Back in the Saddle: Musician Xander Naylor Rides Again

As the car pulled out of the driveway, Xander Naylor knew there was no time to brake or swerve his bicycle to avoid the impact. Twenty feet disappeared in seconds. Then darkness took him.

“It’s amazing how many thoughts the brain can have in a short period of time,” Naylor said. “A whole series of them came up when I saw the car, but the main one was, Dude, say your prayers, because you don’t know if you’re coming out of this.”

The musician was biking home through Winooski near Route 15 last June after teaching guitar lessons all day when he and a car collided. Naylor was severely injured, breaking almost a dozen bones including his ribs, collarbone, left wrist and his jaw in three places. Most worryingly, he also broke the C7 vertebra in his neck, located directly next to the nerve that runs to his fingers.

An accomplished composer and guitarist, Naylor, 38, has spent years intertwining his jazz background with Indian music, often traveling abroad to perform and study. He’s developed a dynamic style of play, fusing Western and Eastern styles into his virtuosic shredding. He plays with London musician Michael Mwenso and Burlington fusion act Breathwork, in addition to fronting the Xander Naylor Trio. The accident put all of that in jeopardy. Naylor was bedridden for months, with both arms in slings or casts and his jaw wired shut.

Naylor in the hospital after his accident Credit: Courtesy

With a combination of faith and patience, as well as support from friends and family, Naylor is back, his trusty Fender Telecaster in his hands again after nearly a year. He’s playing live shows again, including a run later this month with Saturn People’s Sound Collective. He also has a new LP, Children of Sound, released last month.

Naylor sat down for lunch with Seven Days last week and talked about learning to listen to his body, the healing power of music and getting back on the bike.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, you look really good for a dude who got wiped out by a car.

[Laughing.] Thanks. It’s been a long road getting back, man. There was a point where I was drinking a huge milkshake with protein powder every morning, just trying to gain a little weight back. But I couldn’t do it. My body was just using everything to heal itself.

Physically, the crash was obviously pretty brutal for you. What effect did it have on your mental state?

I know it sounds weird, but there’s a way where I was actually blessed by this accident. The force of it sent shock waves into my body, and it just felt like things were rearranged — sort of a spiritual clearing out, you know? It was this immediate lesson in the connection between my mental health, my body and my sense of spiritual work.

It sounds like the crash started a conversation you maybe weren’t ready to have?

Well, I think I did want to have that conversation, but I didn’t know that crashing into a car would be the way it was going to happen! After it happened, I blacked out. When I woke up, the EMT was saying, basically, “Buddy, you had a bad accident.” And I was like, Yeah, no shit. But at the same time I had this feeling of elation. I’m still here. I’m still alive.

I’m still here on this planet, which means my work is not done.
Xander Naylor

At the hospital, my wife was laughing at me because she said I had this aura around me; she said I looked almost joyous. I’m still here on this planet, which means my work is not done, as simple as that.

Still, as someone whose whole career is predicated on the use of your hands, you must have been worried about what your injuries meant for you as a musician.

Honestly, the physical side of it was so big, I just put the music aside. I needed all my energy to heal; picking up a guitar just wasn’t an option. I did listen to music during recovery, nonstop. I listened to almost exclusively Indian music. I’d sit in the sun in my backyard, meditate and listen to these really old recordings. It was so easy for me to get overstimulated in that state, so I gravitated towards these slow ragas. They calmed my mind in a very medicinal way and helped me focus on my body recovering from the physical trauma.

When did you feel comfortable picking back up the guitar?

Last September, Michael [Mwenso] called me up to see how I was doing. I was still in a neck brace and had a cast on my wrist. He was so delicate, but he eventually asked if I was able to play some shows that December. And, you know, I had all this metal stuff in my mouth, held together with rubber bands, so I was like, “Um, let me see?”

By October, around the 12-week mark, I was in full physical therapy and I decided, Yeah, I can do this. I’m going to do this. Because music heals me. So I had a goal. I arrived in London, and I said to myself, OK, I’m just going to survive playing guitar for an hour. And it was tough going at first. I’d build up a little endurance, take a break and slip back again. But by the time we had a run of shows in February, it was less taxing. Progress was being made.

You just released a new LP, Children of Sound. Does it feel like this heralds the full comeback?

Well, yes and no. I recorded the album before my accident. But it was interesting to listen back to it during mixing and editing while I was recovering. Just to listen to my guitar as I was sort of relearning how to play, in a way.

I’m super happy with the way the record turned out. I feel so lucky to be able to bring that exact group of musicians together. Samir Chatterjee is an incredible tabla player. Raphael Pannier on drums, Utsav Lal on piano and Birsa Chatterjee playing tenor sax … These are all fabulous musicians who, like me, are really looking for that synthesis between Indian and jazz music.

You’ve also got new music with Breathwork, as well as more solo music in the works. Are you back at full speed? What’s the future hold for you, post-crash?

[Holding up his sandwich.] See this? This is currently the hardest part of my rehab. I want to devour this thing, but I can’t. My physical therapist told me no “Philly cheesesteak-size bites.” So, I’m still adjusting on a lot of fronts.

Music-wise, yep, there’s a new Breathwork EP coming in June, and I’ve got some shows in London this summer. I’m taking it all in stride, though, just trying to listen to my body.

Have you gotten back on the bike since the accident?

Oh, yeah. I love my bike; it’s like a friend. My nervous system isn’t totally, 100 percent back to normal — I can still feel myself overreacting to things. But I just remind myself to go slow.

It’s funny, the Winooski police called a few months after the accident and told me they weren’t going to hold on to my bike much longer. So my wife, Maggie, went to pick it up, and it was pretty much good to go. After all that, I still had my bike to ride. It was waiting for me to heal. The universe is funny like that. ➆

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

Children of Sound is available at xandernaylor.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services. Visit xandernaylor.com for more.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Back in the Saddle: After a brutal bike accident, Burlington guitarist Xander Naylor returns with a new album — and a new lease on life”