August 2020 Newsletter | "September Master Classes, Sundays w/ Mary, and Saved by a Song"
August 2020 Newsletter
"Good Trouble"
August News
Remembering John Lewis
"Do not get lost in a sea of despair," Lewis tweeted almost exactly a year before his death.
Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way."
-- John Lewis
President Obama said: "Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind -- an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now.
-- President Barak Obama
RIP Sir, RIP.
Sundays w/ Mary
"Sundays with Mary" continue in August with a great lineup of musical friends! On August 9th, I'll be joined by my friend Rodney Crowell. All tips (100%) from this stream will benefit Music Health Alliance. Did you know medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America and 75% of those bankruptcies actually have health insurance? Music Health Alliance is not only helping music professionals gain access to affordable health care, but they are also currently feeding our most vulnerable population in the music community during this pandemic. Please join us on August 9th to raise awareness and funds for this important effort. We love spending our Sundays with you.
Sundays with Mary | FB LIVE at 2PM CT
Upcoming "Sundays w/ Mary" Guests
August 2nd: Allison Moorer
August 9th: Rodney Crowell *Benefitting Music Health Alliance*
August 16th: Gurf Morlix
August 23rd: Sam Baker returns!
August 30th: Slaid Cleaves
Be sure to watch Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the most up to date guest announcements.
NEW NEW NEW! September Master Classes
Strictly limited to twenty songwriters, in these classes Mary will listen to songs, and offer feedback and encouragement to every participant. She will listen to your song, and provide a deep dive into the mechanics and art of songwriting using your unfinished song as a way of finding teachable moments that will put songwriting tools in the toolkits of every member of the class. Increasing the number of tools you have in your toolkit is the fastest way to becoming a better songwriter. Mary has twenty years of experience working with songwriters in this way, and her book “Saved By a Song” is coming out in August 2021 on St. Martin’s MacMillan Press. This is not a lecture class, it is a hands-on, student participation workshop taught in four ninety-minute sessions. You will walk away with information that usually takes decades to figure out.
New "Mercy" Masks Available Now
Every living thing could use a little mercy now...
New "Mercy" face coverings. The one on the left is made of T-Shirt fabric, super lightweight for summer outdoor heat, no-sew. 1 ply, raw edges.
The one on the right is a thicker face-covering made of breathable, washable, stretchy polyester.
Both face coverings are non-medical.
"Mercy" logo by Brad Bond (Austin, TX)
Book a Unique, One-On-One Experience with Mary
I’m excited to offer one on one live video hang out sessions including serenades, mini-concerts, and songwriting coaching via Topeka Live. Not only will you be getting a unique, individualized experience with me but you'll also be supporting Atlanta-based non-profit, Circles Morningside. Circles Morningside empowers men and women looking to lift themselves from poverty by providing apprenticeships and employment opportunities.
LIVESTREAM SHOWS
Sunday, August 2nd: Sundays w/ Mary Live Stream: Allison Moorer, 2 PM, CDT, Mary Gauthier's FB Page / Mary's YouTube Channel
Sunday, August 9th: Sundays w/ Mary Live Stream: Rodney Crowell *Benefitting Music Health Alliance*, 2 PM, CDT, Mary Gauthier's FB Page / Mary's YouTube Channel
Sunday, August 16th: Sundays w/ Mary Live Stream: Gurf Morlix, 2 PM, CDT, Mary Gauthier's FB Page / Mary's YouTube Channel
Sunday, August 23rd: Sundays w/ Mary Live Stream: Sam Baker, 2 PM, CDT, Mary Gauthier's FB Page / Mary's YouTube Channel
Sunday, August 30th: Sundays w/ Mary Live Stream: Slaid Cleaves, 2 PM, CDT Mary Gauthier's FB Page / Mary's YouTube Channel
NPR's 50 Best Albums of 2018
Rifles & Rosary Beads Named One of NPR’s 50 Best Albums of 2018!
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL LIST
“Few singer-songwriters have mined their own autobiographies with a stronger belief in the unifying potential of human affliction than Mary Gauthier, but she arrived at her most compelling expressions of empathy to date by fixating intently on others' stories. Rifles & Rosary Beads, her eighth proper studio album, was the fruit of songwriting retreats with American military veterans and their spouses and partners; with the participants' permission, what began as a therapeutic exercise led to a riveting collection of testimonies, recollections and vignettes. Gauthier is a tough, almost surly singer who makes her emotional commitment to the material felt, and her choice of producers, and multi-instrumentalist Neilson Hubbard, framed it with bristly folk-rock gravity. The greatest source of the 11 songs' power is how they capture contradictions in excruciating, unshakable detail: the feelings of fierce camaraderie beneath heroic displays of stoicism; the mixture of pride and anguish that service leaves in its wake; the trauma that alienates vets and their loved ones even after they're reunited beneath the same roofs. That degree of attentiveness was an especially needed salve during a year when differences in experience and perspective were treated as unbridgeable, hostility-stoking barriers.”
