In case you missed it, singer/songwriter/author Mary Gauthier released the title track to her upcoming album, Dark Enough To See The Stars (out June 3rd).
“I co-wrote the song ‘Dark Enough To See The Stars’ with Beth Nielsen Chapman many years ago, but never released it because it did not feel quite right,” said Gauthier in a statement.
“We took another look at it during the dark days of the pandemic after we’d both lost several dear friends. We saw the song in a new light and were able to re-write it and find the core idea — which is that although the people that we’d lost were gone, the love that they’d given us was not. It was given as a gift we could keep, forever.”
She continues, “There is something about grief that brings clarity. I took the title from a Martin Luther King speech. Dr. King said, ‘Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.’ To me, this means when things seem at their worst, we’re often gifted with knowing exactly what is important, and what matters most.”
Curse the clock time is a thief / Every life it measures brief.
On Dark Enough To See The Stars, she laments the loss of dear friends and mentors including John Prine, Nanci Griffith, and David Olney.
The album follows 2018’s Rifles & Rosary Beads, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, and was co-written with U.S. veterans and their families as a way to help them cope with trauma. Last year Gauthier released her first book, Saved By A Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, which was included in Rolling Stone’s “Best Music Books of 2021.”
MARY GAUTHIER 2022 TOUR DATES
June 8 – Vienna, VA – Jammin’ Java
June 9 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head on Stage
June 10 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live Downstairs
June 11 – Albany, NY – The Linda
June 12 – New York, NY – City Winery Loft
June 18 – Santa Monica, CA – McCabe’s Guitar Shop
June 21 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
June 22 – Auburn, CA – Auburn State Theatre
June 23 & 24 – Laytonville, CA – Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival
June 25 – Novato, CA – Hopmonk Tavern
September 7 – Franklin, TN – Franklin Theatre
MARY GAUTHIER 2022 TOUR DATES
June 8 – Vienna, VA – Jammin’ Java
June 9 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head on Stage
June 10 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live Downstairs
June 11 – Albany, NY – The Linda
June 12 – New York, NY – City Winery Loft
June 18 – Santa Monica, CA – McCabe’s Guitar Shop
June 21 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
June 22 – Auburn, CA – Auburn State Theatre
June 23 & 24 – Laytonville, CA – Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival
June 25 – Novato, CA – Hopmonk TavernSeptember 7 – Franklin, TN – Franklin Theatre
