There is a general total world historical connection between blindness and mystical insight.  It has never varied culture to culture. The clearest representation of that of course in the United States is the black gospel singer // and in theater the clearest representation is Greek tragedy of 400 or 500 BC. //    If you have no visual sight you have second sight.  You can see God, you can see the spiritual world, you can see morality, you can see the way things work.

 – Lee Breur

Blind Willie Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Flora Molton — the African American gospel tradition has been a haven for the blind. Heavenly Sight: Black Gospel’s Blind Singers is an hour-long radio music documentary and website telling the story of singers who overcame disability and prejudice to chart the course of American music from sacred songs all the way to rock.

Our audio documentary will explore blues and gospel music – from church hymns and the oral tradition through the secular soul of Ray Charles up until Blind Willie Johnson’s Dark was the Night went into space with Voyager to bring holy blues to the galaxy.

We’ll also explore the unique perspective of the blind musician – from music lessons at vocational institutions; singing (and being robbed) on street corners; navigating the music industry and the larger world; and how their worldview informs their feeling and performance of their music.

Heavenly Sight hinges on new interviews with musicians both blind (Jimmy Carter of The Blind Boys of Alabama, Larcene Turk, Valerie Capers, Henry Butler),  and sighted (Bernice Johnson Reagon, Lee Breur, David Bromberg) and, of course, the music. Our audio documentary will appeal to anyone interested in blues, jazz, the history of American music or hearing the world from a different point of view.