Joey’s Song
Joey's Song raises money to fund research into treatments and cures for epilepsy. We host concerts featuring Rock Roll Hall of Famers, Grammy winners and Top 40 artists. On the podcast we talk with our artists, industry leaders and our key contributors to find out what makes Joey's Song so important to them.
To learn more about Joey's Song visit us at Joeyssong.org and follow us on social media @joeyssong on all the popular platforms.
Joey’s Song
WCZR - Code Zero Radio - interview with Mike Gomoll
What if one in three individuals suffering from epilepsy found no relief from current treatments? Tune into this heart-wrenching episode as Mike Gomoll, founder of Joey's Song, shares his deeply personal journey of turning the pain of losing his son Joey to a rare form of epilepsy into a powerful mission for change. Mike joins Andy McNamara on Code Zero Radio's Fox City's Core to discuss the genesis and evolution of Joey's Song, a nonprofit that has rallied the music community to support epilepsy research and patient services. From releasing CDs featuring artists like REM and Roseanne Cash to organizing the much-anticipated Freezing Man concert, discover how music becomes a lifeline for those battling epilepsy.
We also uncover the harsh realities faced by epilepsy patients, particularly the third of them who find no respite from current treatments. Mike shares the innovative and creative fundraising efforts Joey's Song spearheads, including the adaptation to digital events during the pandemic. Listen as he recounts memorable moments with artists such as Rick Nielsen and Charlie Barron, and explore the behind-the-scenes magic that makes Joey's Song events unforgettable. The episode emphasizes the importance of continued research and community support, giving hope and resources to those who need it most.
Excitement escalates as Mike reveals the festival's new format, transforming Freezing Man into a week-long musical extravaganza. With performances from iconic bands like Soul Asylum and The Bangles leading up to an All-Star Jam, this year's event promises to be one for the books. Mike also discusses the logistical challenges and strategic goals of expanding Joey's Song events beyond Madison. Don't miss this inspiring conversation brimming with passion, dedication, and the power of music to make a meaningful difference. Follow our podcast, leave a review, and help us spread the word to amplify Joey's Song's impact.
Visit www.joeyssong.org to learn more about Joey's Song and the work we do and get details on our next set of shows. Also be sure to follow us on all popular social media platforms with our handle @joeyssong
Joey's Song is a federally registered 501(c)3 charity that raises money to fund research into treatments and cures for epilepsy. Joey's Song is 100% volunteer with no paid staff, so we are able to convert more dollars into life saving research.
Our Joey's Song family of artists include Rock N Roll Hall of Famers, Grammy and Emmy winners and Top 40 hitmakers.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Joey Song Podcast. I'm your host, mike Gamal. For those of you that are new to Joey Song, we're a 501c3 charity that raises money to fund research into treatments and cures for epilepsy. We also direct funds to support patient services and community programs as well. Our fundraising vehicle is music. Every year, we hold a series of concerts that feature Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, grammy winners and Top 40 hit makers. These amazing artists all come to Madison, wisconsin, each January for a festival that we call Freezing man. You should know that every one of the artists that plays at our event donates their time and talent. None of our performers take a penny to join us. We have no paid staff. We are a 100% volunteer organization. The next Freezing man is scheduled to take place January 8th through the 11th 2025, with six amazing shows scheduled over four days. To find out more about Joey's Song, you can find us at our website, joey'songorg, or follow us on social media, where all of our handles are at Joey's Song.
Speaker 1:Hey everybody, this week, on the Joey's Song podcast podcast, the tables are turned. Instead of me asking the questions, I'm the one being asked the questions thereof. Is that the right sentence? Grammar words. Right order never been my strength. Anyway, I joined our buddy, andy mcnamara, on cold zero radio uh up in appleton for an hour-long discussion. We walked, walked through some of the Joey song history and he asked me a bunch of really interesting questions and I gave a bunch of really boring answers. But if you got some time, stick around and listen to my interview on Code Zero Radio up in Appleton.
Speaker 2:Wisconsin. You're tuned in to Fox City's Core on WCZR Code Zero Radio. For the show that gives you an opportunity to call in and be a part of the show. For the show that gives you an opportunity to call in and be a part of the show, Our call in line is 920-358-0795. Core. My guest today is Mike Amal. He's the founder and president of Joey's Song. That's a nonprofit organization that uses the power of music to fight epilepsy. Joey's Song was named after Mike's son, Joey, who had a rare and devastating form of epilepsy that took his life at the age of five. Joey had a passion for music and remarkable talent for remembering songs. Mike wanted to honor Joey's memory and spirit by creating Joey's Song. The foundation has grown over the years, bringing together musicians, supporters and the epilepsy community to work towards better treatments and, ultimately, a cure for epilepsy. Joey's Song is continually evolving and I can't wait to talk to Mike about what's to come. Mike Ma, welcome to Fox City's core on Code Zero Radio.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Andy. Hey, I was watching your intro. There are a lot of familiar faces on there too. You've had a few of the Joey Song family join you. I saw Frank and Jay and lots of folks.
