*This story was originally published on the Farmington High School Band Facebook page.*

The story below isn’t short, but every word is worth sharing. We hope you will take a few minutes to learn more about a truly extraordinary gift – and the power of community. Music Matters and here is another extremely powerful example.

Part One – The “Scam”

Several months ago, Farmington High School Director of Bands Erin Holmes received a text message from her friend Nikki Kasel. Kasel knew someone who was looking to donate a baby grand piano to the school.
Kasel persisted, saying this was indeed a very special piano: It was a grand! It was vintage! It was fully restored! It belonged to someone’s recently-deceased mother.

It was a STEINWAY.

In the music world, the “Steinway scam” or the “baby grand scam” is extremely common. Band and choir directors have learned to ignore messages touting them. But since this message was coming from a friend (who was surely getting scammed herself!), Holmes engaged, saying, “Do you know this person? Because there are Steinway scams…”

Holmes got more info from her friend Nikki. Kasel said she needed to talk to her friend Bernie, who in turn knew someone named Tracee, who actually knew the owner of the piano…

Yeah, right. This had *all* the tell-tale signs of an elaborate scam.

Besides, it was the height of the marching band season and band camp was about to start. So the topic got pushed to the back burner … until a man named Keith Gilmore showed up in the Farmington High School Office in August. “We’d like to donate a Steinway piano to the school,” said Keith.

‘Not this scam again,’ the band directors discussed in private.

But this guy Keith had a folder full of information – photographs, receipts, provenance, and phone numbers. The piano belonged to Lori Williams, a professional musician who lived much of her adult life in Northfield and the family wanted to keep the piano local. Her family also wanted it to be donated so that it would continue to make music – to a place where it would be played every day.

Keith’s wife was Tracee, one of the individuals mentioned in those text messages back in July. Okay, so maybe this isn’t a complete scam…

And then came the kicker: the piano had an extra-special connection to an extra-special Farmington kid named Madden McKean.

Suddenly, everyone was listening and the story started to become real.

PART TWO – Lori Williams

Lori Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1959. She came from a true music-loving family. In fact, they had a 1914 Steinway baby grand piano in their living room. But Lori had to secretly learn the alto sax as a teenager, an instrument too unsophisticated for her parents’ tastes. After graduation, she started her own band on the central coast of California, The Lost Angels. The band grew to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s, traveling the U.S. and opening for such artists as Arlo Guthrie and Glen Campbell. As a studio musician and back-up singer, Williams also sang and recorded with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Helen Reddy. Lori’s vocal talents were immense and she was also a talented songwriter.

In the late 1980s, Williams settled near Northfield, Minnesota, and was highly involved in the development of Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls. The studio was on land that she and her husband Jim Nickel owned, and Williams became very involved in the operations of the studio, which became a sanctuary retreat for some of the biggest bands of the 1990s and 2000s.

At Pachyderm, Williams worked with Kurt Cobain and Nirvana when they traveled there to record their now-seminal studio album In Utero. Other famous albums of the 90s recorded at Pachyderm include Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancer’s Union (ft. “Runaway Train”), Live’s Throwing Copper, plus songs by Reina del Cid, Trampled by Turtles, PJ Harvey, and countless others.

In 2008, Pachyderm Studios was sold to new owners; and this happens to also be the year that Lori Williams met Tracee Gilmore for the first time. The two were taking a yoga teacher training class together and became fast friends. Tracee and her husband Keith (the guy with the folder!) moved from Apple Valley to rural Northfield in 2012. Lori and Tracee’s friendship grew and their families grew close, as well. In 2010, Keith and Tracee’s grandson Madden was born, and Lori quickly recognized he was the center of the Gilmore and McKean’s families’ world.
Lori didn’t know Madden well, but they had a lot of common traits. According to Nana Gilmore, “Lori and Madden were a lot alike; they lived big and captured people’s attention when they walked in the room.” Both were vibrant and individualistic.

Williams continued to make music at home and throughout her community. In 2018, she started a new band called “The Layout,” because what Williams loved more than anything was “laying it all out there.” In addition to her vocal talents, she played percussion, mandolin, saxophone, and guitar.

And piano. Don’t forget the piano. Remember her music-loving parents back in Chicago? Well, that 1914 Steinway eventually made it Williams’ home in Northfield, where she played it often.

PART THREE – Madden McKean

Madden, growing up in Farmington, was a jokester from an early age; a little clown, who was always trying to make people laugh. He loved hanging out with friends and despite not joining the band in 5th grade (sports were more his thing), he didn’t let that stop him from sometimes skipping out on class to “go to a band practice.” In 7th grade, he got caught when a teacher finally realized he didn’t actually play an instrument. Madden’s response was simple: “I thought I’d try!” Even back in third grade, Madden had a confidence and individuality that stood out to his teachers, creating a rainbow fish art piece with the quote, “Blend in when you have to, stand out when you can.”

In 2023, at the age of 13 years and 20 days, Madden suddenly and tragically left this world, but his memory and legacy live on. Madden had a great sense of humor and the kindest heart, leading to the phrase “Live Like Madden” which is commonly seen on wristbands and apparel around Farmington.

Friends and family alike say that Madden was a glue that kept people together, whether it was teammates, church family, Akin Road Elementary, or Boeckman Middle School. His parents, Joe and Lindsay, knew from an early age he was unique. He pulled people into his circle and made them feel like he was their best friend.

Madden’s friends, the Class of 2028, have now arrived at Farmington High School. In fact, this past Tuesday, September 3, marked their first day of high school. They arrived right alongside the 1914 Steinway, in pristine condition, which had been delivered to the FHS Band Room less than two weeks prior. The piano was left to “settle” for a week or so and on August 27, piano technician Paul Bacigalupi gave the piano a tune. Madden’s parents, Joe and LIndsay, and Lori’s children, Nate, Barbara, and Max were excited that the treasured piano will keep filling lives with music.

PART FOUR – The Legacy

Lori Williams passed away on March 27, 2024, leaving three adult children, any of which might have wanted the piano as a memory of their mother or for its sheer value. But the kids were all in agreement: they wanted to donate it. “We want someone to love it. The piano is meant to be played. She would be so happy about that.”
It seems so appropriate that the piano belonging to a talented and eccentric musical prodigy will now make music with Madden’s friends, classmates, and teammates. Lori knew how to #LiveLikeMadden before it was a hashtag – she was passionate and lived life on her own terms.

And much as the spirit of Lori Williams lives on through the gift of music, Madden’s spirit carries on through scholarships in his name. The criteria for the scholarship program is broad – it’s not all about grades, but essential about how students “lived like Madden” and continue to do good in the world.

According to family, Madden wasn’t attached to things, to stuff. His friends were most important to him, and the memorial fund reflects that.

The gift is unreal. But the story, the connection, the meaning behind it is even more unbelievable. The names of both Lori and Madden are memorialized on a plaque affixed to the piano so all will remember their names, their stories, and their spirits.

With Gratitude

For us, as music teachers, our gratitude cannot be quantified. We will honor the memory of both Lori and Madden every time that Steinway springs to life. The voice of both individuals is a part of the instrument and every song it plays.

If you would like to honor the legacy of Madden McKean and Lori Williams, please consider a donation to the Madden McKean Foundation. And always remember to #LiveLikeMadden.

Madden McKean Foundation
9124 90th St E
Northfield, MN 55057