Robert J. Taylor saw no reason to avoid performing, even though he never saw his audiences. The blind bluegrass picker, songwriter and host of a radio program for the blind died Sunday at UPMC St. Margaret of complications from gastric bypass surgery. He was 51.

Blind from birth, Mr. Taylor learned to play the guitar at about 13 and performed solo and with bands from Tennessee to Maine. His rhythm guitar playing won a Downeast Country Music Award in the 1980s. He hosted a traditional country and bluegrass radio show in Tennessee and turned down a chance to tour with bluegrass pioneer Jimmy Martin, said his wife of five years Carol Taylor.

"His blindness was never an obstacle for him," she said. "He did everything he could do."

After settling in Chalfant, Mr. Taylor performed often at private parties and offered his talent at fund-raisers for St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills and the Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind. He shared his encyclopedic knowledge of traditional American music and early radio as volunteer host of "The Country Store" on the Radio Information Service, a closed-circuit radio network for the blind.

Two years ago, Mr. Taylor self-produced a CD of bluegrass originals and covers, donating sales to the local chapter of Blind Outdoor Leisure Development, a social group for the blind. His volunteer work for the Chalfant Volunteer Fire Department included fund raising and spinning records at events.

Mr. Taylor is survived by his wife, a brother, Walter Taylor, and two sisters, Patricia Sabourin and Marie Auclair, all of Connecticut, and his guide dog, Cole. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today in St. Maurice Church, Forest Hills.