The mouth-watering sight of grits, sweet potato, and fried catfish greets us. Mary Gauthier -- a former Bostonian and now a rising star on the Americana music scene -- digs in voraciously.

Gauthier is sitting at a communal table , the only seating offered at a soul-food mecca called Monell's. Another group at the table is celebrating a birthday and she joins the festivities. The communal element is symbolic because Gauthier, an adopted child and singer of brutally honest, country-noir songs, has finally found a home in Music City after years of searching.

"I like Nashville more and more. I feel embraced here," says Gauthier (pronounced go- SHAY), a Baton Rouge, La., native who owned the Dixie Kitchen restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue before moving to Nashville six years ago to pursue her musical dreams. Now established in the roots-music community, she has released such powerful songs as "Mercy Now," which Bob Dylan played on his XM satellite radio show , and "I Drink," which touches on the self-destructive streak that nearly killed her.

"The opening of Dixie Kitchen was July 12, 1990, and that night was when I got arrested for drunken driving," Gauthier says. "I thought it was the worst thing that could happen, but it was the best thing. I haven't had a drink in the 16 years since."

She's the picture of contentment at Monell's, a cool-vibe restaurant in the Germantown section of Nashville. It's the first stop on a personal guided tour that will take us to the legendary Ryman Auditorium (where Gauthier has performed), Manuel's clothing store (Manuel has outfitted stars from Johnny Cash and George Jones to Elton John and Little Richard), the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, and the Station Inn, a famed bluegrass music club.

But we're leaving Monell's reluctantly . The food is simple but outrageously good. Each day, the chefs offer a banquet-style meal of several meats (or fish), salads, and hot vegetables . The restaurant is in a converted 19th- century Victorian home filled with murals and bric-a-brac that make it even more homey.

"A lot of the stars come in here. Vince Gill comes in here a lot," says Gauthier as she passes around the sweet potato casserole. Soon, her tablemates are greeted by staff members who bring out a birthday cake and sing, "Here's your birthday song. It won't last very long." It's a funny, shared moment among former strangers.

Outside, Gauthier and I jump into her red, weather-beaten Subaru Outback (mileage 140,000) and our tour picks up steam. Just a few blocks away ("I call this a 10-minute town because you can get just about anywhere in 10 minutes," she says) is Manuel's, which has proudly continued making the rhinestone suits that originated with Manuel's father-in-law Nudie Cohn. They're still often called Nudie suits in his honor.

Manuel Martinez Cuevas is all of 70 years young. We look around his stately, four-story brick building and are nearly blinded by the ubiquitous glittering rhinestones and embroidered roses. The off-the-rack clothes range from $750 for a shirt to $2,500 for a jacket, though a suit hand-crafted and custom-fitted by Manuel can reach $25,000 for country music stars.

"I've worn some of his shirts, but I'm waiting for my ship to come in before I can afford more," Gauthier says sheepishly. "I want Manuel to dress me from the ground up."

The store is breathtaking. Gold record s adorn the walls, as do dozens of pictures of top-name performers wearing Manuel's creations. There's one of Gram Parsons (often credited with launching the country-rock movement) and dozens of others from John Lennon and Bob Dylan, to Porter Wagoner, Trisha Yearwood, and Dwight Yoakam.

"Johnny Cash was like my brother," says Manuel, who stops sewing for a moment to share some memories. "Creating a suit is like writing a song. Once you have a concept, it doesn't take long. You just have to talk to people and see what they want. Waylon Jennings always liked a rowdy look. And Bob Dylan just wanted something that looked old. And Little Richard -- well, he could eat rhinestones for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He just picked up a new suit last week."

The wonderfully eccentric Manuel sports a white shock of hair and a red bandanna. And he has a deep affection for Gauthier. "She likes the old styles. She loves shirts with fringe," he says approvingly. She then tells him, "I'm getting there in my career. I'm 20 minutes away from calling you for something more."

Next stop is Ryman Auditorium, where Gauthier gets more reverential. As the former home of the Grand Ole Opry and once the stage for the great Hank Williams, the Ryman and its antique wooden pews hold a special appeal for Gauthier.

"It was a church at one time and we call it the mother church," she says. "This is right up there with the Fillmore and Carnegie Hall. It's in the top 5 of all places to play in America, especially for me. I've also seen Merle Haggard and George Jones here. I love the place."

The Ryman is just up the street from Lower Broadway, where many of Nashville's best bars, including Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, are located. Some country music acts have gone right out the back door of the Ryman and crossed a back alley to Tootsie's, a honky-tonk bar adorned with signed pictures of Willie Nelson, Gretchen Wilson , and many other stars.

"I don't go there, though, not since I stopped drinking," says Gauthier. "It's not my deal."

It is late afternoon as we bypass Tootsie's and the other honky-tonks. Gauthier beckons me into a Lower Broadway store called Hatch Show Print, which makes and sells concert posters for many country and rock stars, including Pearl Jam and the White Stripes. Employees use the old wood-grained, letter-press style.

"Business is better than ever," says Hatch artist Jim Sherraden. "I think it's because we're the antithesis of digital designs."

Across the street is an obligatory stop, the Ernest Tubb Record Store, where Gauthier and I gawk at a wall full of vintage cassettes -- most of them long out of print. The gawking concluded, I go over to the CD bins and pick out a Loretta Lynn tribute album to Patsy Cline, prompting an affirmative nod from Gauthier.

That night she takes me to the Station Inn, an unpretentiously funky, down-home club widely known for its bluegrass and old-timey music. Bill Monroe -- the father of bluegrass -- played here, along with Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, Ricky Skaggs, Guy Clark , and other luminaries. "This is where the pickers hang out," says Gauthier. "It's the bluegrass capital of the world."

Tonight, the Time Jumpers are playing, an all-star collective that has a trio of fiddlers doing bluegrass and Bob Wills-inspired Western swing. The special guest is Laura Cash, wife of Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash . She belts out a Wills tune and the crowd is spellbound.

We're joined by Melanie Howard, the widow of country legend Harlan Howard, who wrote more than 5,000 songs, among them the Patsy Cline hit "I Fall to Pieces." Howard is Gauthier's publisher and helped land her a deal with Lost Highway Records, which plans to release her next album in March, when Gauthier turns 45.
It is amusing to watch various pickers approach Howard to pitch their latest songs. Even in a laid-back place like the Station Inn, the commerce of Music City never sleeps.

"No matter how good you are, there are probably 50 people better than you in this town," says Gauthier, who will co-headline a concert at the Orpheum during First Night Boston 2007. "You just have to stay humble because somebody is going to blow you away."

Howard leans over and praises Gauthier's status in this city filled with songwriters. "I love the gut-wrenching honesty of her songs. I believe every word she's singing," says Howard.

Gauthier, though, is just trying to stay on an even keel. "I'm just happy to be tip-toeing around this town," she says. "I'm grateful that they let me in."

Contact Steve Morse, a freelance writer in Cambridge, at spmorse@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Compan