- [Gaelynn] My music and my disability to me

are not the same.

I don't think about my disability while I'm playing.

I feel like myself.

(high trilling crescendo)

It's my form of meditation, I think.

You know, there's a lot of work that we could do to make

the arts more inclusive, so if I can be a catalyst

for any of that that's important to me.

That's cool. That's fun.

(rhythmic banjo strumming)

- [Chris] I'm Chris Funk.

I'm a musician in a band called The Decemberists.

And I'm on a journey looking for the most surprising

and extraordinary people in music.

My first stop takes me to Duluth, Minnesota.

There I will meet up with Gaelynn Lea,

an artist who creates music like nobody else.

(Electric organ)

I've shared the stage with some incredible people in my life,

but the musician I am meeting today is truly extraordinary.

My name is Gaelynn Lea, and I am a violinist

and a songwriter from Duluth, Minnesota.

- [Chris] I'd heard a lot about Gaelynn

and was excited to meet her, little did I know

that she was also a fan of The Decemberists.

It turns out she had heard us play in 2004.

[Gaelynn's friend] Hand spray-painted.

No way, that's hilarious, I don't even have one of these.

I'm keeping it, thank you.

Please, no. (laughs) It's coming home (laughs)

Last time, it was gonna be like a toy,

but it was like oh no, this is the real deal.

Yeah, it's legitimate, man.

Gaelynn was born with brittle bone disease,

which has left her in a wheelchair.

But you'll really forget that after a few minutes.

I started playing the violin when I was 10 years old.

I loved the way the strings sounded.

So the next year the teacher took it upon herself to help me

figure out how to play up and down like a little cello.

So it just meant I had to practice the same stuff

a little bit harder probably and maybe

that was a good thing in disguise.

(slow melancholy tune)

- [Chris] Gaelynn had been a part of the Duluth music scene

for years when another musician gave her

a device called a looping pedal.

It allows her to record herself and

play the music back while she's performing.

And now I can play a song.

(slow heartfelt tune)

Looping was a mindblower, I mean

it was so much a game-changer.

'Cause it was just such a cool experience to go from

one note to like 10 notes and have it be orchestrated.

It opened up a lot of doors, instrumentally and vocally

and everything just kind of changed when I got into looping.

And then I might want to fade out.

(emotive tune fades away)

So you're engaging all that with your knee?

Yep. Awesome.

I'm always fascinated by the imagination musicians

will use to create new and fresh sounds.

But the ingenuity that Gaelynn has shown in her journey

to produce beautiful music is truly inspiring.

(snappy folk tune)

I think any instrument but especially violin,

the way I play automatically just sounds different

than the way someone else plays.

It's really cool how you develop a voice and a form

of expression that's kind of unique.

It just clears my mind and lifts my spirit.

There's not anything else that I've found does that.

(long violin note, banjo strumming)

(audience applause)

(bing)