The Guardian
17 Nov
Mary Gauthier – review
Union Chapel, London
4 stars
Songs about rebels and outcasts may be commonplace in countrymusic, but true mavericks are harder to find, and don’t necessarily look like Nashville stars. Mary Gauthier carried an acoustic guitar and had a harmonica strapped round her neck, like the young Dylan, and her opening song, Last of the Hobo Kings, was a true story that had echoes of Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie. Then, with the dry, sadly humorous I Drink, came a reminder of her own tough upbringing. Abandoned as a child in New Orleans, she was adopted but ran away from home, battled with drink and drugs, and only started singing in her 30s. And, she reminded us, she’s been named gay country artist of the year by Glama (Gay and Lesbian American Music awards).
She has used her experiences to write thoughtful songs that are highly individual, never mawkish and often unexpectedly warm-hearted. She said she was worried about singing in the chapel, a former church, “because of the words that might come out of my mouth”. Next came stories about her adoptive mother, and Sugar Cane, an angry, vivid childhood memory of the pollution caused by the burning of the Louisiana fields after harvesting.
A cool and evocative singer, she was helped by the harmony vocals and inspired five-string violin work of Tania Elizabeth. Gauthier ended with pained songs from her last album, The Foundling, a concept work based on the search for her birth mother, but left out the most harrowing track, March 11 1962, and instead veered off optimistically into Lennon’s War Is Over, and her own more cheerfully autobiographical Drag Queens and Limousines. She deserved the standing ovation.
Wow, that’s kind of crazy that musicians look at the audience and study them, too. I guess I kind of thought that it would be a bit distracting, but I guess if your that skilled and once you get into a groove it wouldn’t matter. My uncle’s from Tennessee, too. I’m actually visiting him for christmas, so I’ll be in your home state within the next week
Very nice and sensitive. Im not a musician. But i love music and i’ve just wanted to be there while you were singing. Traveling, meeting new people everyday, telling and learning their stories, sharing life and peace with so many people must be a great thing! You’re so lucky! Believe me! Wish you could come to Turkey someday
Damn, if that Sugar Cane doesn’t make me sing out loud and lusty every time. You got fans in Ireland…come and see us again sometime!