Quick Q and A with Mary Gauthier
 by Kathy S-B  ·  5 February 2011

Mary Gauthier is one of a kind. Her music is profound. Her life story is inspirational. She’s a songwriter’s songwriter. I did something a little different with this Q and A and I asked several of Mary’s fans if they had any questions they’d like to ask Mary. So here they are! Thanks to Amy, Clytia, Brendan, John, and Tim!

For additional information about Mary and her music, check out her website. Please take a moment to view Mary’s contribution to the “It Gets Better Project.” Mary’s message is a positive one for so many young gay people.

Do you have a favorite destination for playing music outside the US? What has surprised you about playing your music to those audiences?

I love playing anywhere people listen to my songs. I love small theatres and clubs that seat a couple hundred attentive listeners. I don’t have a favorite country . . . but this is my favorite environment to perform in. Give me this environment and it doesn’t matter to me where it is.

There’s not many surprises these day, I’ve been touring the world for a long time now and have been so many places that it’s very rare for me to go to a new city that I have not been to.

What are your writing habits like? How do you typically write a song? Do you have kind of set process?

I write when I am rested and not jet lagged. I write when I am inspired and when I am not inspired. I write at home and on the road. In hotels and at my desk at home. I go for long periods without writing, then write for weeks and weeks at a time, every day. The only thing consistent about my writing process is its inconsistency.

What is the most important thing you want to emphasize to your students when you teach songwriting?

I try to teach my students to reveal themselves, to open up all the way, to say the things most people wouldn’t want to say about themselves...to be vulnerable, to be honest. To know their songs are the very best they can write before they bring them out into the world.

What are the similarities between the restaurant business and songwriting?

Both businesses boast more failures than successes. Both businesses are very, very hard to sustain. Both present challenges that I find attractive because of their levels of difficulty.

We know that you had a successful restaurant here in Boston. Do you still like to cook? What do you cook when you want to “impress” someone?

I think that simplicity is impressive, be it in songwriting or in food. I keep it simple. There’s nothing more impressive than a homegrown tomato in the summer time, juicy and ripe, drizzled in a great olive oil and balsamic vinegar with cracked fresh black pepper and sea salt, and maybe some chopped sweet basil tossed on top. Simple, wonderful, and memorable. I see no need to get much more complicated than that.