Chef Mary

Gauthier mixes up some spicy Southern music

by Mark Edmonds/font> To anyone who's never had the fever to play music, this will seem nuts: an established Boston restaurateur says she wants to give it all up to go on the road, leaving behind the relative security of a job where she's the boss. But that's Mary Gauthier's story. For nine years, the Louisiana-native's been knockin' 'em down in Beantown with her gumbos, catfish, and other Southern-styled grub as the owner of the Back Bay's Dixie Kitchen. It's a funky little shop -- one plunked down in a district full of look-alike pubs and bland Yankee eateries -- that's struggled to build the brisk business it now enjoys.

So why's she thinking of calling it quits? Gauthier says all this hard-won success began losing its appeal. She says she always wanted to be a musician anyway. As she worked in the kitchen, song ideas drifted in and out of her head -- thoughts she kept to herself until this past winter, when, after months of quickie appearances at Boston-area open mics, Gauthier (pronounced "go-shay") landed her first headliner job at Cambridge's Plough and Stars. A gig at Passim followed. In the time since, she's played the region. On Saturday night, she'll land in Worcester with a three-piece band to play Cafe Fantastique at Rotmans.

Plan on taking in a show that, like the fare at her Kitchen, leans more than a little in the southerly direction. Growing up, she spent her nights with an AM tuned to powerhouse country stations in Nashville and New Orleans. In those days, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline were on the box; and Gauthier soaked them all in. Today, her music retains their influences. On her recently released debut self-titled disc, she ruminates over a variety of topics during the course of 10 tracks that sound musically for all the world as if they'd been cut 30 years ago. Guitars tangle, fiddles moan, and pedal steels cry in a melodic symphony, while Gauthier sings above it all in a hoarse, Tammy Wynette-esque twang that's just rough enough around the edges to give it character.

Gauthier openly discusses the early recollections she has of her own homosexuality on "Ways of the World." Later, she addresses the stigmatization of those with AIDS on powerfully written tracks such as "Goddamn HIV" and "Skeleton Town." "Rock and Roll Lies" is a rumination on what happens to those -- like Elvis and Kurt Cobain -- who've fallen victim to their own pop iconography. Also included are a handful of the relationship songs you'd expect from a country project (each is a poignant confessional).

In all, it's a pretty impressive debut for a project that was recorded on the fly in a suburban Boston-area studio. Still, strong showings do not guarantee success in the music biz -- something Gauthier knows all too well. But, she's intent in trying her luck.

"I've been in the restaurant business for what seems like forever," she explains. "But when I look at it now, it's really something I do for money. My true calling, I think, was to write songs. And, I guess, I put that aside to make a living. But after so many years, it's getting harder to do that; it's at the point now where I have to make myself go to the restaurant and get to work."

Recently, she began booking herself. She hasn't had much trouble setting up her first tour based on the strength of the disc. She admits though, she harbors some trepidation about playing for audiences outside her Boston base, though not as much as she once had for playing in public itself. "It took awhile to get over the fear I had of, I guess, of sharing my thoughts with people. It's been a long process of building up the courage."

Performance anxiety aside, she faces another problem: what to do about the Kitchen while she's on the road? She says she's been thinking about selling it, but, "I'd kind of like to pass it on to someone who'll take care of it," she says. "We built this incredibly eclectic clientele, and it's important to me that doesn't change. Leaving it behind is going to be tough and scary . . . just as scary as getting on stage that first time."

Mary Gauthier plays at 6:30 and at 8 p.m. on April 25 at Cafe Fantastique at Rotmans. Admission is free. Call 755-5276.