Blind Musician Angel Paez Pursues Country Music Career After Teaching Himself Six Instruments by Ear

Angel Paez, a blind North Carolina musician who plays six instruments by ear.

Angel Paez, a musician from Charlotte, North Carolina, who was born blind, is building a career in country and bluegrass music after teaching himself to play six instruments entirely by ear.

Paez’s musical journey began when he was a child attending church, where the sounds of different instruments immediately captured his attention.

Speaking with Aging Untold, Paez recalled being fascinated not only by the music itself, but also by the instruments producing the sounds.

“I remember listening to all those different instruments and being so curious as to what they looked like, what they felt like, and I wanted to know how to play,” he said.

For Paez, music quickly became more than a passing childhood interest.

He described the experience of hearing instruments as something that constantly made him want to discover more.

“It made me feel like I could never get enough of it,” he explained. “Like something so cool and so different and new that made me want more out of that.”

Because Paez was born blind, he could not learn instruments through many of the visual methods commonly used by young musicians. Instead, he relied heavily on his hearing, memory and ability to recognize musical patterns.

He first taught himself how to play the piano.

After developing confidence on the keyboard, he began experimenting with other instruments, including the accordion and violin.

Over time, Paez managed to teach himself a total of six instruments without formal instruction, learning by carefully listening to sounds and reproducing what he heard.

His natural musical ability soon became apparent to his family.

As they watched his skills develop, they decided to give him an opportunity to perform for a larger audience by entering him into a local radio competition.

“They entered me into my first radio contest,” Paez recalled.

The competition was organized by a Spanish-language radio station in the Charlotte area and became an important turning point in his musical development.

Paez said the experience gave him his first major incentive to improve as a performer.

“That was kind of my first real motivation to play and get good enough to be on stage,” he explained.

The decision paid off.

Paez ultimately won the competition, giving him confirmation that his self-taught abilities could connect with an audience outside his immediate family and community.

That early success was followed by an even more significant opportunity: Paez later performed at the White House.

For a young musician still discovering what might be possible, the experience became a defining moment.

“That, more than anything, gave me the spark, if there ever was one, to pursue the music,” Paez said.

Since then, he has continued to develop his career, particularly within the country and bluegrass music scenes.

His work has attracted recognition from the Carolina Country Music Awards, where he has received multiple nominations.

Paez has been nominated twice for both Musician of the Year and Best Fiddler of the Year, achievements that reflect how far his self-taught musicianship has progressed from those early days listening to music in church.

Despite the recognition, Paez says his ultimate ambition is relatively modest.

He is not necessarily chasing celebrity status or extraordinary wealth.

Instead, he wants music to become a sustainable career that allows him to support himself and his family while continuing to collaborate with other musicians.

“My dream is to just be able to make a living out of it,” he told Aging Untold.

Paez acknowledged that he does not expect music to make him wealthy.

“I know I’m not going to get rich,” he said.

What he wants is enough financial stability to enjoy ordinary experiences with the people closest to him.

He said he hopes to earn enough to take his family out for dinner occasionally and still have the resources necessary to pursue creative projects.

Paez also wants the freedom to contact fellow musicians and collaborators whenever inspiration strikes.

He described wanting to be able to call people in his musical network and simply say, “Hey, let’s go do this project.”

That combination of family stability and artistic independence is what he considers success.

Paez’s story is also one of persistence.

Although his musical ability has already taken him to major stages and earned him industry recognition, he admits that confidence does not always come easily.

He described himself as naturally shy and said that his own hesitation can sometimes become an obstacle.

“I’m pretty shy by nature, and I think that’s what holds me back sometimes,” Paez explained.

His challenge, therefore, is not simply mastering another instrument or improving a performance.

It is also overcoming the internal doubts that can make it difficult to pursue new opportunities.

Music has helped him do that.

Paez said experiencing success, whether in his musical career or in everyday life, changes the way he sees his own capabilities.

“A lot of times when I encounter that success, whether that be music or just life in general, it feels good,” he said.

Those moments give him a stronger sense of independence.

“It feels like I can literally go out and do anything.”

That attitude has become an important part of his development as an artist.

Paez’s accomplishments are especially notable because his approach to music has largely been based on listening rather than conventional instruction.

Learning an instrument by ear requires a musician to identify pitch, rhythm, melody and harmonic relationships through sound and then translate those observations into physical movements on the instrument.

Paez repeated that process across multiple instruments.

Beginning with piano and later moving into instruments such as accordion and violin, he gradually built the versatility that now allows him to perform across country and bluegrass styles.

The violin, or fiddle in traditional country and bluegrass contexts, has become particularly important to his career, as demonstrated by his nominations for Best Fiddler of the Year.

Bluegrass and country music often rely heavily on musicians interacting directly with one another, listening closely and responding to changes in melody and rhythm.

For someone whose musical education was built largely around listening, those traditions have provided a natural environment for Paez’s abilities.

His story also demonstrates how an early source of curiosity can eventually shape an entire career.

As a child, Paez did not initially understand what every instrument looked like.

Instead, he heard their individual sounds and wanted to understand what produced them.

That curiosity motivated him to physically explore instruments and gradually learn how each one worked.

What started as fascination during church services eventually led to radio competitions, public performances, award nominations and an appearance at one of the most recognizable venues in the United States.

Yet Paez continues to measure his future in personal rather than celebrity terms.

His goal is not necessarily to become one of the most famous country musicians in America.

He wants enough success to continue making music professionally.

He wants to be able to support his family, participate fully in their lives and have the financial freedom to work on musical projects with people he respects.

That practical definition of success reflects the way Paez talks about his career as a whole.

Angel Paez onstage.

The awards and major performances matter, but they are valuable because they reinforce his belief that he can continue moving forward.

The White House performance was one of those moments.

Winning his first radio competition was another.

His Carolina Country Music Awards nominations have provided additional confirmation that his work is being recognized.

Each accomplishment has helped counter the self-doubt that Paez says sometimes accompanies his naturally shy personality.

And each has encouraged him to push toward the next challenge.

Today, Paez continues pursuing opportunities in country and bluegrass music while expanding on the unusual musical education he created for himself.

He remains a multi-instrumentalist whose skills were developed almost entirely through sound, experimentation and persistence.

For Paez, however, perhaps the most important achievement is the confidence music has given him.

Every competition, performance and nomination has become evidence that he can accomplish things that once may have seemed uncertain.

From a blind child listening curiously to instruments in church to a musician who has performed at the White House and earned recognition from the Carolina Country Music Awards, Paez’s journey has been shaped by one consistent motivation: the desire to keep listening, learning and creating.

And even as his career continues to grow, his ambition remains grounded.

He wants music to give him a living, provide meaningful experiences for his family and allow him to keep collaborating with other artists.

For someone who once simply wanted to understand the sounds he heard around him, that possibility now feels increasingly within reach.