Speaker 2:Well, that's one of the really neat things about Joey Song and seeing the show is you've got people from up in Appleton, You've got a big base of Madison musicians Pi Cohen and Jay Moran and just many. It's pretty neat to see them performing with these huge musicians that everybody knows.
Speaker 1:Well, and then of course we've got the Viroqua contingent with Mr Vig as well, so we've got all the corners of the state covered and Wally Ingram's from Beloit. So really we could do one of those little pin maps. And I'm sure there's some conspiracy theorists that if you connect them they probably spell out something or other. But we do have a lot of, and then a lot of the other guests that are national have Wisconsin ties as well. I'm sure we'll talk about that over our time together as well.
Speaker 2:So the Joey song. It's been going on for quite a while and kind of alluded in the intro what it was about. But can you let us know how the idea came to you to start this?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, first of all so I don't get too much credit for being any type of a genius the live concert event involved truly by serendipity, and I'll explain that as well.
Speaker 1:So Joey's Song started out as CDs. If you put your mind back to 2010, which is when we started floating around the idea of doing this, the idea was to put out music CDs. For those of you of a certain age, that's how music used to come to us. It didn't come to us over the phone, but right around that time. And there was a thing, back in the early 2010s, of the compilation CD for a lot of charitable causes, political causes and whatever. And what you do is you would get artists, would give B-sides or rare tracks so they'd record something new, put it together, and then you you know, your 1095 or 1495 or whatever CDs used to cost would go to whatever that political cause was or that charitable cause, and that's what we were looking to do was to do just that. Unfortunately, 2010 was right around the time when the entire world decided they were never going to pay for recorded music again or not pay anything more than 0.00075 cents per stream. So we released a bunch of these CDs, Tons of really cool people the guys from REM, Roseanne Cash, Crash Test Dummies, Della Mitri, Freedy, Johnston, tons of really great people donated some really unusual tracks to us. Problem is, nobody bought the darn things. And anybody that's in the music business that's listening to me right now knows the effort that it would go into to clear 15, 30 tracks, you know, gratis, from publishing to writers, to record companies, to labels, knows that that's no mean feat just to be able to, you know, get the music for free. But every time we would release these CDs, we would have a CD release party, which is also something you kind of did back in the day, and so we would have as we'd release them, we'd have musicians Freedy appeared, and Michael McDermott and Rhett Miller and lots of really cool folks showed up and we'd do kind of these standard, you know, 30, 35 minute, 45 minute singer, songwriter sets and they were great.
Speaker 1:Well, we found out pretty early on as the direction that the entire music business has gone, we were making more money off of the live events than we were off of the recorded music, which is very much. You know, unless you're the kind of person we refer to by a single name Taylor, Beyonce, Rihanna, Bruce, you're not making a lot of money these days off of recorded music and so that's why you know guys are on the road, when there's not a global pandemic, for 200, 250 days a year and they're meeting you back at the merch table to sign CDs and all that. The music business flipped and that's right when Joey's song kind of came online. So we started doing these events and then right around the time when I was kind of scratching my head, going what are we going to do about this? Because we were putting a lot of time and effort into the CDs and they weren't selling and it was the live thing, but I really wasn't sure where I was going to go.
Speaker 1:Right around that time Garbage played a dual headlining show with Flaming Lips at Warner Park, which is the minor league park here in Madison where the Mallards play Sorry, I'm showing my age by calling them the Muskies where the Mallards play and BV and I ran into each other. We had known each other back in college. I was at Headliners, he was working with Spooner but he went on to win Grammy Awards and MTV Moon Men and I did not go on to do either of those things. But BV and I, with Freedy, kind of ran into each other backstage, started talking. I'll cut the story a little bit shorter than that.
Speaker 1:Long story short is one of the things that Butch agreed to do is have his kind of side project, the Know it All Boyfriends, come and play. One of our benefits. We did that back in 2015, 2016, I think. At the Majestic we had Chaser, a local band, open up, and over time we developed this model that we're at now, which is we have the KIAB serve as a house band and then we have all these folks kind of come and join us. And really, once we moved to the Barrymore, which was a bit of a bigger stage, it's just kind of multiplied. And now you know, the artists that play one year not only want to come back, but they recommend friends. And now we've got what is about to be announced as a multi-day event happening in January of 2025.
