Three Women and the Truth: Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters, Eliza Gilkyson

McGonigel’s Mucky Duck presents Three Women and the Truth: Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters, Eliza Gilkyson.

“Three women, three guitars and the words, music, & hard-won wisdom from three lifetimes spent in pursuit of the song.”

Three Women and The Truth is a trio of accomplished, richly talented, multiple award winning female songwriters, whose songs cut through the murky layers of life’s complexities and bring clarity to many of the challenges we all long to make sense of. Writing from their life’s experience, these songwriters are skilled in balancing personal tales with classic underpinnings, which hint at the evocative idea that all our lives are full of events and incidents that touch on the mythic and the timeless.

Eliza Gilkyson is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and activist who has become one of the most respected musicians in Roots, Folk and Americana circles. She has released 19 recordings of her own, and her songs have been covered by such notables as Joan Baez, Bob Geldof, Tom Rush and Rosanne Cash.  She has appeared on NPR, Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, Etown, XM Radio, and on Air America Radio. She has been inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame and is an ongoing winner of the Austin Chronicle’s various music awards, as well as Folk Alliance awards for Best Artist, Best Songwriter and Record of the Year. Eliza’s meditative “Requiem,” written as a prayer for those who lost their lives in the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia, was recorded by the nationally recognized choral group Conspirare, whose version was nominated for a Grammy and won the prestigious Edison Award in Europe.Two of her songs appeared on Joan Baez’ Grammy-nominated CD, Day After Tomorrow. Eliza’s new CD, The Nocturne Diaries is scheduled for an early 2014 release.

“Eliza Gilkyson’s signature as an artist is her courage. She lays it all bare, in song and on stage.  Gilkyson will cry out boldly against war in Iraq, then come back with the most delicate song about longing and doubt.  Through music, she shares all the hope and hurt in her heart, sensing that this personal expression validates the idea that we’re not in this alone.”  (Austin American Statesman)

Mary Gauthier is a singer songwriter who the Associated Press named one of the best songwriters of her generation. She’s been praised by both Dylan and Waits, and has had her songs recorded by dozens of artists, including Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw and Candi Staton. Her songs have been used in Film and Television, most recently on the ABC hit show Nashville, HBO’s Banshee, and Masterpiece Theater’s Case Histories.

She was awarded New Artist of the year by The Americana Music Association in 2005, and has released 6 studio albums. Her third album, Filth and Fire was named  #1 Best Independent CD of the year by Jon Pareles of the New York Times. Her following 3 releases have been named in the LA Times and NY Times top three releases of the year.  Her record Mercy Now was named in the top 5 records of the decade by No Depression magazine.

She’s often been called a writer’s writer, and that thrills her to no end.

 “With songwriting as powerful as hers, there’s no need to go looking for qualifiers…She’s a unique, intrinsically valuable musical voice. And there’s never a surplus of those.”  — Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Time

Gretchen Peters:  Twice Grammy-nominated and CMA Song Of The Year winner for the groundbreaking “Independence Day” (Martina McBride), Gretchen Peters has cut her own artistic path, touring continually in both North America and the UK and Europe, and releasing nine critically acclaimed albums on the way. Born in New York and raised in Colorado, the 25 year Nashville resident has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill.

Her latest album, Hello Cruel World (2012), landed in the top 5 on the US Americana chart, and maintained the #1 position for a record-breaking 2 months on the EuroAmericana chart. Described by NPR’s All Things Considered as “the album of her career”, Hello Cruel World appeared in numerous Best of 2012 lists including No Depression, AllMusic.com and Performing Songwriter. Peters was nominated for the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame in 2011 and 2012.

“This is not jukebox music – the stuff that exists to fill in the pauses in conversation. This IS the conversation.” – Associated Press

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/marygauthier_
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/gretchenpeters