The Drop: Mary Gauthier

Louisiana native-turned-Nashville resident Mary Gauthier songs have earned praise from Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, and she’s been recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton and many others. In conversation and in public, Gauthier comes off as a practical, no-nonsense woman. Stoic, even. Which wouldn’t seem unusual, except for the fact that her songs carry so much emotional punch, they can leave you staggering. An adopted child, who became a teenage runaway, she found her first shelter among addicts and drag queens. Eventually she achieved renown as a chef even while balancing the running of her restaurant with the demands of addiction to heroin. Two more successful restaurants, an escalating addiction, and a subsequent arrest, led her into sobriety. All that was rehearsal for what was to follow, when she wrote her first song in her mid-thirties. Her six albums since then have received countless accolades (2005’s Mercy Now earned her the Americana Music Association’s New/Emerging Artist of the Year title, and 2011’s The Foundling was named the No. 3 Record of the Year by the L.A. Times). Please join us as we celebrate Gauthier’s latest release, Trouble & Love. As part of our new Americana music program series, the evening will feature a candid interview with Gauthier, moderated by Vice President of The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Scott Goldman. A self-proclaimed troubadour, you’ll hear about Gauthier’s life’s experiences and how she incorporates those experiences into her songwriting, with specific focus on her latest album. After the interview, Gauthier will perform a selection of songs.