—Jewly Hight
Saved By A Song: TEDxLincolnSquare
"Trauma goes deeper than words. But music can get into those places."
TEDxLincolnSquare has posted my TED Talk "Saved By A Song." I spoke in New York City recently about the process of using songs and songwriting to articulate difficult stories to create resonance and human connection. It was not easy to get it all said in the time allowed, but I think I came pretty close.
A huge thanks to Tricia Brouk for being an amazing TED Director
and Talk Leader!
Click HERE to Watch
Finding Emotional Truth: April 2016
“Extracting the true from the false is at the core of songwriting, and even when the writer works through fantasy and fiction, (and most of us do) emotional truth is the right basis of it. It’s paradoxical, but oftentimes the best way to demonstrate emotional truth is through made up tales. We use melody and metaphor to point to experiences that there are no words for.
Happy Spring!
I’m in the trenches with my book, arm wrestling big ideas, trying to makes sense of them on paper. The chapter I’m working on now deals with the concept of emotional truth, or story truth, as opposed to literal truth. It’s a doozy. Here’s some of what I’ve worked out:
“Extracting the true from the false is at the core of songwriting, and even when the writer works through fantasy and fiction, (and most of us do) emotional truth is the right basis of it. It’s paradoxical, but oftentimes the best way to demonstrate emotional truth is through made up tales. We use melody and metaphor to point to experiences that there are no words for.
Everyone knows fiction is fabrication. But everyone also knows that fiction and falsehood aren’t the same things. Enduring works of literature generate very real emotional experiences that transcend the place and time in which they were written. Ditto songs. Resonance is a sympathetic response, a heartfelt connection, and like stories, songs succeed when we believe them. This heartfelt connection has little to do with facts. When we love a song, we could care less if anything in it ever actually happened. The connection is not based in reason. It’s based in emotion.”
Here's an example of a song I made up, where none of the events happened, but the story is true: Our Lady of the Shooting Stars.
As always, thank you for being a part of my journey. This month I’m headed to Minnesota solo, and then Texas with Eliza Gilkyson and Gretchen Peters as part of the Three Women and the Truth Tour. I will be in New York the last weekend of Aprilwith Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk to run a trauma healing workshop we’ve named "Trauma: Embodiment, Synchrony and Finding Your Voice" at The Garrison Institute.
I hope to see you down the road! Visit www.marygauthier.com/tour for more details on my upcoming shows. Thank you!
Inspiration In The Rockies: March 2016
have drawn inspiration from this beautiful landscape and creative environment for my book, and am excited about the potential for a new project affiliated with The Banff Centre and friends Sam Baker, Jim White and Minton Sparks.
Hello Again!
I am on my way back to the Canadian Rockies this week! I am looking forward to performing shows in Alberta this month, including three dates with Sam Baker and one with Eliza Gilkyson.
I have drawn inspiration from this beautiful landscape and creative environment for my book, and am excited about the potential for a new project affiliated with The Banff Centre and friends Sam Baker, Jim White and Minton Sparks.
As I continue to teach songwriting in Banff and collaborate with other great writers in this tremendous setting, I am able to finally put to words some of my most important realizations about the mystery of writing songs. As a result, my book is starting to take shape now, and is starting to look more like a manuscript than a pile of thoughts that don't connect. Writing a book still feels like writing the longest song ever attempted, but my brain thinks in song, and I'm going with the flow!
Thanks again for following along on my journey and for all of your support and feedback as I explore this new territory. Below is an excerpt from the latest draft of my book. In the meantime, I hope to see you in Alberta this month or down the road this spring and summer!
~~~~~ "Songwriting is an art unto itself, and vision is what’s most important. A basic understanding of craft is necessary, but the art of songwriting is not about mechanics. The art is not about singing, guitar playing, or mastery of any instrument. It’s not about performance, show business, or even entertainment. It’s not about reading or writing music. The art of song is about combining vision, ideas and truth in an effort towards wholeness.
