Mandy Harvey

“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.”

“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.”

“I was a shy child. I had anxiety. I used to cry when I had to give a presentation.”

“We need to work on creating a more inclusive music experience. I'm really so frustrated with going to festivals and there not being any closed captioning or interpreters.”

“It's just I do things differently and I want people to appreciate music for what it is, and not because of a story.”

“I started singing in a choir when I was 4 years old.”

“There is a lot of technology out there that can help people with hearing loss including wearable technology that vibrates.”

“My touring band, they're just brilliant, and all of them are learning ASL, so the wall of communication is breaking.”

“My feeling of security really went down the tubes when I couldn't hear anymore. When it got dark, I'd get very afraid because I can't hear people coming up behind me.”

“I was in Colorado for about 15 years but my family is all from Florida.”

“I started writing music long after I lost my hearing.”

“I really hope my music and my life can help encourage people not to give up.”

“I started to play music again because of my dad and my mom. I grew up playing guitar with my dad, and he and my mom encouraged me to start again.”

“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 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 am not the performing type. I was the one who would cry, throw up or pass out.”

“When I'm playing with my band, I designate different parts to feel different things. The bass pounds in your chest when you go to a concert. It almost replaces your heartbeat. Then the drums you feel on the floor.”

“I don't need pity. I want to be looked at like a musician, because I am one. I happen to be deaf.”

“The thing I love about music... you can close your eyes and be transported back to a memory or a dream or a feeling.”

“So I studied a lot with the balloon, and in learning how to sing with other musicians and keep in time - that's all by touch. A lot of that I feel in my body, and growing up with hearing I have pretty good muscle memory, and I was born with near perfect pitch.”