After some more digging, I found an app called Vokul. It seems to do what I want and works pretty well. I haven't tested everything it can do, but I have been able to tell it to play by artist and by song title, pause, go to next song, etc.
I'm using a non-jailbroken iPad 1 running iOS 5.1. I've had this iPad for 2 years now, housing it in the basic Apple case. I have no screen protector (bought one, hated it). There are no visible scratches anywhere.
I will take a look at the Voice Over guide.
Thanks!
Bruce