Basic knowledge of music and melody is helpful, but songwriting doesn’t require a music education. Emotional literacy is what matters. There are generations of timeless songs “written” by illiterate songwriters, and brilliant songwriters who don’t play any instruments at all. Irving Berlin, the composer of countless beloved standards couldn't read or write music. He played almost entirely in the key of F-sharp, allowing him to stay on the black keys as much as possible.
At the end of the day, songwriting is conjury. The conjurer is often as mystified as anyone as to where our creations come from. We often can’t explain how we do what we do because we don’t fully understand it ourselves. But in the right mood, with the right frame of mind, there’s a feeling of being an antenna, receiving, then transmitting, receiving, then transmitting. Great songs are more than words and music. Welded together just right, they become emotional electricity.
Songs are music and words glued together with magic. Songwriters apply the glue."
Please visit my Tour Page for all of the details about my upcoming shows in Alberta!
Thank you! - Mary
Working For The Greater Good = Joy
I was honored to perform on the Grand Ole Opry at The Ryman Saturday, November 28th - the night of the Opry's 90th Birthday.
I brought some friends with me, including Combat Veteran Josh Geartz, who fought in The Iraq War and co-wrote "Still On The Ride" with me, and Singer-Songwriter James House, both of whom I met through Songwriting With Soldiers (SW:S).
Pictured L to R: Iraq War Combat Veteran Rob Spohr, Iraq War Combat Veteran Josh Geartz, Veteran Airlift Command Volunteer Pilot Joe Bartosiak, SW:S Songwriter Mary Gauthier, SW:S Songwriter James House, Violin Player Kate Lee.
I was honored to perform on the Grand Ole Opry at The Ryman Saturday, November 28th - the night of the Opry's 90th Birthday.
I brought some friends with me, including Combat Veteran Josh Geartz, who fought in The Iraq War and co-wrote "Still On The Ride" with me, and Singer-Songwriter James House, both of whom I met through Songwriting With Soldiers (SW:S).
The fiddle player Kate Lee, the Opry Band and the Opry Singers also joined us onstage. It quickly became a night for the ages.
As I sang the first lines of "Still On The Ride" the room became electrically charged. I could feel people emotionally reacting to the words.
Looking back now, who the hell knows Where the soul of a dead soldier goes
Josh sat stage right and began to play harmonica, and as James and Kate and I sang the words of the first chorus, I felt an even deeper energetic tightening.
I shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be gone But it's not up to me who dies and who carries on I sit in my room, and I close my eyes Me and my guardian angel are still on the ride
The sold out Ryman had converged. Audience, musicians, employees and ushers had become one, mesmerized by the power of Josh's story. I glanced down at the front row, and men were fighting back tears.
James and Kate and I finished singing the second chorus and then KABOOM, the drums and bass came crashing in loud for the solo, raising the hair on the back of my neck and nearly lifting the ceiling off the Ryman.
It was glorious music, expressing the will to live, the urgency of our need to believe, uplifting, defiant, hopeful in the face of trauma and loss.
I looked over at Josh, wireless mic in his hands, harmonica between his lips, and he looked over and smiled at me under his hat. It was a moment I will never forget.
As the last note of the song rang out, the audience jumped to their feet, many with tears on their cheeks. They clapped and cheered, the house lights came on and off, and the clapping and cheering got louder. The band looked at Josh, put their instruments down, stood up and started clapping. I did the same.
It was a classic Opry moment, a sustained standing ovation, a deep acknowledgement of a single Veteran's service, a thank you to all Veterans who serve, and a 90th Birthday Celebration of the greatest long-running musical institution America has ever known.
I snuck out to the gift shop after the first show to try and buy a show poster for Josh, and was immediately swarmed by people who'd seen the performance, many of them Vietnam Veterans. They wanted to thank Josh, thank the Opry, thank Songwriting With Soldiers, and hug me.
I mumbled a few words about gift shop and a poster and suddenly a dozen people were handing me their newly purchased show posters, for me to give to Josh. I accepted one, thanked the person who gave it to me, took some pictures with folks, and made my way backstage to prepare for the second show.
It happened again at the second show - ovation, tears and emotional connection! What a night!
A little taste of heaven on earth: a sense of purpose bigger than us all. Josh kept saying how much he felt like his story could help other Veterans and how much he felt a part of something bigger than himself. That's how we all felt.
Teamwork made this event possible. Songwriting With Soldiers brought us together. Veterans Airlift Command provided free air transportation, flying Josh and fellow SW:S Combat Veteran Rob Spohr to Nashville from New York pro bono, and the Opry opened their arms and graciously worked with us to make the night possible.
