News

April 2021 Newsletter | 📖 Pre-order 'Saved by a Song' + New Tour Dates Added

Hi Friend,

The release date of Saved by a Song is quickly approaching and there is a virtual event to celebrate it - On July 6th, I'll be in conversation with Allison Moorer and Parnassus Books here in Nashville! Pre-order the book and get access to the live stream event here.

I've added a handful of new tour dates to the calendar too! I'll be traveling up to the Northeast with Jaimee Harris opening a handful of dates. More to be announced soon...

If you use Bandcamp, I ask you to support independent artists THIS Friday (April 2) for Bandcamp Friday - 100% proceeds go to the artists behind the music. Also, I've added a few more records to my Bandcamp page.

Per usual, we have an amazing lineup for Sundays with Mary in April - Check it out below!

You can now download SEVEN of my records on Bandcamp!

JUST ADDED:
+ Dixie Kitchen
+ Mercy Now
+ Between Daylight and Dark

Make sure you follow my page and keep your eyes peeled for even more releases from the catalog coming soon!

In this 3-day workshop at the Cafe at Thistle Farms Education Space in Nashville, Mary will work with students of all levels to help them clarify the aim of their writing and discover their own, unique voice. Seats are limited and will fill up quickly, so enroll now!

Click here for more information.

05.15.21

CHEROKEE, TX
CHEROKEE CREEK MUSIC FESTIVAL
TICKETS


05.17.21

WINSLOW, AZ
ROOTS ON THE RAILS
THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBE
TICKETS


06.25.21

GALVESTON, TX
OLD QUARTER ACOUSTIC CAFE
TICKETS

06.26.21

AUSTIN, TX
CACTUS CAFE
TICKETS

06.27.21

DALLAS, TX
CAFE MOMENTUM
TICKETS

06.28.21

TOMBALL, TX
MAIN STREET CROSSING
TICKETS

07.06.21

'SAVED BY A SONG' VIRTUAL EVENT
PARNASSUS BOOKS
IN CONVERSATION WITH ALLISON MOORER
TICKETS

07.29.21

NASHVILLE, TN
CAFE AT THISTLE FARMS
WORKSHOP: FINDING YOUR WRITER'S VOICE
ENROLL

09.04.21

MARTINSVILLE, OH
NOWHERE ELSE FESTIVAL
TICKETS

10.27.21

ALBANY, NY
THE LINDA
TICKETS

10.30.21

PLYMOUTH, MA
SPIRE CENTER
TICKETS

11.20.21

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
BROWARD CENTER
ABDO NEW RIVER ROOM
TICKETS

READ THE NEWEST ISSUE HERE

Dear Mary,

Have you ever written songs about family members that reveal things they might rather keep quiet about? How do you deal with that?

The Dallas Morning News: America's nurses could use some mercy now

I was surprised and honored to read this in The Dallas Morning News. Thank you to Robert F. Darden for writing about nurses with words that moved me and thoughts that made me nod in agreement. One of the best pieces of writing I have read all year. Read it here.

"I have spent my professional career researching and writing about the spirituals, gospel songs and freedom songs of the African American experience. They also provide much of the soundtrack of my life.

But two weeks ago, when I found myself in a crowded Waco hospital undergoing knee replacement surgery, it wasn’t a classic spiritual that sustained me. It was Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now.” “Mercy Now” was hailed as an instant classic upon its release in 2005, a simple, haunting plea that sounds older than the oldest spirituals, like it was somehow summoned from divine ether rather than composed in the vulgar present...

If you don’t believe politicians, believe nurses. If you don’t believe scientists, believe nurses. If you don’t believe the media, teachers, doctors and medical associations, or even folk wisdom, then believe nurses. Nurses need a little mercy now.

The nurse has nothing to gain by misleading you. Our nurses have been at the front lines from day one. They’ve seen us at our worst, puking, screaming, defecating, whining, threatening, bullying, bleeding and they still accept us unconditionally into their care.

God bless our physicians, but it is the nurse who dresses the wound, cleans the catheter, administers the pill, holds the frightened hand of the child in surgery. The nurse whose sacred duty is to place flesh on flesh to heal. Nurses need a little mercy now.

Nikki, Makala, Tyler, Tamie and a million million more need a little mercy now.

In the year 2020, mercy is a mask.

If you won’t wear one for them, then for whom?"

Check out the full essay HERE