![new orleans gay bars map new orleans gay bars map](http://gaycities-listing-images-production.s3.amazonaws.com/medsq_bars-372-The-Double-Play-WriteYourCongressman-21b89.jpg)
It works for a troubadour to tell stories, but also to read stories that have been crafted. I think it actually makes for an interesting show. I will be bringing books and I will be reading (from) them.
![new orleans gay bars map new orleans gay bars map](https://irs0.4sqi.net/img/general/700x700/DMIGUTB5KMXSVIBV4YT2YPEZEWLHCABYPDWZFBXHWMZ3RW0K.jpg)
I read it every night (of a show) and people come to the table and they purchase a copy and I sign it and it works in that way. "We'll put it out, but you've got to sell it." I want people to read it because I'm proud of it. What I've learned about being an author is that if you want to sell a book, it's up to you. Will you be incorporating readings from "Saved by a Song" the way you did when I saw you perform in Fort Lauderdale in November 2021? The unfolding of it just rings so familiar. So many parallels! If you're a queer person of a certain age, this is all so familiar. I think for a lot of queer people, we can see so many of these parallels between COVID and AIDS, especially with the way Republicans fumbled the early days of both viruses. The only other time I've ever been through this was in the early days of the AIDS crisis. I'm looking at a list of people that I love that have died in the last two years eleven people. It's a collection of songs about the transformative power of love, and it's also about grief and loss, and all of this is happening inside a single heart at the same time. In some ways, "Dark Enough to See the Stars" is also a pandemic album, particularly in the way it addresses life after loss and trauma on "How Could You Be Gone" and "Where Are You Now." Well, we're very happy for you, for sure. I'm grateful that somehow I became willing to do the work. But I had hard work to do, and I'm still doing it. The people who have come through my life, and by any stretch, it's not anybody's fault but mine. I've had so many crazy relationships because I've been crazy. I turned 60 in March, and this is my first relationship that's not crazy. It's incredible to experience this later in life for the first time. I guess I laid the groundwork for this by doing that. Prior to Jaimee, I intentionally stayed single for five years and did some hard work on myself to prepare for either I'm gonna be single or if I do get into a relationship it has to be different. Well, we look forward to whatever comes next.
![new orleans gay bars map new orleans gay bars map](http://www.austinchronicle.com/imager/b/newfeature/980393/debc/scaled.l_a402f0750c384301aaea317d5f344538.jpg)
I'm writing songs all the time, but writing a book, to me, is strenuous. I sort of wrote a foreword, so it gave me some kind of road map to where I think I might go. I did a residency down in Key West for a month. Wow, is all I can say.ĭo you have another book, a follow-up to "Saved by a Song," in the works? It built a lot of bridges for me to people that I am just grateful to know. Started to hang out a little in Nashville when she came to play here. I loved sitting up there with Rickie Lee Jones. I loved hanging out with everybody after. Mary Gauthier: Oh my God, I loved it so much. What was your experience at Saints and Sinners like for you? Gregg Shapiro: Mary, I saw you and Jaimee in March 2022, when we were panelists and speakers at the annual Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ literary festival in New Orleans. Mary was generous enough to make time for an interview shortly before the release of the new album. The album features honest and beautiful love songs, inspired by her relationship with musician Jaimee Harris (a gifted singer/songwriter in her own right).Īs it turns out, love, like a comfortable pair of boots, is a good fit for Gauthier, who is a natural at writing these kinds of songs. While her new album, "Dark Enough to See the Stars" (In The Black/Thirty Tigers) has its share of poignant moments, Gauthier will astonish you in unexpected ways. This continued throughout her recording career, with examples such as 2005's "Mercy Now" (featuring the devastating title cut and "I Drink"), as well as 2010's deeply personal "The Foundling" and 2018's Grammy-nominated "Rifles and Rosary Beads" (a project created via Songwriting with Soldiers). If you've been listening to out singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier for any length of time, say since the release of her 1997 debut album "Dixie Kitchen" (containing the song "Goddamn HIV"), you know that you are in for an emotional journey.