Speaker 2:How was the process of putting a CD together compared to trying to put a show together?
Speaker 1:process of putting a CD together compared to trying to put a show together. Well, the CD was easier in many ways because it's a pretty standard process. There's standard contracts and really all you're asking of the artist or, in some cases, their management is, you know, sent, see. The other thing, andy, you have to remember, is back in 2010, you couldn't get every song that had ever been recorded or released on your phone right. So getting that rare b-side or the live cut, that was a big deal, at least to you know, dorky completists like me. But the process of getting it was pretty straightforward. So you either got to the artist or their management said hey, we're looking for something that you know is no longer in print, and everybody had something in their drawer or something that was a B-side to a single a long time ago. So that part of it was easier.
Speaker 1:Now, the part of it that was definitely difficult and time consuming was getting all of those gratis sign offs on the release Right, and in some cases, you know the problem is all it would take is one person in that chain. You know if there were three writers and you know the two publishing, or each of the writers had their own publishing and you know, add on to that thing. All it would take is, you know, one of those people to say, no, I'm not going to give up my royalties. And you know, there's a bunch of tracks sitting on my hard drive that I wish the world could hear. And they maybe will. They just won't hear it from Joey's song because of that. So the CDs were much more time consuming and laborious. The music events is a lot more free form and there's a lot more ups and downs to it as well, so they're kind of apples and oranges. I'm much more enjoying doing the live events now because there's a little bit more of that buzz with it. I guess is the best way to say it.
Speaker 2:Well, we should kind of set some background about why this is such an important concert every year. Epilepsy is. Obviously you've got a connection to it. I think a lot of people have connections to epilepsy because it has been historically underfunded, but so many people are diagnosed with it. Joey Song has done a huge, huge thing. They've raised over a million dollars, which. Can you tell us what that goes towards?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So my son, joe, as you said in the intro, passed away just shy of his fifth birthday in 2010. He had a particularly rare and heinous form of epilepsy called Dravet's syndrome, and there's a family of these rare pediatric epilepsies. Epilepsy is like a spectrum disorder, very much like autism or cancer, in the sense that there's not just one of them, there's not just epilepsy, there's multiple causes and multiple ways that epilepsy manifests itself, and so the type that Joe had was a chromosomal kind of stuff that even after you know almost 18, 19 years of being aware of it, I still can't properly explain it. But that's more on me than anything else. But while there have been a lot of treatments that have come out over the past 10, 20 years, all they've really done is kind of minimize the side effects. It has been a buzzword in the industry that one in three people that have epilepsy don't get relief from their seizures through medicine or surgery or diet or other lifestyle changes. That number hasn't significantly changed over the last 20, 25 years, even though many new treatments have come on the market and what that really says is the side effects have been lessened. So there's been great progress with these medications and keeping the terrible side effects that epilepsy drugs or anticonvulsants can have. We're really not hammering down that number. There's still a lot of people that wake up every day and worry every minute about if there's going to be another seizure or something.
Speaker 1:So, joey Sung, we really focus on funding research for treatments and cures, funding those really smart people you know in the lab coat with their lab coats, mixing test tubes. I'm sure it's not done that way anymore, but you know that really smart lady with the white thing. You know white lab coat mixing it and when it turns from green to blue, somebody's life is getting better and that's really what we focus on. So of that 1.3 million we've been a part of since we started, joey Sung, the lion's share of that has gone to the research community. We also fund other parts that do patient services and those types of things, but we really focus on the treatments and cures because, having been a part of it, I know that that's the real lifeline. Certainly, the patient services help everybody live a better life day to day and cope with the disorder, but finding the treatments is at least what spoke to us and our family.
Speaker 2:And Joey Song does so much. One of the things I enjoyed seeing was, a couple of years ago, Fritty Butch and their old boyfriends. They wrote a song based on a child's idea it was a train, a train to somewhere awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was great. Things like that, I think, makes what Joey Song is doing so unique. You guys every year getting bigger and bigger and all of a sudden a few years ago you had the Sylvie was coming up and then COVID hit and so you guys were forced to go all digital At first. Was that a thing that made you think maybe we're not going to be able to raise money this year and meet the goals that we're trying to trying to reach?
