Melody Gardot
On March 8 NPR's Scott Simon interviewed singer and musician Melody Gardot, whose debut CD Worrisome Heart was recently released. Gardot explained that after she was hit by an SUV four years ago, she had short-term memory loss, chronic pain and acute sensitivity to light and sound.
A doctor suggested she do music therapy because music helps rebuild neural networks, which might help with her memory loss. She picked up a guitar, because although she already played piano, her injuries gave her pain if she sat up too long. Her move to becoming a performing jazz musician seems to surprise even her, but she says performing as a singer takes her away from her pain, memory loss, and light and sound sensitivities.
"To be honest with you, being on stage and performing is the 30, 40, 50 minutes of the most pleasurable experience that I have," Gardot told NPR. "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."
You can hear her music and Scott Simon's interview here.
