How Music Helped Us Survive?

The Song Show with Katie Mullins from 2018

When I was diagnosed with Stage Four Non Hodkins Lymphoma, it was like suddenly being an alien. Everyone was speaking in tongues. I couldn’t quite grasp what anything anyone said meant.

So, in typical fashion, I decided to ignore how ill I was and just work harder. I did get a lot done. Hmmm…

I have the most amazing wife and daughter. Of course they took care of me like no one else could. However I never quite knew how to talk about my illness with them. But, my god, was I ever taken care of.

My pal in music and life in general Kate Mullins had suffered a stroke around the same time as my illness. Suddenly, I had someone who understood the bizarre mix of existential dread and brazen optimism.

Katie is a writer, and educator, and music freak, and a friend. And when we both came out the other side in one fashion or another, I knew we had to talk about it on The Song Show. So, here ya go, an episode of the show from 2018.

Here’s a link if you prefer to listen to this episode on Mixcloud.

“Everyone in my life has heard me say, “There’s this song…” when I’m trying to explain a very specific emotion or situation. I always have a song or artist for someone’s situation. Divorce? I got your divorce albums. The miracle of becoming a parent? I got you! But when I had my stroke, I didn’t have an immediate “list” of songs— I had to grow into what I listened to in the hospital. Talking about the songs that mattered when my mortality was on the line was an incredibly healing process for me— especially since I knew Brick had had the same experience. Being “big sick” is hard and complicated, but I learned which songs were good companions for all sorts of new chapters in my life. I hope that this episode will help people who have been in the same situations, but just as much, I hope it allows people to look at songs and music as the lifelines they are: the emotions we can’t express, the feelings we need to name. You don’t have to stare death in the face for art to be medicinal.”

-Katie Mullins=

Katie and her husband Andy had gifts waiting for me when I arrived at the Hospital. The David Bowie book, the bluetooth speaker, the Fuzz Factory and the green guitar. The Jazzmaster was left for me to use by my buddy Edwin. That’s Katie and I reording the interview in my hospital room, and her at the WNIN studio as a guest from a previous episode. And I was lucky enough to be allowed to turn my hospital room into a small studio so I could score a documentary for WNIN.

There’s so much more I need to get off my chest about those adventures, but that’s for another time. Enjoy the show!

xoxoxo Brick