Entertainment For Lively Minds
How Mary Gauthier found her mother - a podcast special
Mary Gauthier was left at an orphanage when she was a baby. She was subsequently adopted, ran away from home when she was 15, went through various rehab programmes and halfway houses and became a chef until, at the age of 35, she became a singer-songwriter. Her new record, The Foundling, is an account of her quest to make contact with her birth mother. David Hepworth presents this special podcast which features an interview with Mary describing what happened next. It's an amazing story. *Warning*. This interview was recorded in a hotel restaurant and briefly had to compete with one of those noisy floor polishers. Persevere. It's worth it.
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Well worth a listen
I won't spoil it, but there are some super quotations from Mary in this podcast, particularly regarding her approach to song writing. (So good I wrote them down!)
The album is great too. A lovely warm use of Guitar, fiddle and accordion that matches the atmosphere of the story.
I would imagine a live show in an intimate venue would be a rewarding experience. Too late to get her onto the Word Stage at Latitude I suppose?
(Why was Mark Ellen polishing the floor at that particular time anyway!)
Really enjoyed this
God, she makes some sense. "The world doesn't need another good song". I, for one, am very grateful that she gave us two and a half years' work and two different studio recordings of I Drink. I feel now, as I did four years ago when Bob Dylan's radio show introduced me to it, that it should be played as an example of how to write a song. It actually breathes.
I gave my wife the new album following the article in Word. I'm going to play her this too.
Another admirer
The new album is superb, and truly gut-wrenching at times, especially Blood Is Blood, where her singing gives me shudders. And the experience of being left in the orphanage is distilled into four words in the title of the second song: Mama Here, Mama Gone. It really is a brilliant record.
saw her earlier this year
Small outdoor show in south Gippsland, rural Victoria with superb steel and slide guitar accompaniment from Australian country musicianbill chambers.
i asked how she could sing some of those songs day after -"didn't it rip her guts out?".
She said she was singing it for all the others in the same predicament.
Still reckon it is incredibly gutsy.
Thank you!
I don't have her latest one yet...(makes note to self).
I've seen her twice, though not for a few years. She has a bit of humour too....I remember her saying to the audience "If any of you are here on a first date, you're at the wrong place".
Bill Chambers(mentioned above)covers "I Drink". Bill is Kasey's dad and she covers a couple of Fred Eaglesmith songs. Mary covers Fred's "Your Sister Cried".
I could keep going on.....this is easily my favourite type of music.
I also really enjoyed the podcast
I had never heard of her but went and downloaded about a dozen tracks from iTunes and it is great stuff. My daughter has also really picked up on it, not quite sure what to make of that.
Another listen today
My trip to the shops lasted exactly long enough for me to listen to the whole album on my iphone. I almost had a "moment" during March 11 1962, had to gather myself to avoid a public blubbing scenario. Anyone with an emusic subscription who doesn't have this album yet, well, what exactly are you waiting for?? The rest of you, go and buy it anyway. You won't regret it.