You remember when the Bay Area was filled with the sounds of punk rock?  So does our guest Kathy Peck.  She played bass for the San Francisco all-woman band The Contractions.  Surprise!  All those loud shows led to hearing loss.

How did she deal with that?

How does music, laughter and DIY sound?

She talks about it all with Josh Elwood and Mark Romoser.

It’s Hip To Hear Survival Guide (download)

For over 30 years, Kathy Peck has been at the forefront of cutting edge music, community enrichment, and health advocacy and reform.

Her 25+ year founding organization H.E.A.R. has redefined the tools, language, and image surrounding hearing loss prevention both in San Francisco and around the world.  And, she’s championed all who value quality musical experiences.

HEAR’s accomplishments include :

1. The first earplug ordinance and fresh drinking water for music venues in San Francisco which has become a model for other cities.

2. Peck vs United Artists, the first ADA class action that brought about assistive listening devices and wheel chair assess to movie theaters, court rooms and other public venues etc,

3. More recently Kathy Peck worked on the Affordability Act for Hearing Aids appearing on NBC News with Lester Holt -it passed the House and Senate  and was signed into law.

Peck also served on the sub committee that formed the National Institute on Deafness with the first deaf president of Gallaudet University  promoting hearing conservation and media attention to these issues

She says, “I have been very blessed with my work in music hearing conservation whose mission grew worldwide with early support of Pete Townsend from Who.”

Through HEAR, Peck makes custom earplugs for musicians and music fans and conducts hearing conservation programs at music and sound arts schools.  Some of her clients are the SF Opera, SF Conservatory of Music and the Audio Engineering Society.

From her deep involvement in pioneering the cultural movement known as “Punk and New Wave” to spearheading a nationwide call for innovative ways to prevent hearing loss, Peck has delivered visionary leadership to multi- generations of music lovers, musicians – and beyond.

Audio editing by Sheela Gunn-Cushman.

The post Musicians and Hearing Loss with Kathy Peck of H.E.A.R. appeared first on KPFA.