Disaster Relief Houston, local musician
is offered help from Vanessa Carlton
by Ahgamen Keyboa
Calculations of the disaster in Houston due to
Hurricane Harvey are overwhelming.
Something to the tune of $160 billion, reported by the N.Y. Daily News,
making it the “costliest natural disaster in U.S. history”. This estimated financial amount is nothing
compared to the incalculable human loss of life, along with the emotional suffering. For those of us not in the Gulf region of
Texas, or not having been through major catastrophes, we try to imagine what it
must be like to endure this and to try to recover from such an experience.
To put
it into perspective, with a window into the reality, one example of so many is
the story of Aric Harding, who has been resident there with his family. He posted a video (on his Instagram account),
which went viral due to the way it touches a nerve in viewers. The video depicts Mr. Harding softly playing
his Yamaha piano, while halfway submerged in the floodwaters that have swelled
into his home. He had managed to return
to the house in order to retrieve some favorite stuffed animals for his
children. It’s a wonder that the piano
could still play – very surreal! Along
with this potent and touching imagery, he lamented “I think it’s finally
sinking in a little. What we used to
have going as a city is gone. I really
think God is going to do something new here”.
Vanessa
Carlton had been promoting relief activities for the flood-ravaged region when
she came across the Harding video (apparently through a cnn report). Obviously, moved by the eerie scene, as a
piano player herself, she took to her twitter and facebook. She shared, “we need to get him a piano”. The Telegraph wrote up a brief article today
that “Vanessa Carlton offers to buy new piano for Houston flood family”.
In case
you didn’t know, Vanessa Carlton is in a current music tour opening for Stevie
Nicks. Carlton’s most recent album
release is Liberman. You may remember
her going all the way back to her debut album in 2002, Be Not Nobody. The Billboard topping hit from that debut was
“A Thousand Miles”.
Is it
any surprise that people are reaching out to help those who are suffering? I think that this story symbolizes that human
connection. Whatever it is that makes
you relate to it, you can do something compassionate. I think that’s what inspired Vanessa Carlton
to get involved. She was moved to
emotional empathy by seeing the horrific affects of the disaster, as we all
should be, if we are feeling in our hearts.
For her, especially in the case of the beloved piano and a fellow
musician, she could totally relate.
You can find Ahgamen Keyboa on www.scallywagandvagabond.com
