Mary Gauthier ("Go-shay") offers up her gritty country-tinged originals marked by unflinching honesty, directness, and compassion. She sings the sharply observed, haunting stories of addicts, broken-hearted lovers, and forgotten souls with a smoky, beautifully weathered voice. Born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Mary's travels took her from a Kansas City jail cell to the Louisiana State University philosophy department to the successful Boston restaurant she owned, and all of these experiences color her sparse, bittersweet songs about the downside of American life.

In 1999 she released her widely acclaimed second album, Drag Queens in Limousines, which gained her national recognition and had her touring coast to coast and performing at festivals from Strawberry to Newport. She recently released a fourth CD, Mercy Now (Lost Highway), which the London Times> praised as "a work of breathtaking, addictive beauty" for which she won her the Emerging Artist of the Year award at the 2005 Americana Music Awards.