Mary Gauthier‘s first nine albums presented extraordinary confessional songs, deeply personal, profoundly emotional pieces ranging from I Drink, a blunt accounting of addiction, to March 11, 1962, the day she was born — and relinquished to an orphanage — to Worthy, in which the singer finally understands she is deserving of love. Maybe that’s where the confessional song cycle ends.

Being no stranger to pain or demons herself, Mary Gauthier has used songwriting to work through both addiction and childhood abandonment as an orphan. On her new album, Rifles & Rosary Beads, she has focused solely on the experiences of others. The songs featured on the record were all co-written as part of Songwriting With Soldiers, a non-profit program that facilitates retreats bringing professional songwriters together with wounded veterans and active duty military. Participants have shared that the experience of songwriting was life changing for them, some even said life saving.

Mary returns to The Met to present these moving songs from her tenth album and will be accompanied by Michele Gazich on violin.