Many people know Blessing Offor from his impressive appearances on the television shows The Voice and Platinum Hit. But before television audiences fell in love with him, Offor was a 2010 VSA International Young Soloists Award winner for his piano and vocal skills. Today, the Nashville-based musician is still writing and performing his infectious original songs, and urges other emerging artists with disabilities to decide to be the best at their artistic practice with “no qualifiers.”
What is your area(s) of artistic practice?
Music: songwriting, singing, multi-instrumentalist
Where are you currently based?
I live in Nashville, but I have spent the last month or so working in Los Angeles. I’ve been doing sessions and taking meetings.
What training or experiences have shaped you as an artist?
I’ve been lucky to have some great teachers in my life — professionals who didn’t lower the bar for me, mentors that I didn’t even appreciate until later in my life. I’m for sure grateful for them now though!
What are your current projects?
My everyday project is always practicing, and songwriting. My longer-term projects are to lock down a music publishing and record contract and put out music literally as soon as humanly possible.
Who or what is currently inspiring you in your artistic pursuits?
Anything and everything! I’m reading, podcasting, and listening to TED talks. Every new music Friday, I listen to a bunch of new records.
How does disability influence your work?
Disability influences my work because it’s part of my life experience. Sometimes it’s something to overcome, sometimes it’s something to embrace, sometimes it’s even something to be grateful for. It lets me identify with so many aspects of life.
What advice would you share with emerging artists with disabilities?
The sooner you decide to be the best at what you do with no qualifiers, the sooner you’ll find more opportunities. If someone finds it extra special that I get on airplanes by myself, that’s fine. In my mind, it’s just what I do because my goal is to play music all over all the time. I want to be the best. No qualifier needed. When that’s your goal, independence is just a natural side effect.
Follow Blessing Offor on Instagram and Twitter @blessingoffor, and on Facebook @blessingofformusic. You can view his past performances on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in the digital archive.