October 21, 2008
M G
A few years ago, while riding her bicycle, Gardot was hit by the driver of a Jeep making an illegal turn. Hospitalized for months, Gardot used music for recovery therapy, at the suggestion of her doctors. In the ensuing months, she took up the guitar — it was hard for her to sit at the piano — and recorded what would become the Some Lessons EP. Not long afterward, she followed it with the full-length Worrisome Heart, which was reissued on a major label earlier this year.
City Paper Philadelphia even gave her a nod in their 2005 annual people's choice awards saying "To Our Eyes, nobody is a more inspiring, more talented fighter than singer/songwriter phenom Melody Gardot. She turned the pain of a life-changing car accident into surprisingly mature and utterly enthralling music".
Her ability to overcome her physical limitations, and her ability to write and perform despite her pain, make her an inspiration. However, her music, even without the associated back-story, is impressive all on its own: "Her EP “Some Lessons — The Bedroom Sessions” is in part a chronicle of her struggle to maintain her identity against the backdrop of disability. She has not exploited these circumstances, nor hidden them. It is all rather matter-of-fact. Yet even without the drama of her recovery, she would still have had plenty of interest from media and audiences, for she is truly a dynamic and sincere talent." - Montgomery Co. News
Posted by renh at October 21, 2008 10:57 PM