Speaker 1:yeah, that's always a struggle. I have to. You know, when I, when I don't have my gosh, this is fun hat on and get to talk with all these cool people. You know, the business side of me does come out and that's always a balancing act. I try to balance the investment because part of the reason we can grow is making it bigger and bigger every year, being able to add more folks and grow our community. But it certainly has added costs. It's not what it was, but you know this is very much like a business and very much like the concert business. You know it's about getting as many people through the door as we can and raising awareness as part of what we do, but it is certainly a balancing act.
Speaker 1:As far as the costs come and you've given me a great opportunity, Andy, to talk a little bit about something else I need to point out that all of these artists that come and perform do it for free. Nobody that you're seeing. These rock and roll Hall of Famers and Grammy winners and top 40 hit makers take a penny for their time, Right? So, for example, I don't know what Butch gets for five days, which is what he's here with us, but it's certainly not. You know a ham sandwich and two beers, which is what he gets from me to do it, so we are able to keep our costs down.
Speaker 1:We're also an all volunteer organization. There's no paid staff. I don't take a salary, as you can see. We have our luxurious Joey Sung International headquarters here in my basement and the High Noon. All places that are going to be involved in the 2025 event basically give us the venues at cost. Obviously, the folks that are working get paid, but otherwise. So everybody kind of pitches in and I think that's a testament to both the event and the cause that we're doing. People can take it to heart and it's easy for people to give of their time or of the resources they have.
Speaker 2:These shows are phenomenal. People should. If you've never attended a Joey song last year the show you could purchase a live stream which, if you couldn't make it down to Madison you could watch it from the comfort of your own home. But to actually be there in person, it's a pretty unique experience to see all these different Grammy winners and all these local heroes up there performing together and just the brainstorming that goes in each year to making it a unique experience. Last year was the no Adult Girlfriends versus no Adult Boyfriends. There's a big wheel, spin the wheel and then find out what genre and then the bands competed for a big belt, which is pretty neat, and it's a struggle to find out, to brainstorm things, to get bigger and bigger.
Speaker 1:It's got to be a little stressful.
Speaker 1:It is. It's going on right now. So even though we've got, you know, members from the bangles and we've got, you know, all of the members of garbage and cheap trick and all these other folks, basically what they're playing is covers because we put together these Frankenstein monsters sort of bands, if you will, Right? So the you know the singer from fountains of Wayne and, uh, the Soul Asylum and the drummer from Garbage and you know the two gals from the Bangles are singing and then they're doing a Camper Van Beethoven song or whatever it might happen to be, right. So that's both the stressful part. But the fun part is to figure out, you know, and especially when somebody hits on an idea. And so it's myself and Jay Moran and Butch Vig and Gail Greenwood from Belly that are kind of the core. We got Alex Drosser joining us, appleton's own joining us this year is kind of part of that brainstorming team.
Speaker 1:But I remember when we hit on Son of a Preacher man for Kelly Stewart to sing a couple of years ago and everybody knew we had gotten that one right, it was like, oh man, she is going to kill this. And then when we got Come on, feel the Noise this year with Sierra Swan singing that one. There's just some that you know where you go. All right, this is going to be great, and so it's a lot of that people throwing ideas back and forth. Our biggest problem, to be honest with you, andy, is keeping it under. You know, four and a half hours like last year's show was that was too long and that would even make Springsteen or the Grateful Dead cry. You know, when you're doing a four and a half hour show, let alone the audience members that are standing through it all as well. So it's stressful. But it's also a lot of fun when you kind of hit on it and go, oh, that song's perfect you perfect.
Speaker 2:I love it when there's a new artist that comes on board. Last year you had Debbie and Vicky from the Bangles and of course they did a Bangles song, which is kind of cool when those bands do mix up and then play some of the original tunes that you remember. But yeah, you mentioned Sierra Swan. She has some pipes on her.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, well, you know, the really fun thing about that bangle song is they did Hero Takes a Fall, which Vicki wrote, but Sue always sang it. So last year was the first time Vicki had ever sang the lead on her song live, and that was that's again. One of the other cool things that you kind of get to do on this is people can flex their muscles a little bit and do some stuff they don't normally get to do. I remember I did our podcast a few weeks ago with Vicki and we talked about that. That. You know, even though that's her song, she wrote it. That was a Sue Hoff's, you know, lead vocals. So that's fun. But yeah, I mean the discovery.
Speaker 1:So we talked a little bit earlier about people recommending other people and there's a very Midwest ethos to Joey song Cause that's where I'm from, that's where Butch is from and that's where a lot of that built up. But by adding Gail and Tanya from belly, we found like, uh, gina Volpe from Luna chicks I mean she if, if it hadn't been for Rick Nielsen last year, she would have been the top shredder on stage. I didn't know anything about them. I'm now a huge fan and Gina's amazing Sierra came to us through another connection and I was aware of her. But you know, when she did the baby, baby, baby on, come on, feel the noise. I mean that was a hair on the back of your neck kind of moment. So it's also introduced us in the Midwest, to some of these amazing folks as well. It's super cool.
