Songwriting With Soldiers

Mary Gauthier goes where the hurt is.

- John Wirt

Mary Gauthier digs deeply for a song. She never fears exposing the darker places in the human soul.

“My natural instinct is to go deep,” the Nashville-based singer-songwriter from Baton Rouge said. “My heroes go deep. Going deep is my job.”

The honest songs Gauthier writes—such as “I Drink,” “Mercy Now” and “Christmas in Paradise”—are not the province of mainstream country radio. Even so, stars Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Jimmy Buffett have recorded her songs.

“I’m not interested in escapism,” Gauthier said. “I want to go to where the hurt is.”

Which makes Gauthier the ideal songwriter for SongwritingWith:Soldiers. Founded in 2012 by Austin singer-songwriter Darden Smith, the SongwritingWith:Soldiers program pairs songwriters with military veterans and their spouses. During two-day songwriting retreats, the professional writers help veterans and their spouses express their experiences in song.

Gauthier’s tenth album, Rifles & Rosary Beads, features 11 of her SongwritingWith:Soldiers collaborations.

Darrell Scott, a Nashville singer-songwriter peer of Gauthier’s who participated in the program’s early retreats, encouraged her to join a SongwritingWith:Soldiers retreat. Gauthier, despite her customary fearlessness, initially found the prospect of doing so intimidating. “I thought Darrell had lost his mind,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone who’d served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I didn’t feel qualified.”