Talkin' Bluegrass Music

MARY GAUTHIER

SW:S SONGWRITINGWITH:SOLDIERS

"Transforming Lives // One Song at a Time"

www.SongwritingWithSoldiers.org

FRANKLIN THEATRE, FRANKLIN, TN, FEBRUARY 23, 2018 There's a war going on out there that most people don't even know about. MARY GAUTHIER (pronounced 'go SHAY') knows and she's doing something about it in a huge way. The singer-songwriter has a really tough story about her own life experiences, but she has invested heart and soul in her most recent and most important recording project to date. The evening started with a video which covered some of the project. That video brought the audience smack up against reality for the soldiers and veterans.

Ms Gauthier rounded up other songwriter friends and some soldiers and veterans, and they are making history with every hour that passes. There is a need--soldiers and veterans are hurting. They hurt every day. They need some way to tell their stories and start the healing process, both emotional and physical. Enter Mary Gauthier, other songwriters, and the most important elements, soldiers, veterans, and their spouses. The group of singers and songwriters began by listening to the stories that soldiers, veterans, and their spouses had to tell. Tears fell. So many tears. Voices choked up. Ideas and songs began to take shape. Everybody shared their input--songwriters, soldiers, wives, husbands...everybody. Telling one's story in song is therapeutic. Lives are beginning to heal. It's working!

Mary Gauthier's stunning new album is a contradiction in terms, much like war is a contradiction on so many levels. The CD/vinyl title is "Rifles & Rosary Beads," and she says, "We're not writing about soldiers--we're writing with soldiers. These are their words."

Here are the songs from "Rifles & Rosary Beads": Soldiering On, Got Your Six, The War After the War, Still on the Ride, Bullet Holes in the Sky, Brothers, Rifles & Rosary Beads, Morphine 1-2, It's Her Love, Iraq, and Stronger Together.

Many of these and other songs were part of the show at the Franklin Theatre. Two of this writer's favorites are "Mercy Now" and Mary's encore with group participation, "This Land Is Your Land". The event was sold out, there were tears everywhere, and a portion of sales from the album is being donated to SongwritingWith:Soldiers. Grab the album, the T-shirt, and the Mercy necklace with the pendant in the shape of a guitar pick. www.marygauthier.com

Mary's band at the Franklin Theatre: Michael Rinne, Josh Britt, Neilson Hubbard, and Danny Mitchel, and according to Mary, "Great guys, great band!" We agree! What a night!

Thanks, Mary, songwriter friends, soldiers/veterans/spouses, band, video crew, Franklin Theatre, Dan Hays, and so many other people who made this night happen. It was truly special!

We failed to mention that Mary Gauthier is still on her mission. Wherever there is a soldier, veteran, or a spouse who is in need, Mary is right there by their sides when they need her. That's what friends do.