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" Music had always been a kind of anchor for me. But I didn't write my first song till I was 35. "

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" I teach songwriting a lot, and I always tell my students, 'You gotta write the little songs sometimes to get to the next big song in the chute.' You gotta write 'em to get to it. You never know what's going to be a little song or a big song. "

" I did not know that the wounds of war are often invisible. "

" I'm a traveler and a vagabond and an observer, and the songs come through that. And that's just the way it's going to be. "

" It is a form of arrogance to assume that other people are even thinking about you. "

" A lot of times, a bunch of songs have to be written to get to the next really good one. "

" I'm grateful to songwriting and recovery to bringing me to a place of peace. "

" What matters is what happens in the soul of an artist when you're playing. "

" Songs have been my greatest teachers and continue to be really important in my life. "

" Art, when done well, creates empathy. "

" I'm from New Orleans, and I have a French last name - although I have no real relationship with my last name because it's not my name. I don't know my name. "

" I think we're very much in a mystery here in this life and that artists try to pierce the mystery with their art. "

" I don't know who my dad is. "

" There's such a thing as a tribe - and family of choice. "

" I keep seeing the headline on articles that says something like 'Mary Gauthier Helping Our Veterans.' It's troubling - and it's condescending. Whatever I'm doing as a songwriter to help them tell their stories, they're giving it back to me double, triple, quadruple. "

" When you see validation for a life's work and dedication, it's a beautiful day. "

" I spent my 18th birthday in jail. Charges were dropped as long as I promised never to return to the state of Kansas. My parents took me home to Louisiana. I lasted there a week. Then I ran away. "

" In my early years, I couldn't find a community. I couldn't find anybody like me. I felt so isolated. There was nothing but shame and loneliness. "

" I don't really write for catharsis; I get that kind of work done in therapy. "

" I've got lots of problems. Being gay isn't one of them. "

" I always knew I was going to make a record called 'The Foundling.' Since I picked up a guitar, I knew it. "

" I think each veteran's soul has something that it needs to say. I know from my own personal traumas, it's very hard to know what that is. But when I'm watching someone else struggle, it's not as confusing for me, 'cause it's not my struggle, so I can help identify that. "

" I came to music and knowing a little bit about life, and I came to music knowing a lot about business - and that's a real advantage. By the time I came to music, I had purchased real estate, opened restaurants, and been in the business world, so the music business didn't blindside me. "

" If I write for beauty and truth, the songs will find their way to me. Then, it's the songs that speak to the audience, and they can become part of the tribe that is into what I do. "

" I think, because of the kind of writer I am, I can't do it halfway. I can't do it without dedicating my entire life to it. I have to give it a hundred percent. "

" If somebody in a family is in service, the whole family is in service. I didn't know that. I didn't know our veterans were being deployed seven, eight, nine, 10 times. It's inhumane. "

" People in Ireland take in the whole song. After a long history of great singers and songwriters and poets, they are able to consume the entire song - not just the external; they go inside. "

" Recovery stabilized me; songwriting gave me a purpose. "

" Melody's like tweezers that go into the infection and pull out the wounded part. You can almost not stay silent in the face of a melody that matches your emotion. You feel seen. "

" I guess I find it easier to talk when I have a guitar in front of me. "

" What I was told is that I was born to a mother who was a Catholic, while her boyfriend was not. They couldn't get married unless they put me up for adoption. "