Speaker 2:Has there been one artist that has just been mind-blowing for you to play this event that you never thought you would get to Madison?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, rick, I mean I grew up in Madison, wisconsin, and I grew up in the 70s. I was in my teenage years and Cheap Trick was our band. I mean that was between the Rockford Boys and Robin. Being from Wisconsin Dells, I mean that was pride and growing up being a teenager in the 70s, every show at the Coliseum until Cheap Trick broke had Cheap Trick open.
Speaker 1:So I saw Cheap Trick open for Queen, I saw Cheap Trick open for Kiss, I saw them headlined a half of the Dane County Coliseum. And I have to tell you, as you probably know, andy, during the show I am running around. But when the Nielsen Trust did that set, I went around and I stood behind the speakers where Rick was and I just sat there for the entire set going Rick, effing, nielsen is playing my benefit. And that was a mind blower. That was one that we had been trying for a couple of years to get Rick to come and the schedules just didn't work. And when it did, I pinched myself when he walked into the venue that night, going holy man. So yeah, rick.
Speaker 2:You mentioned, people were taking pictures of his amp.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So even last year, the year before, when Rick couldn't make it, miles Nielsen, his son, brought the Budokan amp right, the amp that Budokan was recorded on, and there were people the year before taking pictures. But then again this year, when word spread, the amp is here and there were literally folks with their cameras out, you know, doing the selfie on the stage, because you know, once, once they set up Rick's amp, uh, when Mark, his roadies or his tech, set up his amp and his microphone with the pics, nobody touched it. It was like Nope, nope, you can't go near it, can't go near it. And so everybody was taking pictures. It was as close to the Charlie Barron's phenomenon, which is, everybody wants their picture. Charlie's one of our regular guests. Everybody wanted their picture with Charlie. Well, every musician wanted their picture with the amp. It's great, just great.
Speaker 2:Charlie's done a really good job the last couple years. He a couple years ago did the auction for the tackle box or something toolbox or something that he found, and is he normally winging his material?
Speaker 1:oh yeah um, yeah, well, I, I think, I think, didn't. I think the year first year he did his wisconsin goodbye set, so I think he pulled stuff out of his set. And then last year they did he and Adam did some of the songs from their album which I think I have around here somewhere, but I'm not going to waste your time looking for it. So that part is out of his set. But you know the auction. And then last year he also helped us with the big wheel spin with Big Brian Butch. That's all off the cuff. So, um, and, and when I'm setting up the show and doing the run of show, I just do 10 minutes, charlie, and I just assume he'll kill it, which he does every year.
Speaker 2:You mentioned your podcast, the Joey song podcast, which I've been slowly digging into. Uh, lots of great episodes. Some are about the artists that are playing and then some are interviews. You've got one with a member of the Go-Go's.
Speaker 1:Really Wow, yes, yes. So you know not to turn this into a Ted talk on marketing, but one of the issues that I now I've got my marketing hat on as opposed to my concert empresario hat on is helping to educate people on who some of these folks are. Because while folks like you and I, andy, are deep in the woods music dorks, most people are casual listeners and know what they like. And especially folks of my generation and yours in the generation behind me, know songs, maybe know artists, but certainly don't know so-and-so was the lead singer of right. And so, because Joey's Song is such a unique event, there's so much to explain to the first-time person, right? The example I always give and it's no slight to my pal Chris is if I said to the person on the street hey, chris Collingwood is playing the Joey song, benefit, ninety eight percent of the people would give you the Scooby Doo, you know, because they don't. And so no, if I said Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne is playing Joey song, you'd get maybe I don't know, I'm making these numbers up Thirty seven percent would say oh, I've heard of Fountains of Wayne. But if I told you the guy that sang Stacy's mom is coming, you'd go. Oh, I love that song, right.
Speaker 1:Well, to do that across all of our bands with some of the folks we've had in the past, plus like again, if I just drop a Vicki Peterson on you, you know past Plus, like again, if I just drop a Vicki Peterson on you, you know, maybe bangles you would know, you know. So it's a long process and so I really look at the podcast as a way over time to introduce people to both the bands and the people that are coming. So then it's kind of more of a OK now, now I got it Collingwood, fountains of Wayne, great bangles, bangles walk like an Egyptian or whatever. It is kind of stuff. So it really first of all it's fun for me and it's a general marketing tool because it also markets to their fans. But I also kind of look at it as an education thing to really introduce some of these amazing folks to people that might just turn on the radio in the morning and turn it off when they leave the office or get out of the car.
