The first concert my fiancee took me to was one for somebody I’d never heard of before: Andrew McMahon. She told me he’d survived leukemia, and they had a Dear Jack Foundation table out front where you could sign up to be a bone marrow donor. I wound up having a good time, but I didn’t know how complicated a persona that man at the piano really was until I read the book he released late last year. When I began, I naively thought that the aforementioned leukemia would be the main and potentially only noteworthy speedbump along the way to where he is now. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Having read Three Pianos, I can now say that I have a much deeper respect for the musician that is Andrew McMahon.
From an early childhood, his life has been rife with challenge that prevented him from ever having a stable home. Be it because of his father’s addiction, or his mother’s resulting depression that forced her to take her own break from the children, he was without both parents, and shuttled around the US from home to home for years. He lost family members that were dear to him. He saw others come unmoored. He had to fight what seemed like his body’s instinctual reaction to become just like his father, or else risk his own marriage.
That he was able to release the music he was throughout all of this is a testament to his talent. While I don’t love all of his stuff, he has written some great tracks, and has clearly struck a chord with people like my fiancee, who got to be his “punk rock princess” at one of the concerts we attended. (If you wanna know the story, do ask) And it’s refreshing to see him acknowledge everything, warts and all, in this book. Even the very raw talks he has relating to his cancer. He’s been held up by many as some sort of shining example, a face for helping fight leukemia, but the guy himself worries constantly that he’s just a fraud. Nothing about it, or any part of his life, is cut and dry, and that’s what makes it such a fascinating read.
Whether you’re familiar with his bands – Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin, and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – or not, I recommend you read this book for a look into a man who went through a punishing life and somehow came out polished in the end rather than simply bruised.
