VIDEOS: Mary Gauthier to sing stories of survival in Mansfield show this Saturday
For someone who was orphaned in New Orleans by parents she never knew, had life-threatening encounters with drug and alcohol abuse, and spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell, Mary Gauthier is doing pretty darn well. She’ll demonstrate that at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, when she debuts at Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse.
Gauthier (pronounced “go-SHAY”), is just coming off a European tour including France and Holland, and says she looks most forward to sharing her musical stories with the audience on any given night. And does she have some stories to tell! In fact, her latest album, “The Foundling,” includes original songs that vividly describe the intense ups and downs of her nearly 50 years of life.
Fiddler Tania Elizabeth, left, with Mary Gauthier.
After being able to remain sober enough to enroll at LSU as a philosophy major, Gauthier dropped out in her senior year and took a restaurant manager job in Boston. She was doing well enough to attend a culinary school that prepared her for opening two highly regarded Cajun restaurants, Back Bay and Dixie Kitchen. Although the restaurants did well, she still felt there was something missing and this is when she decided to dedicate her life to music.
In the late 90s, Gauthier actually made an appearance at the Rose Garden at the very start of her musical career, an event she recalls with fondness and warm feelings. “The confidence you placed in me way back then is something I always remembered and still appreciate,” she told Rose Garden Artistic Director Mac McLanahan several years ago.
Dixie Kitchen, where Gauthier once worked.
In her own bio, Gauthier says, “The songs on ‘The Foundling’ tell the story of a kid abandoned at birth, who spent a year in an orphanage and was adopted, who ran away and ended up in show business, who searched for her birth parents late in life, found one and was rejected, and who came through the other side of all this believing in love.” Says Gauthier, “That kid is me.”
Tania Elizabeth
The multi-talented Tania Elizabeth will accompany Gauthier on fiddle and vocals. Having co-founded the critically acclaimed group The Duhks, Tania is a two-time Grammy® Award nominee (one win) and a four-time Canadian Juno Award nominee (one win). She has been touring the world with Mary Gauthier since late 2009.
The Nov. 12 performance will begin at 8 pm (doors at 7:30 pm) at the Congregational Church, 17 West St. in Mansfield. It will also be the Rose Garden’s annual “Warm Clothes, Warm Hearts” night. Attendees are encouraged to bring any gently worn jackets, coats, gloves, mittens, and hats to this show and they will be distributed to homeless shelters. This program is run in conjunction with WUMB radio and the Golden Key Honour Society at UMass Boston.
The Rose Garden is an all-volunteer operation that serves hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks of the season along with homemade desserts and pastries. Those expecting to attend the performance are urged by organizers to order advance sale tickets at www.rosegardenfolk.com. Tickets may also be available at the door.
More information about the Rose Garden coffeehouse may be obtained by calling 508-699-8122, visiting www.rosegardenfolk.com, or going to Facebook at www.facebook.com/rosegardencoffeehouse.
Folk, bluegrass and traditional music 