Speaker 2:Well, I do resemble that remark about being a music dork, but I learned stuff when I was listening to the podcast. There was the Fountain of Wayne's episode you mentioned I think it was called Road Song, which I'd never heard before. I looked it up on Spotify right away and started listening to it. It's a great song. I'd never heard of it before. So I think even people that are very into music and knowledgeable, they're going to learn something with these podcasts. You mentioned something in that Fountain of Wains episode about seeing Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze and you said it was possibly at the 930 Club, which, right away the nine 30 club, is one of those iconic clubs in Washington DC. But you didn't remember if, if you saw him at the nine 30 club.
Speaker 1:But either way, were you at the nine 30 club at one point? Yeah, yeah, I, I, I've, I've seen a few shows. So back in my pre long hair and tattoo days, um, I worked for IBM and did a lot of traveling around and the places I went went were Bethesda, washington DC and New York were the two places I went. Well, great places to go if you're into music at all. Right. So I'd see shows at Irving Plaza and you know all the New York venues and I would see stuff I would go to.
Speaker 1:930 was a place I went I'm trying to think of this, this getting old. There's the Birchmere, which is in Virginia, somewhere that are all within, you know, spitting distance of Washington DC. So I didn't. I think 930 is where I saw Glenn. I saw him a couple of times. There was a time when Squeeze was on hiatus, whatever you want to call it where Glenn was. Just he had both a solo band one of the all time great, glenn Tillbrook and the Fluffers. I'll just leave it at that. And so I would see, see him do that show. And I saw him, like I said, at the 930. And he looks like my screen is frozen, hasn't it? But I hope you can still hear me I can still hear you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is good. Unfortunately, the expression on my face on the frozen screen is terrifying.
Speaker 2:That's the expression I had on my face when I heard you say you were at the 930 Club.
Speaker 1:But Glenn would do these he used to call them cabaret shows and so it would be him and an acoustic guitar. I think his son might have joined him on some of them and he would just basically do a few squeeze songs and covers. And he did Red Dragon Tattoo before I had heard it and I'm like, holy crap, what is this? Because, again, it's just that slice of Fountains of Wayne.
Speaker 2:I don't know what you would even call it. You know reverential stuff. It's, it's a. It's amazing, it's truly amazing. Well, you worked at a club in madison, uh yeah, in the 80s. Right, you had to see some pretty spectacular acts coming through there yeah.
Speaker 1:So for those of you that were around madison in the 80s, uh, there was a club called head excuse me, the soda went down the wrong tube Headliners on University Avenue, next door to where the Church Key was then and is now, and it was about a thousand seat venue and we used to get a lot of the. The easiest way for me to describe it is MTV bands on the way up and the 60s bands on the way down, right, so we would get Savoy Brown and some of those kind of bands on the way down and then we would get a lot of the MTV bands on the way up, so Joan Jett and John Cougar and REM and the Police. U2 is a very memorable show. I remember it was the boy tour, I think that U2 came through and they just everybody knew that this band won't be playing here very long, and so what we would get is a lot of the bands, not to again. Ted Talk.
Speaker 1:Number two on how people used to book tours, and they probably still do.
Speaker 1:In a way, for these 500 to 1000 seat venues, they would book Chicago, minneapolis, you know the detroit, and then they would fill in the rest of the dates in smaller towns like madison or dubuque or you know that kind of stuff in the smaller things, which was the only way wasn't the only way, but it was a good way where a smaller city with a lower price point could afford these bands, because if they weren't playing they would be sitting in a hotel and they'd be paying, paying roadies and all that other stuff.
Speaker 1:So you would work out deals with agents to get them and so you know we wouldn't, we wouldn't get you two on Friday but we got them on Tuesday. You know kind of stuff and tons of great bands and that's where Spooner, which is the band that Butch and Duke were in, you know back in the day would play and how I got got to know them because we kind of hung around in the same circles but in the day would play and how I got to know them because we kind of hung around in the same circles. But yeah, headliners was great for Madison. There was a much more robust live music scene in Madison back in those days. I could name, you know, merlins and Bunkies and OKs and you know all these really great clubs that were around and it's a shame there's good ones around now but it's not quite the same as it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like Madison is very into destroying their old historic buildings currently and putting up those high-rise apartments all over the place.
Speaker 1:Man can't go up East Wash Avenue, and it does. You know. I am at the point, andy, in my life where I am the old man telling the kids to get off his lawn, so I freely admit that. But East Wash Avenue now looks more like it would in any big city, with all the high rises, and I guess that's progress.
