HOPE Series: Joey Stuckey | Musician & Producer

Photo of Joey playing the guitar on stage with red lights behind him with the wsb globe logo next to his image. White text on top that reads “HOPE WSB blog series: Interview with Joey Stuckey”

Joey’s Story

Welcome to our third installment of the WSB blog HOPE (Hanging Onto Positive Expectation) series! There are so many individuals doing great things for the Blind and Visually Impaired Community that we wanted to highlight and share their stories. We hope these stories can also serve as inspiration for those with vision loss and to remind us that there are so many people working towards a common goal of helping those who are blind and visually impaired. This month we are featuring and interview with Joey Stuckey from Macon Georgia. Joey has a pretty incredible story and is a renowned musician, music producer, and professor at Mercer University. Joey is also a big advocate for accessibility, specifically within the audio technology space.  

When Joey was 18 months old, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. “I really wasn’t supposed to live, and if I did live, they said I would never walk or talk,” Stuckey recalls. Joey has not only lived as a person who is blind, but he also has had several other health challenges throughout his life, including that he does not have an endocrine system. Stuckey notes that this actually takes more time and effort to manage than his blindness does. This has caused challenges throughout his lifetime, but his tenacity has allowed him to pursue his dreams.

While Stuckey’s story is unique in how he lost his sight, it is not completely unfamiliar for those who walk through the doors of World Services for the Blind, and one reason we wanted to share his story. Blindness does not discriminate and can happen to anyone no mater your age.  

Not only did Joey beat the odds of his diagnosis, he went on to become a talented musician and music producer without help from any sort of blindness agency or even a TVI in school. Even with his music career, he never learned braille music but instead uses his hearing most of the time. But his can-do attitude and willingness to try helped him succeed, especially as a person with a disability. 

“If the door is closed, I’ll just kick it open”

Joey smiling in his studio

Joey is also working hard on making the music industry accessible for the blind. While he is able to manage a lot of the music production side, there are still some major aspects lacking. And if it is accessible, Joey has to use several different types of screen readers for different tasks.  While he does get angry sometimes, but he is able to move on from those feelings and wants to create an accessible space for the blind who are interested in music. “I think everyone should have the opportunity to explore music and audio and see if that's something they want to do even if you don't want to make it a career”.  

Joey explains his passion for music, and working in the music industry, as an opportunity to explore several fields he is passionate about – science and art. You might be wondering where the science part come in, but it comes down to investigation, whether that is music production or figuring out how to make something accessible for himself. It’s all about the investigation for Joey. This is also such a great way when looking at learning a new kind of Assistive Technology.

While Joey is working towards making the music industry as accessible as possible, he made sure to emphasize that it isn’t afraid to ask for help when he needs it. And while there are people who might not help or want to judge someone for their disability Joey stated “The best way to overcome those people is to not give them any space in your mind or your heart and continually to positively educate people on the needs and what's reasonable”.

 “While it has been difficult and continues to be difficult, it's not it's not insurmountable in any way, shape, or form”

Joey Stuckey

 You can learn more about Joey on his website.

If you could like to be featured in a HOPE interview, please contact us here.