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my new hero: melody gardot
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 4:12AM / Standard Entry / Members only
4 comments

she is truly inspiring!

this is from NPR.org:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87997628

MELODY GARDOT'S ROAD TO RECOVERY

Weekend Edition Saturday, March 8, 2008 - Four years after a serious car accident, Melody Gardot used the experience as a springboard to musical success she might never have achieved otherwise.

The singer, now 23, was hit by an SUV while riding her bicycle. Her injuries were serious and left her unable to sit up for more than 10 minutes. She suffered short-term memory loss and acute sensitivity to light and sound.

Gardot had played the piano before the accident, and a doctor suggested that she use music as a kind of recovery therapy. Since she couldn't sit comfortably at the piano, she picked up a guitar. Now, she's a professional musician, and her debut full-length album is called Worrisome Heart.

Scott Simon spoke with Gardot from the studios of WHYY in Philadelphia. She says that, prior to the accident, she was more interested in visual art than music. But once she started music therapy, the focus of her music-making changed rapidly.

Worrisome Heart is filled with sultry, jazz-inflected ballads. Though she lacked training in jazz, Gardot says she picked up the idiom intuitively. She credits her backing musicians for buoying her along the way.

"My way of explaining things is in an art form," Gardot says. "So I'm like, you know, 'Go to the next frame.' And they're like, 'You mean the next bar?' I'm like, 'Yeah, the next bar.'"

Since the accident, Gardot has struggled with short-term memory loss, which forces her to write and record compositions before she forgets them. Furthermore, her heightened sensitivity to light and sound — which, despite hearing devices and sunglasses — makes performing somewhat difficult. But she says she still finds it enjoyable.

"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 says. "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."

She hasn't forgotten about her good fortune, though.

"I'm not one to wake up in the morning and forget that," Gardot says. "I forget a lot of things, but I don't forget that."

Entry comments (4)

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Elena Stevenson
posted on Friday, Apr 4, 2008 7:52AM [Report]

Wow, that is inspirational, thank God she survived and can now inspire the rest of us to triumph over our little bitty setbacks.
devofan
posted on Friday, Apr 4, 2008 6:58AM [Report]

That's truely amazing! I've never heard of her. By listening to her music is a very soft inspiring note to the heart!
rottendoubt
posted on Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 12:12PM [Report]

woah that's an amazing story.
Wendy Cheng
posted on Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 7:44AM [Report]

I think I"ve heard her voice before... pretty amazing. I love her voice! Thanks for posting.

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Karin Anna Cheung

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Actress Karin Anna Cheung made her breakout debut on Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow as the female lead...
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Actress Karin Anna Cheung made her breakout debut on Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow as the female lead. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times has written that Karin is "a gifted Asian American actor." Her first feature film Better Luck Tomorrow directed by Justin Lin, in which she plays the leading female role screened at festivals across the country, including Sundance, but it was when MTV Films purchased it that Karin became known to everyone world wide. A multi-talented performer and artist, Karin's recent starring role was in the PBS drama pilot My Life...Disoriented.

A California native, Karin has had a passion for the arts since early childhood. She began her studies in music at age five and had parents who encouraged her to try everything artistic. She soon found self expression, fulfillment, growth and healing through both art and music and started to understand the deep connection between the two. After graduating from college with a degree in arts, she continued to work on art at home while performing her music at various gigs and working sporadically as a freelance photographer. Having had never considered showing her art, Karin had her first collaborated gallery show at Lost Souls Cafe in Los Angeles due to friends' encouragement and support. Whether it be abstract or character pieces, her art explores the balance of life/death and positive/negative energies. One of the most important things Karin learned is, "you should not be afraid to try anything in life, because the worst thing you can find out is that you don't like it or it's not right for you." This way of thinking allowed Karin to work without boundaries and limitations with materials, styles, and subject matters.

Karin last worked on a romantic-comedy feature called "The People I've Slept With" with director Quentin Lee, writer Koji Steven Sakai, producer Stanley Yung, and executive producers Brian Yang and Sam Kwok. It recently hit the festival circuit having it's world premiere at Hawaii International Film Festival and San Diego Asian American Film Festival.

Karin is grateful to have had the opportunity to study acting with the talented Glen Chin at East West Players in Los Angeles.
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Occupation: Actor , Painter , Musician
Gender: Female
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