Preview: S.G. Goodman and Mary Gauthier on Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly
The upcoming episode of Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly, which premieres this Sunday, June 5, features two CQ favorites—and we’ve got an advance taste for you! S.G. Goodman joins Hunter to discuss writing about the opioid crisis, what it felt like to perform her new album live, and the reality of queer unrequited love. Plus, Mary Gauthier chats about working with her partner on her most recent release, out tomorrow, and the impact that music can have on healing.
Here are some key moments in the show…
S.G. Goodman On Queer Unrequited Love In A Small Town
HUNTER KELLY: It was just such a jarring experience. My first unrequited love, because I wasn’t used to being around other queer people. So I guess I thought, “Oh my gosh, I found you.” I don’t know if you had an experience like that or not.
S.G. GOODMAN: I mean, I think that in a strange way is a small town experience because there’s only so many people in your vicinity who are queer. And then when you narrow it down to out of those people, there’s only a certain amount that you’re actually attracted to. And then narrowing it down, and then out of the ones you’re attracted to, there’s only a certain amount, maybe not any, that you could actually have a relationship with. So you’re forced to branch out.
S.G. Goodman On Capturing The Reality Of The Opioid Crisis In Her Song, “If You Were Someone I Loved”
I was playing a show in Waverly, Alabama, a little town I’d never been to. I encourage you, if you ever get a chance, you need to go down there and go see a show. It’s just a tiny little dot on the map and just a real neat little community. Feel like you’re in a Flannery story a bit. But the response I’ve been getting from people when I can go to the merch table or whatever and hear people’s stories, it’s affecting us all. And I think that it’s really important to capture what’s actually happening in everybody’s world through music. And unfortunately, one of the things that’s happening for everyone is we’re all affected by another epidemic.
Mary Gauthier On Working With Her Partner Jaimee
Jaimee’s on a lot of the songs. I didn’t count up how many she sings on. But she’s all over this record and her voice next to mine sounds so great. Of course her voice sounds great all on its own or next to any voice, but I feel so privileged to have her as a part of this work and a co-writer on some of the songs and a partner in my life, a team.
Mary Gauthier On The Realization That Led To Her Finishing The Song, “Dark Enough To See The Stars”
After the pandemic started and I started getting songs for this project that’s coming out in June, I revisited that song and I called her. I said, “Beth, I think we can blow this up and find it now. Let’s give it a complete overhaul and see if it’s there.” And we did. We spent hours and hours, hours in her magical little writing room upstairs next to her gorgeous piano and she has this beautiful recording studio. And we got really, really close, and I actually found two lines in the chorus at an Airbnb in Atlanta. And what hit me and it kind of made me have the chills, what hit me was that even though the loss of my friends is a permanent loss, the love that they gave me is not gone. That salad that you shared with Naomi was an act of love that she gave you.
And that is yours to keep forever. You can hold onto that love. The love that your brother gave you. The love that John Prine showed me and Nanci Griffith showed me and the love that David Olney brought into the classes and the kindnesses, we get to keep that forever. That’s ours. It was a gift freely given and it never goes away. And I realize there’s something really powerful about meditating on that. That even though their physical being is no more, their love that they handed me, I get to hold on until my physical being is no more. And that’s finished the song, “As I hold onto your love, like those lights from up above.”
Mary Gauthier On The Influence Of The Indigo Girls On Her Music
You can do a study of the Indigo Girls, right? Amy is very punk rock, rock and roll. She’s got a deep voice for a woman, and it’s got this passion and intensity. And it’s the grounding. And Emily’s got this more Joni Mitchell-ly range and vibrato. And you put those two together, and one plus one equals a whole lot more than two there. There’s a third thing that happens, and I talk about that in my book. The influence of the Indigo Girls on me is profound. And for me, it was the sound that it just opened a door inside me that I didn’t even know it was there. What I heard when I heard those two voices together was I heard truth. And it really wasn’t anything to do with the lyrics, which is strange for me. Not that I didn’t listen to the lyrics, but it was really tonal for me. What I heard was the future. “Hang on, little queer Mary, it’s going to be okay. One of these days, and it won’t be long, you’re going to see yourself in a way that’s more accepting and loving and embraced by a larger community.”
Tune in this Sunday, June 5, at 2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET, or any time afterward at apple.co/_ProudRadio on Apple Music Country.
Media and quotes courtesy of Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly on Apple Music Country.