When I was losing my hearing, we had to buy hearing aids and they were incredibly expensive. It was a huge financial situation.
I didn't wake up one day and just couldn't hear. I woke up one day and realized I was having difficulty, and that I had overcompensated by lip reading, so that I didn't really understand how bad it was.
Losing my hearing was always my biggest fear, so what's the worst that can happen, sing the wrong notes? Who cares, it's not going to kill you.
I'm not scared to sing songs. I'm not scared to walk out the front door and make a mistake.
You can feel the drums, and you can feel the bass. So, being able to feel the music through the floor, it makes me feel like I'm a part of the band and not just the only person in the room who doesn't really understand what's going on.
With a progressive issue, it was always a monkey that was chasing me down. I had a great fear of losing my hearing. In my gut, I always knew that it was going to happen. I was just hoping that it would happen when I was 50 and not when I was 18.
I miss the common things, the things that used to really annoy me, like an alarm clock. The sound of your zipper as your fly is being pulled up so that you know it actually is up. The sound of the door as it closes, to know that it's really shut.
I'm not a story; I'm a person, and my passion is music. And I want your passion to be my music - so, judge me on my music.
I was always a shy child and slightly hard of hearing, so music was my outlet.
I started singing in a choir when I was 4 years old.
Technology is improving to prevent musicians from losing their hearing while performing on stage... audience members losing their hearing from listening to loud music… people being able to experience music not just with their ears, but with touch or with through their eyes.
I found my way back into music and realized that it's not that the music went away after losing my hearing, I just get the privilege of enjoying it and experiencing it differently.
My understanding of current music stopped in 2006, so I am continually inspired by music from the past. Three Dog Night, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, Herman's Hermits, Association, Eagles, Beatles, Stones, Turtles, Animals... this list goes on forever.
I don't live my life based on fear of failure. I live my life with an understanding of failure and I'm embracing it, because every time I fail, I learn something new.
If I take back any of the bumps, bruises or scrapes I've been through. I wouldn't be the same person.
I made the mistake of pouring my entire identity into one single dream and convincing myself that I was not capable of anything else or creating any other dream.
I wanted to encourage people around me to evaluate their lives and see where they are holding themselves back. I wanted them to dream again.
I really wanted to change the idea of what is possible and to show that 'deaf can' and what better place to do that than on national television?
My touring band, they're just brilliant, and all of them are learning ASL, so the wall of communication is breaking.
There have been a couple of times I've started the song in the wrong key. We stop the song, we all laugh together and we start the song again, and we go for it.
