One night I was up late working when I heard a wonderful female vocalist on the radio. Jazz DJ Abe Beeson at KPLU-FM told a story about the singer that involved a bicycle.
The singer is Melody Gardot and the bicycle comes in at the beginning of the story, not the end.
Melody, then 19, was riding her bicycle in Philadelphia when she was hit by an SUV. She survived the collision, but suffered some serious injuries — including head trauma — that left her bedridden for a long time.
Early on, her physician suggested she employ music as a way to treat her brain injury, as music can help rewire a damaged brain. She had played the piano before the crash, but because she couldn't sit for more than a couple of minutes, she took up the guitar and sang.
Jazz came to her naturally, and she recorded some tunes from her bedside. A local radio station played them, she gained popularity, and then she recorded songs that became the album “Worrisome Heart.”
In March, NPR did a story about her entitled, “Melody Gardot's Road to Recovery;” it includes the tracks “Worrisome Heart” and “Love Me Like a River Does.” She was 23.
NPR says she is still sensitive to light and suffers short term memory loss. That could make performing difficult, but she says she enjoys being on stage:
“Because it's during that time that I don't really feel any pain. I think it's transcendental, and I also think it's kind of like when you have a headache, and someone punches you in the stomach, you forget all about your head.”
So, it's really not much of a bicycle story. But it's about art and perseverance and grit and some luck. But isn't that what bike riding can be about, too?
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