It’s late at night and Joe Anastasi has settled down in his Carle Place living room to play with bandmate Allen Rolleri. As his cat nestles in his guitar case, the two perform a song they’ve played countless times, with Rolleri singing while Anastasi strums his guitar and croons softly. To a listener, the tune is beautiful.
But for Anastasi, it’s a largely silent song. At 52, the lifelong musician has experienced profound hearing loss, first in his left ear in January and then in his right in May. Though he has since recovered 10% of his hearing in his left ear, he is now faced with not only learning how to navigate the world after profound hearing loss, but also the possibility that he may never play music in public again.
“I was performing from January to May with one functional ear,” Anastasi said. But now, he said, “Performing has been put on the shelf until I work this out.” A musician in two bands, Anastasi said he relies on his memory and physical cues to play the guitar, since he can’t hear the musical notes very well.
From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . “To make sure we’re on the same page, he can watch my foot or my hand,” said Rolleri, 49, of Mineola.
And when he sings, Anastasi said, he can still feel the familiar vibrations in his throat — “like walking around with your eyes closed.” Anastasi recent.