In a time when almost all the news on TV is bad, when we are on the verge of new wars, new terror attacks and new threats of all kinds of violence, I am grateful for the power of song to open hearts, and for the power of love to bring us together.
In the end, it's simple really. Working with others for the greater good = Joy.
Click HERE to listen to "Still On The Ride," co-written by Mary Gauthier and Josh Geartz.
Learning How To Listen: November 2015
The soldier’s songs have become a part of me. As I sing them from town to town, each of them resonates a powerful truth: Songs change lives.
Last week I spent a morning with Josh Gertz and his service dog Coda at the Songwriting With Soldiers Retreat in Rennselaerville, NY. We wrote a song called “Still On The Ride,” which portrays Joshua’s story of loss, perseverance, courage and survival, and his belief in a guardian angel that saved his life. Over the weekend, I also wrote a song with Kevin Reeder and Rudyard Edik, making for a total of three new songs in a day and a half. A privilege, and thrill, and a sacred trust. A huge thank you to the vets for sharing your stories with us. Click HERE to listen to "Still On The Ride."
The soldier’s songs have become a part of me. As I sing them from town to town, each of them resonates a powerful truth: Songs change lives.
An emotionally honest song has the power to wormhole its way deep into the heart. And then, like water on a seed, the heart changes the mind. Souls are reshaped, enlarged, by a simple song. Something new is born. Connections are made. Bridges are built.
At first glance the work seems simple: sit with a veteran, ask them about themselves, and write a song based on what they say. Use their words as the foundation. Listen for a title, encourage them to keep talking until I can discern the emotional bottom line of their story, play a couple of chords that sound like that emotion, come up with verses and a chorus, and then make it rhyme.
But after doing that, something complex happens, and I don’t fully understand it. Something extraordinary enters the room, something bigger than both of us. The song is born in that hallowed place.
It happens fast, and it happens almost in a trance. I barely remember writing these songs. Writing with a veteran is like walking an emotional labyrinth. An exchange takes place in the entanglement. There is soul-to-soul contact.
As I sit and listen to the stories they carry, my chest swells with love. Bearing witness to someone’s story is profound. Truly listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. Listening compels the real story to come out. There’s nothing else quite like this humbling process. Maybe this is why I love this work so much, because it is teaching me how to truly listen.
Magic at The Cloister of St. Giovanni: June 2015
Michele Gazich recently accompanied me on my two-week tour in Italy and Ireland, playing violin and viola on the songs I have written for soldiers as well as some of my recent songs from Trouble & Love.
Hello Again, and Welcome New Friends! “When I put my violin on my body, through it I feel all the stories, all the pains of the Italians, the Americans, the Gypsies, the Jews and many others, all the people that suffered in wars. The songs of the soldiers are a prayer for peace.”
Michele Gazich recently accompanied me on my two-week tour in Italy and Ireland, playing violin and viola on the songs I have written for soldiers as well as some of my recent songs from Trouble & Love. Michele’s viola and violin connected the stories of the soldiers I’ve co-written songs with to the stories of all the soldiers from all the wars – World War I, World War II, and all of the great conflicts throughout history – something I never could have imagined or planned.
During our show in Brescia, Michele’s hometown, we joyfully stood in front of a packed house of several hundred people that beautiful night in late May at The Cloister of St. Giovanni (built in 1505), with an overflow crowd listening outside in the garden.
The Cloister, still beautifully alive with fantastic acoustics and natural reverb (not bad for a 500 year old lady), was full of excitement, heart energy, and love. We played with our hands on fire, with the spirit moving through us, and another world almost within reach. I sang like I have never sung before, feeling each word deeply, then singing the essence of each word and listening as the natural room reverb held the notes longer than I ever could.
Michele’s viola emphasized phrases, added new layers of meaning to the language of the songs, and brought the audience to their feet with the emotion of his playing.
It was one of those nights I may have dared to imagine in my wildest dreams, years ago, when I allowed myself to be brave in my vision. Manifesting our wildest dreams is not about awards or honors, sales or numbers. Manifesting our dreams is about listening to our heart’s desires that necessarily involve love, community, and connection.
My heart’s desire is to connect people with my songs. On this night, the songs – especially the ones I wrote with the veterans - connected us and reminded us we are one.
We want to especially thank all the folks who came out to support us in Europe. Thank you for selling out our shows, and for experiencing this magic with us. We appreciate you so much.