Speaker 2:We were talking about some of the people that have performed a Joey song. We did not mention your son Sam who's performed at Past Joey Songs and he's really good, so the music is obviously an interest that the family shares. Sam, I believe, he played an original song a couple of years ago. Last year he did, I think, something from the Beatles and it's cool to see him up there again with all these musicians and just knowing what he's been through it it puts a little more kind of a personal spin on on the show.
Speaker 2:Not only that, but in between performances you guys do a good job of explaining what Joey song is and what you've been doing. You've got I don't know what the correct word vignettes maybe or something like. That's a good one. I'll go with that one who's putting all that stuff together.
Speaker 1:So we're very fortunate Lots of folks. Yeah, that's a good one, I'll go with that one. Who's putting all that stuff together? So we're very fortunate Lots of folks. Well, let me do it this way If you go to the Joey Song website, joysongorg which you have been putting up on the screen frequently, which is great and click on our board, there you go A board tab job.
Speaker 1:We have both a very distinguished board of directors and something we call our industry advisor group, which includes many folks from the music and film business, and one of the folks that's both on our board of directors and our advisor entertainment advisor group is a gentleman named david michaels who is a filmmaker and has tons of connections. I met him through butch and David is a Hollywood filmmaker and if you IMDB David Michaels, you will find that he worked with Samuel Goldwyn during Goldwyn's last few years at MGM and lots of other stuff and continues to produce movies and David helps with a lot of that. He puts a lot of time and effort into both creating the concepts behind it and then doing the filming. If you watch some of the shorts from last year, he's the fella in the stocking cap that's asking some of the questions. That's David and he helps and literally brings in Hollywood-level talent to help us film and edit those.
Speaker 2:And talking about the event getting bigger and bigger. Not only are you playing these clips in between, but last year you recorded your thank yous so that you didn't have to remember the plethora of thank yous that you would normally have to stand up there and read. Did you like that method of having that pre-recorded so you didn't have to worry about forgetting anybody? The pressure that comes with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was exactly it. That was exactly it, that was exactly it. And if I had done that live, that would have taken twice as long, because I also cry at grocery store openings. So, uh, by thanking everybody ahead of time when I didn't have to look at them and think about it, otherwise it would have taken twice as long because I would have been blubbering like a baby. Have taken twice as long because I would have been blubbering like a baby and it just was. It was a better way to do that. No, when you know the limitations of the talent in that case me you try to find ways around them so that you can kind of keep things moving along.
Speaker 2:Has there ever been a big foobarb during?
Speaker 1:one of the shows where something started to go wrong and somehow got fixed. There were two from last year's show, the first of which was when we were going through the jam set. It was time to sing Feel Like Making Love, which our buddy, dave Perner, was supposed to be singing. I think the band was starting to noodle with it and there was no perner oh, I remember that yeah, and I, and there was nobody that.
Speaker 1:So the joey song is kind of a loose conglomerate of stage managers and nobody was finding dave and I, literally and if you know the backstage, at the sylvie, he was in the far dressing room at the end of it, which was was more than my 63-year-old legs could take and 63-year-old lungs, and so I had to go running back there as the band's trying to keep playing the intro over and over and I'm just screaming. Perner and I had looked in a few other places and I won't say what they are because it'll be disparaging today, but I finally found him and dragged him out. So that was one. And then the second one was at the end. I'm not going to.
Speaker 1:I think we were supposed to be playing the weight or everyday people, I don't remember which one it was, but the, the. The monitor was wrong, the teleprompter with the lyrics on it, and so the band started playing the right song and the wrong lyrics came up and somehow the band got through it as well. So, and then there've been a few others that have, but those are two memorable ones from last year where it's like what are we doing here, kids? But that's the, that's the fun and that's the beauty of kind of that. Uh, do it on a shoestring way that we do things.
Speaker 2:This year it seems like there's some changes. I've seen Freezing man around as a name and it looks like the whole thing is going to kind of take on a different form this year. Are you able to talk about any of that?
Speaker 1:I am. I, you know, technically we're not announcing the format until September 9th, so I'm sure I will get in trouble with the marketing folks, but what the hell? You only live once and I'm the boss. So if I want to change the rules, I'm going to do that. So one of the things I mentioned to you a little bit earlier is the show last year went on to four and a half hours, which is just too darn long for any show, but especially one that's geared towards older audience, shall we say, as ours is. Not that there's not plenty of stuff for the kids, but if you look at the acts of artists, it skews towards an older demographic.
