Meg Hutchinson is a nationally touring songwriter, poet and recording artist on Red House Records.
She has released nine albums and won numerous songwriting awards in the US, Ireland and the UK, including recognition from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Billboard Song Contest and prestigious competitions at Merlefest, NewSong, Kerrville, Telluride and Rocky Mountain.
She has been described as delivering “Music as powerful as it is gentle.” Performer Magazine writes, “With a poet’s eye, Hutchinson captures so beautifully that human journey toward peace, toward forgiveness, toward acceptance.”
In recent years, as a result of the messages in her songwriting and her dedication to mental health literacy, Meg has increasingly been asked to be a keynote speaker at universities, conferences and teaching hospitals around the country. She joined the Active Minds Speakers Bureau in 2014, working together to change the conversation about mental health at colleges nationwide.
Meg received her Master of Divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology in 2018 and completed her clinical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2019. She works as a hospice & palliative care chaplain in Boston.
New album: All the Wonder, All The Beauty now available wherever you listen.
New album: All the Wonder, All The Beauty now available wherever you listen.
For this album Hutchinson once again teamed up with esteemed producer Crit Harmon who she has worked with for 20 years. These are songs of transition, of letting go, of grief, and of discovery. Working with long-time collaborators guitarist Kevin Barry (Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ray Lamontagne) and bassist Richard Gates (Richard Thompson, The Weepies, Mary Gauthier) this album is her first with drummer Marco Giovino (Norah Jones, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin). These world class musicians play with remarkable emotional intelligence. They bring a sensitivity, a dynamic range, and a warmth that is at the heart of this hauntingly beautiful soundscape.
Hutchinson has never shied away from difficult conversations, and this album is no exception— yet we sense that the more directly she faces these topics - loss, change, mid-life, living with mental illness - the more her gratitude and sense of wonder emerge. If BEYOND THAT had a tone of triumph, the new album has a certain humility. It is the recognition that this work is lifelong and that healing is not a linear process.
There is an optimism that shines even more brightly the further in Hutchinson goes. This is an artist who never stops exploring the depths of the human experience, and the joy and freedom gained in this process is tangible. Hutchinson’s music has an intimacy that makes you feel that whatever it is you are going through, you are not alone.
These are life-giving songs of resilience. They honor the perilous journey through the most difficult transitions in life, and celebrate the wonder and the beauty at the heart of letting go. You can find the new album here.
New interviews
Meg’s Basic Folk Episode is now available wherever you listen to podcasts. Meg has known host Cindy Howes for twenty years, since the early days in the Boston folk scene when she used to play on Cindy’s radio show on WERS. This is a very special conversation between two friends, with questions that go right to the heart of the matter.
A deep dive into the album on Northern Spirit Radio’s Song of the Soul Meg first spoke with Song of the Soul back in 2012. It was such a meaningful conversation. She was invited back 11 years later to talk about the spiritual journey since ... the new album, creativity, depression, healing ... and so much more.
You can also listen to the recent interview on Womenfolk with Ellen Stanley Ellen was Hutchinson’s publicist at Red House Records for many years.
(interview begins about 20 minutes into the program.)
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Let’s Be The Awake Ones
Documentary Film Pack Up Your Sorrows
This feature length documentary (Ezzie Films/Bluestar Media 2015) is told through the lens of Meg’s personal story and includes interviews with leading psychologists, neuroscientists, authors, historians and spiritual teachers. It explores many of the topics nearest and dearest to her heart: creativity, healing, mindfulness in education, mental health advocacy, wellness, and how these elements converge in making the world a better place. Check the website for screenings. Interview on Radio Boston.
News
Meg Receives Johns Hopkins -
Sally Province Mink Community Education Award
Gatekeepers A songwriter and a Sergeant
and the questions that save lives.