boston Music Awards. She was nominated for three GLAMA awards ( Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards) and won best country artist of the year. In 2002 her third album,"Filth and Fire" was named "Best Indy CD of the year" by Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, in 2002. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 2001 and secured a publishing deal with Harlan Howard Songs
Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...
, then secured a record deal with Lost Highway , a division of Universal Music, in 2003. Her first major label release, in 2005, Mercy Now was on the top 10 list for the year in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, the Daily News, and Billboard Magazine. She was awarded "New Artist of the Year" by The Americana Music Association
Americana Music Association
The Americana Music Association is a trade organization developed to provide professional support and to promote awareness of Americana music. Toward these ends the organization works with artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others to create networking opportunities and to...
the same year. Mercy Now was voted the #6 Record of the Decade by No Depression Magazine. Her second Lost Highway release, "Between Daylight and Dark" appeared in September 2007. She has had her songs recorded by numerous artists, including Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...
, Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
, Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
William Joseph "Bill" Chambers was an American football offensive lineman in the All-America Football Conference. He played two seasons for the New York Yankees . He played collegiately for Alabama, Georgia Tech and UCLA....
and Candi Staton
Candi Staton
Candi Staton is an American soul and gospel singer, best known for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and her 1976 disco hit "Young Hearts Run Free". In 2007, Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
. Her latest release is called The Foundling and was released by Razor and Tie Records in 2010. It was named the #3 Record of the Year in the LA Times by music writer Randy Lewis.
Discography
- Dixie Kitchen (1997)
- Drag Queens in Limousines (1999)
- Filth and Fire (2002)
- Mercy Now (2005)
- Between Daylight and Dark (2007)
- Genesis (The Early Years) ( 2008) - 15 track compilation from the 1st three albums
- The Foundling (2010)
- "The Foundling Alone" (2011) Acoustic Demo's of songs in development, from The Foundling