For The Love of Music – A Perspective From My Life

Jacob Ross is a singer living in New York City who was born with Hydrocephalus. Music is a great tool and coping mechanism for him. When his anxiety causes him to have “trouble with thoughts in his head,” explained Jacob. Rock music allows him to have good days and helps him cope. Playing music began when he was a kid. His mom encouraged his passion. Jacob believes playing music is an important skill to have. He enjoys practicing with a vocal coach once a week because it “makes me feel good,” he said. Jacob views his disability as a superpower. His ability to sing acapella is one of those powers. 

Jacob has multiple goals. One of them is to inspire other people with disabilities. Another is to change people’s mindset about people with disabilities through music. So far, he has written seven songs. His most popular song is called “One of the Jakes.” His music writing process begins with thinking of a concept and then writing the lyrics. Jacob creates his music in collaboration with Gerry Powers as his instrumentalist and Dan Crawley as producer. He eventually wants his music to be on YouTube and in films. Jacob joined the LCA Marketing Team because he ‘’enjoys raising money.” He plans to be involved in the spring and summer semesters of LCA. Another one of his goals is to develop a singing workshop with other musicians. One of his top choices of potential guests is Alicia Keys. When asked what advice he would give to someone without disabilities to learn from the disabled community, he answered, ‘’Have fun writing the songs.’’ Jacob hopes to one day release an album.