H.E.A.R.

H.E.A.R. is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing hearing loss, mainly from loud rock music. The acronym stands for Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers. It was founded in 1988 by rock musician Kathy Peck and physician Flash Gordon, M.D.[1] after Kathy suffered tinnitus and hearing loss after playing with the band The Contractions.

The initial funding for the organization's formation was provided by guitarist and songwriter for The Who, Pete Townshend, who also suffers from tinnitus as a result of loud volumes at Who concerts, and a particular incident during a live performance of My Generation, when drummer Keith Moon set off some explosives inside his drum kit right next to Townshend.


H.E.A.R. Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers) is a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) founded by musicians and physicians established 1988 (San Francisco, CA) with the support of founding donors Pete Townshend of the Who, The Les Paul Foundation, The Bill Graham Foundation, The Tec Awards Foundation, and many others. H.E.A.R.'s mission is the prevention of hearing loss and tinnitus among musicians, other music professionals, and all music fans (especially teens and young adults) through education and grass-roots advocacy. H.E.A.R. provides on-site seminars and training/education outreach programs to public schools and colleges, music and sound arts institutes, music conservatories, music camps, music events, and workplaces. H.E.A.R. also offers custom ear impressions, Musicians Earplugs, In Ear Monitors, HEAR Plugs, other hearing protection, music hearing services, referrals, screenings in San Francisco Bay Area and nationally via its H.E.A.R. Partner network of audiology and ENT hearing health professionals established in 1995 (www.Hearnet.com).


H.E.A.R. Programs

Listen Smart: Safely Handling the Power of Sound, includes H.E.A.R.'s Listen Smart film series and workshops for students and educators in partnership with The Les Paul Foundation, The Hearing Aid Music Foundation (HAMF) and The Bill Graham Foundation. Listen Smart: Safely Handling the Power of Sound "rockumentary" is a Cine Golden Eagle Award winner. Produced by Dan Beck (board of director of H.E.A.R. and Founder of Hearing Aid Music Foundation) and directed by Pamela French, Listen Smart features interviews with some of today's most popular musicians as they talk about the kinds of long-term hearing damage that can occur when music and other sounds are played too loudly. Features: Les Paul, Pete Townshend, Ozzy Osbourne, Wyclef Jean, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Moby and others. H.E.A.R.'s mission is to make hearing conservation part of every music education.

Plugs in the Clubs™H.E.A.R.® Initiative – Save Your Ears for Music Campaign™. In 2002, H.E.A.R. worked to pass San Francisco earplug ordinance for entertainment venues, the first earplug ordinance of its kind. H.E.A.R. is working to expand hearing conservation in music and entertainment venues to other cities in the United States and beyond. http://www.hearnet.com


Kathy Peck is a hearing health advocate, Executive Director and Co-founder of H.E.A.R., bass player, film score composer and music publisher with her husband Daivd Denny former member of the Steve Miller Band for (Monima Music) http://www.monimamusic.com. Kathy received The National Council on Communications Disorders Leadership Award in 1989 and has served as a board of director for The American Tinnitus Association (ATA) and is a voting member of The National Association of Recording Artists (NARAS), The Audio Engineering Society (AES) and The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). In 1994, Kathy received The Thomas Jefferson Cup from The American Academy of Audiology from its founding member Roger Ruth. In 2008, Kathy received The National Association of Music Manufactures (NAMM) "Believe in Music" Award for her 20+ years of service to the Music Products Industry and was inducted into the "200 Women in Music" oral history library.

For more than 30 years Kathy Peck has been at the forefront of cutting-edge music, community enrichment, and hearing health advocacy and reform. From her deep involvement in the burgeoning punk movement of the late 1970s to spearheading a nationwide call for new and innovative ways to prevent hearing loss, Peck has delivered visionary leadership to generations of music lovers, musicians, and other music professionals.

Kathy suffered hearing loss and tinnitus as a touring artist when her band The Contractions co-billed with Duran Duran at Oakland Coliseum. This motivated Kathy to help create change in the music culture with co–founder Flash Gordon, MD, and The H.E.A.R. board of directors John Doyle, Esq, Jerome Goldstein, MD , Dan Beck and Dr. Joseph Montano.


Started as a grassroots organization in 1988, H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers), Inc. is now recognized around the world as the first of its kind to both educate the public of the dangers of excessive noise from loud music, and to advocate and provide hearing protection for musicians and music fans by encouraging hearing health professionals and venders to enter the music hearing conservation market.

From producing public service announcements and conducting its Listen Smart outreach programs to developing public hearing conservation museum exhibits and distributing free ear plugs at music events, H.E.A.R. is promoting awareness of hearing damage, advocating for hearing health, and providing a bridge between the music and medical communities.


In 2007, H.E.A.R, largely through the efforts of Kathy Peck, was the principal organizer for DirkFest, a two-day concert event in San Francisco at Slim's nightclub and the Great American Music Hall that memorialized the life and legacy of Dirk Dirksen, a legendary punk rock promoter at Mabuhay Gardens and the On Broadway in San Francisco. Dirksen died on 20 November 2006, and was a close friend and advisor to Kathy Peck and H.E.A.R.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "H.E.A.R. | About H.E.A.R. | Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers". H.E.A.R. Official Website. H.E.A.R. – Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers, Inc.

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