Mary Gauthier, who plays Safety Harbor Art and Music Center in Safety Harbor, Florida on Jan. 31, 2025. Credit: Photo by Alexa King Stone

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Mary Gauthier’s most semi-autobiographical tune, “Drag Queens and Limousines,” written after a pre-fame, New York City night featuring both.

It’s inspired by the 62-year-old singer-songwriter’s experience growing up queer in the South, making ends meet after running away from home at a young age, and moving to a big city (in her case, Boston).

Against all odds, Gauthier has defied the odds of being a queer country musician in Music City, earning praise from Dylan and becoming a regular performer at the Grand Ole Opry.

Ahead of this intimate show, Gauthier told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about Bruce Springsteen’s The River tour being the best gig she ever saw.

Tickets to see Mary Gauthier play Safety Harbor Art and Music Center on Friday, Jan. 31 are still available and cost $30.

This is an impossible question, like asking what’s the best book you’ve ever read, (my house is literally covered in books, I own thousands, love them all and keep buying more), or the painting you ever stood in front of (I go to museums all the time, searching for and finding art that moves me and makes me think).

I’ve seen several thousand concerts, many of which were incredibly emotional experiences, which is why I go to see live music: I go to experience, emotions, feelings. Music moves me, and live music is a way of being moved in unison with other people, strangers, in real time. It connects us, the people, the fans, and the artist, in a meaningful way. For a short while, it turns us into something like a school of fish, or a flock of birds. Live music is a personal experience that happens in community with others, it brings resonance, and this unison feels wonderful, even when the songs are sad. I teach songwriting these days, and I tell my students that, “Good songs are what feelings sound like.”

Music and song connect us with the deepest parts of ourselves, helping us understand what it is to be human. Of course I was not born knowing this, I learned it, over many years of listening to and loving music. I fell in love with song and songwriters when I was twelve years old. I’ve always listened to the words as much as the music, and the singer-songwriters have always been my favorite, the ones who carefully craft their own songs.

To answer the question posed, what is the best concert I ever saw, I will say this, the first time I saw Bruce Springsteen there was no turning back, I would become a fan for life, and buy every record he ever made, and go see him again and again and again.

The power of that show was life changing for me. I saw Bruce for the first time in 1980. I went to see him at the LSU Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, for The River tour. Springsteen’s storytelling between songs, his deep engagement with the audience, blending personal tales with universal themes remains a supreme example of how deeply a songwriter can connect with an audience. Springsteen’s concerts are more than concerts; they’re transformative experiences, and if pressed, I’d say this concert was the one that had the greatest impact on me when I was still young and learning about such things, showing just how powerful live music can be.—Mary Gauthier