My close friend and our road nanny, Suzi, took a couple days away to fly to Seattle and babysit Magnolia for the night. All of us went to sound check. Magnolia met all of the This American Life folks: Ira Glass, David Rakoff, Chris Wilcha and her favorite, Jane Feltes, who seems to be running the show around here. At one point, David invited Magnolia onto the stage, front and center, to sing and dance. She got a little shy, although she loved standing up there. She loves performing even more. When she makes up songs or dances, she doesn't just sing and dance. She makes this intense face with her eyebrows creased and she holds her arms out as wide as she can. She gets into singing so much that if you interrupt her enough times she says, "Just a minute! I'm busy singing." I hope she never stops feeling it like this. I think we all felt it like that at some point in our lives. It's that meditative place that making and playing music can take you. I still feel it, most of the time, but we have so many other things floating around in our adult minds, we can't escape that easily while we sing.
I woke up the morning of the show with a migraine headache. Then my mom called to tell me that my Gramma had just passed away. I didn't cry. Something is wrong with me, surely. I cry at the thought of losing people. I even make up horrific stories imagining how my perfectly healthy family will die, and I cry about it. But I spent all morning trying to make these real, grief tears come out and they wouldn't. I was close to my Gramma. I am a lot like her and my mother, but I'd save the crying for later, I guess. I did feel different playing the show that night. I never played better actually. I hit every note perfectly, I sang on tune (I think), I didn't get nervous, and I nailed all of Ira's cues for the first time. I think my Gramma was watching us play. In fact, I think her and my Grandpa were dancing on the stage, or maybe up in the rafters while we played. I do believe in that 
We convinced Mags that another plane ride would be fun since she's sooo friendly now. kind of thing happening.
We had to change our flight plans. We were going to stay and extra day in Seattle to record a song. But, the funeral... So, we paid our 2,000 bucks (yes, 2,000 dollars) to change our flights plans from Seattle to Dallas (stopover) to Kansas City (funeral) to Dallas (to play a show) to New York (mom's house). We got up early, drank two coffees each, Magnolia had an organic chocolate milk and we split a Starbucks muffin. We lugged all of our suitcases and equipment (minus the organ which will be shipped to Dallas), pleaded with the cab driver to take us to the airport five minutes away even though we didn't have a carseat, and we convinced Mags that another plane ride would be fun since she's sooo friendly now.
©2007 Mates of State and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Kori Gardner is the organ-playing half of the band Mates of State; her husband, Jason Hammel, plays drums. Known for their vocal harmonies and euphoric melodies, Mates of State has been described by critics as "unabashed joy", "honesty at its best", a "two piece with balls", and "a band that you must see live." Their daughter, Magnolia, was born in 2004 and started touring with the band at 10 weeks. Hear their latest album, Bring it Back, at www.matesofstate.com. |
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by Mates of State
In Dallas, our two-year-old does her best Bob Dylan.
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From a packed concert hall to a sudden funeral, we keep singing.
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Magnolia magically transforms into "friendly airport kid."
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With our Seattle tour approaching, our daughter fights her binky addiction.
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