I only got to interview Garth once, and it seemed a shame to just pepper him with tired old questions about the Band and Dylan, so I asked a few token questions in that area, but then we talked about jazz, church music, favourite composers and beloved instruments. He came to Halifax for a Pop Explosion, because he wanted to play the historic Casavant Brothers organ in All-Saints Cathedral, and his half-hour of improv on that mighty beast of a keyboard is one of my most cherished musical moments. Later, I talked to Maud & Garth on the sidewalk outside their hotel, which was just a block from my apartment, and afterwards said, "Goodbye professor!" and they both gave a little grin and waved as I set off back home.
Oh Neko. You captured the gentle complex man that was Garth Hudson. How we adored and loved him. I always wanted to take care of him. Maud was always protecting him. Not allowing him to be photographed without his black hat. When he slept he sang music notes . I noticed this when driving him and Maud from our farm back to .Woodstock New York. Quietly singing notes up and down the scales while fast asleep. When we stopped for food at an all night diner Garth wanted on one thing and one thing only … a big bowl piled high with whipped cream. He once, backstage, tried to explain musical charts to me. He was so excited and earnest grabbing a pen and paper. He wrote some music and then went through and gave each passage numbers. He then explained when I memorized the sequence he could just yell out “5, 7, 9, 4” and I know what to play. I was fascinated… he lost me … but I understood a bit more of how his mathematical, calclator, scientific brain worked. I have that piece of paper somewhere with the fancy scrawled music and numbers. For years Garth and Maud would call in the middle of the night for some energetic conversations about life and music and stories. I missed that so much when they eventually stopped as time marched on and they were more fragile. Thank you Neko for capturing the love we all felt for Garth and Maud. I attended Maud’s small funeral that was streamed online. I’m sure something is in the makes for the great Garth. How lucky were we to be welcomed into their tiny loving world. ❤️🎼🎹. Tickle❤️
Thank you for adding your memories here too! The bowl of whipped cream is HILARIOUS, and the most garth thing ever! Hehe. We were truly lucky indeed. As I am lucky to have you and Travis. XO
So beautifully written. Kindness is everywhere, despite the dollar store meanness we feel we are surrounded by. We are here to help each other, by any means necessary. Whatever it takes. Thank you for the poetry of your writing, and reminders of the invisible nobility of music, all art, nature, animals, and sometimes, even humans.
Your beautiful tribute brought me to tears. It is an honoring of the most exquisite kind and one we can all receive as a lesson and a reminder of our brief time here. Our world needs more grace. More empathy. More recognition of each other's journeys and the often tumultuous, sometimes gifted paths some of us travel. I, too, recently lost an old friend. Here is a poem I wrote in his honor. In a queer way, I suppose, it reminds me of the honor walk you took with your friend, and of your relationship with Garth; and so, the reason for sharing it with you here. I hope it gives you some additional comfort:
Your tribute is lovely and beautifully written. You are a gifted storyteller. Just wanted to extend heartfelt gratitude for being there & taking care of Beth at Diane’s bedside and gift of life honor walk. Also thank you for sharing Diane’s appetite for and love of music. Many of us who knew her only through the sanctuary didn’t get to see that side of her and it fits perfectly. Whether through the artistry of creating music or the devotion of caring for abandoned, neglected animals, you & your friends have uplifted humanity & bettered the world.
Thanks so much for sharing those deeply moving memories in your beautiful words, Neko. I'm so sorry again about the loss of your dear friends. I didn't think I could love your album "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" any more than I already did but that story about Garth Hudson's contributions to it proved me wrong. I hope you feel better very soon. Thanks again for everything.
Lovely tributes-absolutely lovely.I count myself blessed to have seen him and the other original Band members(sans Robbie Robertson)at Jannus Landing.1987 it was,and they were fantastic.This was one of the last shows before Richard Manuel took his own life.That night,though,he played and sang beautifully,as did they all.
Thank you for this, Neko. I look so forward to your newsletters, and I appreciate the honesty and candor in every paragraph. Friends and I were at the Chicago show last night, it was a wonderful event and I'm grateful for having been able to see you discuss the book and your life in person.
The Garth stories remind me so much of times with my late wife. Resonate, as they say. New music composer Elodie Lauten. Coincidentally she worked with Robbie Robertson on Music for the Native Americans. In Albuquerque. I was there and it was an unforgettable experience. I met him and lots of Indian chiefs too
Thanks for dropping us into the lives and into your memories of these beautiful people. This is a magnificent piece, Neko. Hoping that you feel better.
I only got to interview Garth once, and it seemed a shame to just pepper him with tired old questions about the Band and Dylan, so I asked a few token questions in that area, but then we talked about jazz, church music, favourite composers and beloved instruments. He came to Halifax for a Pop Explosion, because he wanted to play the historic Casavant Brothers organ in All-Saints Cathedral, and his half-hour of improv on that mighty beast of a keyboard is one of my most cherished musical moments. Later, I talked to Maud & Garth on the sidewalk outside their hotel, which was just a block from my apartment, and afterwards said, "Goodbye professor!" and they both gave a little grin and waved as I set off back home.
Oh Neko. You captured the gentle complex man that was Garth Hudson. How we adored and loved him. I always wanted to take care of him. Maud was always protecting him. Not allowing him to be photographed without his black hat. When he slept he sang music notes . I noticed this when driving him and Maud from our farm back to .Woodstock New York. Quietly singing notes up and down the scales while fast asleep. When we stopped for food at an all night diner Garth wanted on one thing and one thing only … a big bowl piled high with whipped cream. He once, backstage, tried to explain musical charts to me. He was so excited and earnest grabbing a pen and paper. He wrote some music and then went through and gave each passage numbers. He then explained when I memorized the sequence he could just yell out “5, 7, 9, 4” and I know what to play. I was fascinated… he lost me … but I understood a bit more of how his mathematical, calclator, scientific brain worked. I have that piece of paper somewhere with the fancy scrawled music and numbers. For years Garth and Maud would call in the middle of the night for some energetic conversations about life and music and stories. I missed that so much when they eventually stopped as time marched on and they were more fragile. Thank you Neko for capturing the love we all felt for Garth and Maud. I attended Maud’s small funeral that was streamed online. I’m sure something is in the makes for the great Garth. How lucky were we to be welcomed into their tiny loving world. ❤️🎼🎹. Tickle❤️
Thank you for adding your memories here too! The bowl of whipped cream is HILARIOUS, and the most garth thing ever! Hehe. We were truly lucky indeed. As I am lucky to have you and Travis. XO
So beautifully written. Kindness is everywhere, despite the dollar store meanness we feel we are surrounded by. We are here to help each other, by any means necessary. Whatever it takes. Thank you for the poetry of your writing, and reminders of the invisible nobility of music, all art, nature, animals, and sometimes, even humans.
“Kindness is everywhere,” 🥹💚🙏
Your beautiful tribute brought me to tears. It is an honoring of the most exquisite kind and one we can all receive as a lesson and a reminder of our brief time here. Our world needs more grace. More empathy. More recognition of each other's journeys and the often tumultuous, sometimes gifted paths some of us travel. I, too, recently lost an old friend. Here is a poem I wrote in his honor. In a queer way, I suppose, it reminds me of the honor walk you took with your friend, and of your relationship with Garth; and so, the reason for sharing it with you here. I hope it gives you some additional comfort:
the blue train
(for Tony Keppelman)
this train will carry her
and all its purposeful passengers
across plains, through mountain passes,
skirting cities, beyond
curious cows grazing
in fields she might have called
home, if,
there had been someone
waiting on a porch
or out behind the shed
stacking wood, stacking hearts,
in neat little rows
with worn leather gloves
soft from years of work and care,
one chunk after the other
cross-hatched in lines, so sure, so
reliable – poplar, ash, maple, pine
whatever one could find
on land that skirts the rails,
cut itself by tracks
and passengers blurring by
always in a hurry,
the blue train
on the rail that never stops
but marks the iron,
rattling the ties —
and the steam, shushing to escape
the sonorous clacking with its monotony
a strange comfort to the riders.
against the backdrop of evergreens,
a solitary figure appears
and breaks the ripple of color waving by,
his steady rhythm, the pulse point,
swinging low in a rhythm all his own
against the dark blue of the thicket,
ax in hand to clear the rambling brush,
and claim the good wood, steady,
like the train he is,
pausing to wipe a brow,
he squints the salt from his eyes
and looks up just as she,
with an eye to the window,
raises her head, too,
to fix a bead on the blue mountains,
the grazing sheep, sweeping
like small tufts of clouds
across the deep valley yellowed with daisies.
His momentary stillness
punctuates the horizon like a pencil point,
and reclaims her from that far-off gaze,
from too-distant vistas,
back to where this woodsman’s tranquility,
his nearly imperceptible nod,
meets hers,
and at this distance,
this speed, they find
some kind of understanding
connecting the two to each other,
the blue train still moving,
he acknowledging her journey, she his,
and all the blueness between them.
I'm so sorry for your losses, Neko, and I hope you feel better soon. This is just beautiful. <3
Your tribute is lovely and beautifully written. You are a gifted storyteller. Just wanted to extend heartfelt gratitude for being there & taking care of Beth at Diane’s bedside and gift of life honor walk. Also thank you for sharing Diane’s appetite for and love of music. Many of us who knew her only through the sanctuary didn’t get to see that side of her and it fits perfectly. Whether through the artistry of creating music or the devotion of caring for abandoned, neglected animals, you & your friends have uplifted humanity & bettered the world.
Thanks so much for sharing those deeply moving memories in your beautiful words, Neko. I'm so sorry again about the loss of your dear friends. I didn't think I could love your album "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" any more than I already did but that story about Garth Hudson's contributions to it proved me wrong. I hope you feel better very soon. Thanks again for everything.
This was so beautiful. Thank you for sharing it, Neko. We honor Garth Hudson and all who passed.
Lovely tributes-absolutely lovely.I count myself blessed to have seen him and the other original Band members(sans Robbie Robertson)at Jannus Landing.1987 it was,and they were fantastic.This was one of the last shows before Richard Manuel took his own life.That night,though,he played and sang beautifully,as did they all.
Oh Thank you Neko, for choosing self care, and for sharing it with us. This is a gift. Much love to you, Nancy O
Thank you, you honour them so deeply. Loss is so devastating and it hits us in every one of our domains. Vale to two great human spirits
Thank you for this, Neko. I look so forward to your newsletters, and I appreciate the honesty and candor in every paragraph. Friends and I were at the Chicago show last night, it was a wonderful event and I'm grateful for having been able to see you discuss the book and your life in person.
The Garth stories remind me so much of times with my late wife. Resonate, as they say. New music composer Elodie Lauten. Coincidentally she worked with Robbie Robertson on Music for the Native Americans. In Albuquerque. I was there and it was an unforgettable experience. I met him and lots of Indian chiefs too
Thank you for touching my soul with your lovely words of tribute to your friends. Peace & Love to you.
Thanks for dropping us into the lives and into your memories of these beautiful people. This is a magnificent piece, Neko. Hoping that you feel better.
What a gorgeous tribute. He is here with all of us because of it. May his memory continue to be a blessing for you.