‘I now walk the trail that he blazed’: Grammy-nominated songwriter Mary Gauthier plays Pasco’s Gram Parsons Derry Down

In comments to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, New Orleans-born songwriter Mary Gauthier said that “Gram Parsons, in all his rhinestone splendor, kicked open the doors that helped give birth to what we now call ‘Americana music.’ He took the best elements of American music, threw them into his creative pot, stirred, and sparks flew. I now walk the trail that he blazed.”

On Thursday, the Grammy-nominated folkie kicks down the door at a Winter Haven venue that bears Parsons’ name, all in support of a new album, Dark Enough to See The Stars.

Accompanying Gauthier at at the Derry Down and again at the Fogartyville Community Arts Center in Sarasota on Friday, Jan. 6 is her partner, Jaimee Harris, who is opening the show and playing guitar alongside Mary.

Tickets to see Mary Gauthier at Gram Parsons Derry Down in Winter Haven on Thursday, Jan. 5 are still on sale and start at $25.

This article appears in Dec 29, 2022 – Jan 4, 2023.