Sam Baker is an internationally recognized folk musician and recording artist from Texas who lost his hearing in a tragic, violent and wholly unexpected way:

While traveling by train to Machu Picchu in Peru in 1986, a bomb placed on a luggage rack above his head by the Shining Path guerrilla group exploded, killing seven passengers including three people who had been sitting with him. Baker was left with numerous injuries, including brain damage, a cut artery, and blown-in eardrums, leaving him deaf in on ear, limited hearing in the other and a persistent, intense case of tinnitus. His injuries required 17 reconstructive surgeries. The fingers of his left hand were left badly damaged, but over time he was able to grasp a guitar in his other hand and return to music.

Despite his history and challenges, Sam has gone on to music success, with his 2013 album “Say Grace,” being named one of the top 10 country music albums of 2013 by Rolling Stone Magazine. 

As a fellow musician with hearing loss, I am taken by Sam’s story, especially how he has rebuilt himself to make music again. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to him about his story: 

Music has always been a very important part of my life. When I lost my hearing, I lost a passion. Until I received my hearing aids…

As a child, I grew up in a house filled with music. Being born in the early 1960’s was the perfect time to experience the emerging styles of what would become much of the foundation for modern music.

I had my parents taste on one side, a blend of easy listening, Country and Irish pop, and my older brother’s ’60s and early ’70s chart hits. By the time I hit my teens, I was familiar with so much and was extremely eclectic in my tastes, regardless of style or musical genre.

Singer Mandy Harvey, who we’ve been following since her debut on America’s Got Talent, gave another stunning performance on the talent competition show Tuesday.   

The 29-year-old performed an original song, “Release Me,” on the last show before finals, again wowing judges who compared her to English singer-songwriter and 15 Grammy Award-winner, Adele.

“The vocal, the song, the delivery, the performance is about as good as I have seen on one of these shows,” said judge Simon Cowell. “It was breathtaking. It reminds me of the first time I saw Adele. I thought, ‘This girl is going to be a star.’”  

Anyone who says deafness is a silent epidemic hasn’t heard Sean Forbes. 

The 35-year-old American hip-hop artist has been inspiring a generation of hearing, hard-of-hearing and Deaf individuals for years, as a musician who continues to break ground and stereotypes with his beats.  

With his newly-released single, “Two Blown Speakers,”  Forbes is proving his hearing loss won’t stand in the way of his passions. 

Chance the Rapper is bringing American Sign Language to the stage by hiring ASL interpreters to join him on tour.

The 24-year-old announced the move toward more accessibility at his concerts in a Facebook video last week, alongside DEAFinitely Dope founder Matthew Maxey, who will be providing the interpreters.

Mandy Harvey, a singer with hearing loss, wowed judges with her perfectly pitched vocals on the reality TV show, ‘America’s Got Talent,’ on Tuesday.

Harvey, who lost her hearing about 10 years ago due to degenerative ear disease, was awarded the “Golden Buzzer” after her performance that received a standing ovation and hug from judge Simon Cowell.

Deaf people from far and wide joined together earlier this month, to celebrate the first deaf accessible music festival.

If you’ve been following along, you know I attended the Good Vibrations Music Festival on May 20, in Texas….

and it was amazing!

For the first time, deaf and hard-of-hearing people will be able to fully experience a summer music festival, through visual, tactile and auditory enrichments, in a special event created specifically for them.

Good Vibrations Music and Arts Festival, which will be held May 20 in San Antonio, Texas, was born out of the desire to allow people with all levels of hearing loss to enjoy music.

“I am always struggling at concerts and festivals to make my way to the front to be next to the speakers and to see the artists’ mouths,” says Emma Rudkin, the founder of the non-profit Aid the Silent, and organizer of the music festival. “I have always longed for captioning and interpreting at concerts.”

The music festival, she says, is the answer.

As a professional musician, I have been involved in many a discussion with friends and colleagues about the issue of noise induced hearing loss. 

For one, people simply don’t consider that it could happen to them. Another reason is the belief that earplugs distort sound, giving musicians a rather unpleasant experience.

But the big problem is that when noise-induced hearing loss occurs, it is often too late, irreversible and, if a significant loss, can be life-altering.