Rifles & Rosary Beads Documentary Premiere

Rifles & Rosary Beads Documentary Premiere

Hello y'all! We premiered Neilson Hubbard and Josh Britt's Rifles & Rosary Beads Short Documentary in the Westin ballroom during AmericanaFest, and the great LA Times Pop Music Writer Randy Lewis interviewed me in front of an audience after the movie ended. 

The Rifles & Rosary Beads Short Documentary is now up on YouTube, so please have a look and share with your friends. I am so proud of how the documentary turned out. Please let me know what you think!

Rifles & Rosary Beads (a short documentary) is a twenty-minute film about the power and beauty of turning war trauma into art. The documentary tells the story of Mary Gauthier's experience of co-writing with Veterans and their families through the SongwritingWith:Soldiers program.

Each co-written song is a glimpse inside the heart and soul of a Veteran (or military spouse). The service member's words and stories bring listeners deep into the harrowing effects of war. Written honestly from a vulnerable place, the songs generate empathy and understanding, even if the viewer has no experience with combat and the effects of war on the human spirit.

The process of co-writing the songs is deeply therapeutic for both the Veteran and the songwriter, but it's not therapy. It's the making of art.

World Debut: Got Your Six

Video Debut: Click Here to Watch Got Your Six

This month we are excited to debut the video for "Got Your Six," from my new album Rifles & Rosary Beads.

I wrote "Got Your Six" with two female veterans, Meghan Counihan and Britney Pfad, who served in the army in Iraq. It was my first veteran co-write, at a retreat center outside of Austin, Texas. I watched as the two women sat next to each other, whispered in each other's ear, and occasionally held each other's arm. They were very close, and I could see that they were family to each other.

I asked them to tell me about their friendship. Did they serve together? Were they battle buddies? They looked at me and said, "We have each other's six."

"What? What's that?" I asked. They were suprised I'd never heard the term. "You know," one soldier said, without emotion. "I've got her back. She's got mine."

"On the battlefield," she explained. "12 o'clock is in front of you, 6 o'clock behind you. To have someone's 6 is to have their back."

To have someone's 6 means you'd die for them. When the full weight of that hit me, I knew I was entering another world, one I knew nothing about.  In their world, people die for one another. I understood quickly that a part of their deep bond is survivor's guilt, the aching memory of those they've lost. They carry the weight of that, daily.

They talked, and I listened, watching their body language, and noting the rise and fall of their voices. I took in the stories they told, as well as the ones they could not fully articulate. We sat together for a couple of hours. I took notes. When it got late we called it a night, and I went to my room and tried to mold what they said into a song. I did my best to make sure it conveyed what they felt and believed.

I played the song for them the next morning. They liked it, but pointed out a couple spots where my words were not exactly right. We kept working. They added new ideas. After a few changes, we had it.

When I played their song for them from start to finish, both of their faces opened. Their jaws dropped. Watching them become wide-eyed and filled with wonder hearing their song for the first time, I shared in their delight. We laughed and we high fived. We resonated. We were in sync. We'd written a song that reflected some of a soldier's deepest feelings.

I love this song! Special thanks to Meghan and Britney for being brave enough to share their story!

World Premiere: "Iraq" Video

RIFLES & ROSARY BEADS AVAILABLE NOW

*Trigger warning for sensitive content

Today we debut the video for the song Iraq, a story song that I co-wrote with retired US Army Veteran Brandy Davidson. Iraq appears on my new album Rifles & Rosary Beads.

Brandy's story speaks for itself, but I'd like to offer a few words about co-writing songs with female veterans. Here's the last verse of the song:

I stood my ground, I didn't give in
I drew a line again and again
When they whistled and whispered
When the wind kicked up dust

I looked to the sky
ask the Lord why
I had no one to trust

MST.
The first time I saw those letters was about five years ago, on the day I sat down to write with a female Vietnam Veteran. She had MST tattooed on her forearm, inside a large, black, oval circle. Her aging tattoo, ink way deep in the skin of her bicep, sat right below the fold of her t-shirt.

MST.
I asked her: Annie, what is MST?
She looked me in the eye and said
"Military Sexual Trauma."

My gut lurched like an airplane losing altitude quickly. Military sexual trauma (MST) is the term the Department of Veterans Affairs uses to refer to sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that occurred while a Veteran was in the military.

MST includes any sexual activity in which one is involved against one's will - he or she may have been pressured into sexual activities (for example, with threats of negative consequences for refusing to be sexually cooperative or with implied faster promotions or better treatment in exchange for sex), may have been unable to consent to sexual activities (for example, when intoxicated), or may have been physically forced into sexual activities.

Other experiences that fall into the category of MST include unwanted sexual touching or grabbing; threatening, offensive remarks about a person's body or sexual activities; and/or threatening or unwelcome sexual advances.

About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 100 men respond "yes," that they experienced MST when screened by their VA provider.
*Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs Website

Female veterans often deal with sexism and sexualized violence during their service. Brandy's story, told in the song Iraq, speaks for many. A lack of resources and support continue to prolong their fight for justice and peace.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
I hope that this song helps move things in the right direction.

Purchase here:
www.marygauthier.com

All Retailers:
http://smarturl.it/riflesrosarybeads
 

A portion of every sale goes to the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers.

"Still On The Ride," World Debut

4/1/18: World Debut: "Still On The Ride"

Today we are thrilled to debut the "Still On The Ride" video,
for the song I co-wrote with Veteran Josh Geartz at his first SongwritingWith:Soldiers Retreat.

The story behind "Still On The Ride" is an emotional one, full of tragedy, pain healing and restoration. Featured in the March 21st CBS This Morning episode "Healing The Emotional Wounds of War Through Song," I was able to describe the process of writing
"Still On The Ride" with Josh.

"There was one preeminent thing that really was bringing him to his knees...And that was the one of the death of his best friend,"
Gauthier said.

"I think the first line is kinda where you earned my trust, you know," Geartz told Gauthier. "She's trying to get the story, and like, I don't know, looking back on what comes to mind, I was like 'Who the hell knows?' And she goes, 'Good.' And you wrote down that first line." From there, everything Geartz had been holding in just poured out -- and into the song "Still On The Ride."

Looking back now, who the hell knows
Where the soul of a dead soldier goes
Guardian angels, maybe they're true
My guardian angel, maybe it's you

I shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be gone
But it's not up to me who dies and who carries on
I sit in my room, I close my eyes
Me and my guardian angel we're still on the ride

Click HERE or above to watch the "Still On The Ride" Video.

"Still On The Ride" is the 4th track on "Rifles & Rosary Beads," my new album that features 11 songs co-written with Combat Veterans and their families.

A portion of every sale goes to the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers.