Mary Gauthier returning to CSPS in Cedar Rapids

It’s not surprising that Lou Reed’s “Magic and Loss” is one of Mary Gauthier’s favorite albums. Reed, the compelling Velvet Underground singer/songwriter, tackled death with that melancholy and brooding collection.

“I love that record so much,” Gauthier said while calling from her Nashville home. “It’s a masterpiece.”

Singer/songwriters who live long enough will have the opportunity to embrace that topic.

Gauthier’s latest project, “Dark Enough to See the Stars,” is such an album. The material was inspired by the recent passing of such superior singer/songwriters as John Prine, Nanci Griffith and David Olney.

“Death is a part of life,” Gauthier said. “It’s been a time of reflection for me. This album is a document of love and loss. When you’re a songwriter, you write about the period you live in. You work with what you have in front of you. You don't have to be Einstein to know that when you love you have a lot to lose.”

The album title is taken from a speech written and delivered by one of Gauthier's heroes, Martin Luther King Jr.

“There's no doubt that Dr. King nailed it when he wrote about when it’s dark enough you can see the stars,” Gauthier said. “It doesn’t make dealing with death any easier but that’s the reality. But for me writing songs is about the truth. I have to dig until I hit that artery.”

Gauthier, 60, has been a truth-teller since her 1997 debut, the freewheeling “Dixie Kitchen,” was released. The Louisiana native made her mark with 1999’s “Drag Queens in Limousines.” Her sophomore effort is a true alt-country album. Gauthier proved to be adept at writing about misfits and those struggling.

Like Reed, she provides compelling detail while painting her sonic picture.

“I like telling stories that I know or feel,” she said. “I’m not a sage. I’m not prescient. I just bring what I can to the table. You deal with the good and bad in life.”

In Cedar Rapids

Gauthier, who will play Sept. 17 at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids, files an experience she had in this city nearly a quarter century ago in the good camp. While touring behind “Drag Queens and Limousines,” she was invited into a school for gifted children who were having social issues.

“I'll never forget that because it was the first time I played Cedar Rapids and I visited a school for young people who would never make it in the traditional public schools,” she said. “I remember seeing kids who were like the future Bill Gates types, maybe famous clothing designers, or athletes that weren't playing typical sports. These were the kind of kids that would get beat up often in regular schools.

“I had a message for the kids that life will get much better after high school. I told them they won’t have pressure to fit in. It’ll get better, especially for the gay kids.”

Gauthier knows from experience. It wasn’t easy for her coming of age a lesbian on the Bayou.

“It was difficult, considering when I grew up,” Gauthier said. “People saw things in a black-and-white manner, either you were gay or straight, black or white."

Gauthier is hopeful that change is on the horizon with today’s youth.

“Younger people see the world very differently than prior generations,” Gauthier said. “They are much more accepting. It doesn’t matter what your orientation or color is to so many of them, and I think that bodes well for the future. It’s a fascinating time to be alive, since it’s depressing and exciting at once.”

She finds plenty to inspire her artistry.

“It's a good time to be a songwriter,” she said. “I’m moved quite often, and it’s fine that I’m an elder in the world of music.”