One Charlotte, North Carolina man is not letting the fact that he was born blind stop him from pursuing his dreams.
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The man, named Angel Paez, has accomplished a pretty impressive feat. In an interview with Aging Untold (via PEOPLE), Paez revealed that he has taught himself to play six instruments. He learned by ear.
Blind Man Has Taught Himself to Play Six Instruments
He told the outlet that what initially piqued his interest was when he was introduced to music in his church as a child.
"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," Paez told the outlet.
"It made me feel like I could never get enough of it. Like something so cool and so different and new that made me want more out of that."
Eventually, his passion for listening to music led to him wanting to actually play the instruments he heard. He first learned to play the piano. Then he moved on to the violin and the accordion. His interest continued to grow, and before he knew it, Paez knew how to play six instruments. He relied solely on his knowledge of how those instruments sounded.
When it became apparent that Paez had generational talent, his family began to try to push him to new heights. They started by entering him in a radio contest.
Paez called his first public performance his "first real motivation to play and get good enough to be on stage."
Paez won the contest and later went on to perform at the White House. A moment that he says gave him the "spark" to pursue a professional music career.
Paez Wants to Pursue Country Music Career
Angel has been nominated by the Carolina Country Music Awards for both Musician of the Year and Best Fiddler of the Year. Now he says that he wants to pursue a career in country music. But he made it clear to the outlet that fame is not his ultimate goal.
"My dream is to just be able to make a living out of it," he told the outlet. "I know I'm not going to get rich, but I just want to have enough to take my family out to dinner now and then and then have enough to be able to call my connections and say, 'Hey, let's go do this project.' "
