Patrick Costello

My father and I were some of the first - if not the first - traditional musicians to use the Internet as an educational platform. Our experiments in multimedia and open-source publishing have introduced tens of thousands of people around the world to the simple joy of homemade music.

I have been dealing with major hearing loss for most of my life. By 2007 I was almost completely deaf, but through sheer force of will managed to continue playing and teaching – often playing by feel when I could not hear my instrument. In 2009 I had a bone-anchored hearing aid installed at Johns Hopkins. The surgery and the device have given me some of my hearing back. I have used my experiences with hearing loss as an inpsiration in my work with other handicapped musicians.

I am the author of The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo, A Book of Five Strings, The Outlaws and Scalawags Songbook,This is Not A Banjo, Songs For Sunday and The How and the Tao of Folk Guitar. I currently live in Manassas, Virginia with my beautiful wife, Amy.