diff --git a/notmuch/src/lib.rs b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
index 7cf18b5..fe5704a 100644
--- a/notmuch/src/lib.rs
+++ b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
@@ -465,6 +465,8 @@ pub struct Notmuch {
     config_path: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
+// TODO: rewrite to use tokio::process::Command and make everything async to see if that helps with
+// concurrency being more parallel.
 impl Notmuch {
     pub fn with_config<P: AsRef<Path>>(config_path: P) -> Notmuch {
         Notmuch {
diff --git a/server/src/graphql.rs b/server/src/graphql.rs
index 1211447..5c84e12 100644
--- a/server/src/graphql.rs
+++ b/server/src/graphql.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use log::info;
 use notmuch::Notmuch;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use sqlx::postgres::PgPool;
+use tokio::join;
 use tracing::instrument;
 
 use crate::{config::Config, newsreader, nm, tantivy::TantivyConnection, Query};
@@ -286,6 +287,8 @@ impl QueryRoot {
         Ok(total)
     }
 
+    // TODO: this function doesn't get parallelism, possibly because notmuch is sync and blocks,
+    // rewrite that with tokio::process:Command
     #[instrument(skip_all, fields(query=query))]
     async fn search<'ctx>(
         &self,
@@ -328,18 +331,17 @@ impl QueryRoot {
                 let query: Query = query.parse()?;
                 info!("newsreader_query {query:?}");
 
-                let newsreader_results = newsreader_search(
+                let newsreader_fut = newsreader_search(
                     pool,
                     newsreader_after,
                     newsreader_before,
                     first,
                     last,
                     &query,
-                )
-                .await?;
-                let notmuch_results =
-                    notmuch_search(nm, notmuch_after, notmuch_before, first, last, &query).await?;
-                let tantivy_results = tantivy_search(
+                );
+                let notmuch_fut =
+                    notmuch_search(nm, notmuch_after, notmuch_before, first, last, &query);
+                let tantivy_fut = tantivy_search(
                     tantivy,
                     pool,
                     tantivy_after,
@@ -347,8 +349,13 @@ impl QueryRoot {
                     first,
                     last,
                     &query,
-                )
-                .await?;
+                );
+                let (newsreader_results, notmuch_results, tantivy_results) =
+                    join!(newsreader_fut, notmuch_fut, tantivy_fut);
+
+                let newsreader_results = newsreader_results?;
+                let notmuch_results = notmuch_results?;
+                let tantivy_results = tantivy_results?;
                 info!(
                     "newsreader_results ({}) notmuch_results ({}) tantivy_results ({})",
                     newsreader_results.len(),