Speaker 1:And the Sylvie is a glorious venue, perfect for what we do, except for the fact that there's only about 150 seats in a 2,500 seat venue or capacity venue. So one of the things that and I'll try not to sprain my elbow patting myself on the back, but everybody keeps wanting to come back, which says something that we're doing something right with the venue, all of our artists, and we always try to add new artists every year, and we've added a couple, and we can talk a little bit about what those are in a second, but we can't keep adding artists and not do something to change the format. But we also can't have these artists, as I mentioned earlier, that come in for four and five days and then come and play. You know one song Not that anybody has ever complained, because not one person has ever complained about not having enough of a role at Joey song. But I also want to be respectful. These are not, you know, this is not you and me, andy, with a washboard and a you know a comb and tissue paper singing. You know Stanley brothers songs. You know these are pros.
Speaker 1:Um, so what we're expanding to is a series of full band shows in the week leading up to it, and the Freezing man is a takeoff on Burning man.
Speaker 1:We're trying to come up with a way to brand the festival that's lighthearted and plays into the Wisconsin in January, and there's not one Wisconsin native that wouldn't recognize what Freezing man is.
Speaker 1:So we're going to do a whole bunch of shows and while it's not a thousand percent solidified between the Sylvie, the High Noon and the Majestic, that week leading up to it we're going to have sets by Soul Asylum, portugal, the man, a version of the Bangles with Debbie and Vicky, letters to Cleo Belly, the Know-It-All Boyfriends, silver Sun Pickups, laura Jane Grace and local hero up there by you, kenny Hoopla, is going to be doing a set as well. There's a few other things we're working on as well, but that's what Freezing man is going to evolve into, is going to be more of a festival. So then all of these bands and folks that would join us on Saturday will still join us on Saturday, but then it'll just be the All-Star Jam, but they'll have had a chance to play full sets and kind of flex their musical muscles. So that's the idea. By September 9th we should be able to announce who's playing with who and when, but right now that's kind of the conglomeration that we're looking at.
Speaker 2:Well, that sounds really exciting and I'm wondering, as far as the tickets go, is it going to be something where people can purchase tickets for one event at a smaller venue, or is there going to be like a VIP ticket available where they can get the whole shebang?
Speaker 1:work in progress.
Speaker 1:There is not going to be like a festival ticket, and one of the reasons why that's not going to be the case is, honestly, if we did sell a package that you know this ticket gets you into all the shows, that then that could mean I don't know how to describe this without sounding like a goof Once the ticket for the Soul Asylum Fountains of Wayne show is gone, on that thing it's gone even if the person doesn't use it, and so that's a lot of concerts over a five day period, and so we know there are going to be people that aren't going to go to everything, and because these wonderful artists are donating their time for free, I want to make sure they're playing to a house full of smiling faces.
Speaker 1:So there isn't going to be necessarily a concert festival ticket per se, but there will be some ways that if you purchase one, perhaps you get a discount for some of the other shows as well. So we'll put together a few packages that make sense, but it's going to really be when you're going to, when you go to the Ticketmaster page that we'll set up for this. You know, you'll just tick. I need two tickets for this one and one ticket for that one and so on. So but there's been a ton of back and forth and again the the talent team at Frank, along with Scott Leslie, the CEO there, have been helpful in in helping me kind of sort and juggle this out and figure out what makes sense.
Speaker 2:As far as the again the festival this year, it's going to be announced officially in a couple weeks. The website already has some information. As you mentioned, if people want to go to joeysongorg, it's January 8th to 11th, which the first year it's going to be a multi-day event. Is there anything that goes on otherwise throughout the year, any events or things?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, as of right now. So now you're really getting into the long-term strategic goal of Joey Song and I guess I can take a minute to talk about that. Right now, no, there's nothing, it's a full-time gig. This is what I do. That right now, no, there's nothing, it's a full time gig, this is what I do, and I literally spend several hours a day from. I usually take a week off afterwards of recovering to go at it.
Speaker 1:But having said all of that and this may bore the pants off of your audience, so, everybody, I apologize for the next five minutes while I talk strategy here. You know we could do Joey's song a different way and we would have already had some larger artists come into town. Let me explain what I mean by that. You know artists, especially those that play big venues, you know, have a schedule set and there many of them have six, eight, 12 months planned out ahead of time. And I am fortunate with some of the folks that, excuse me, are part of our board and our list of artists. We can get to just about any artist. We don't get them, but we can make connections. As you can probably guess, when you've got Butch Vig on your team, people will answer the phone. Guess, when you've got Butch Vig on your team, people will answer the phone.
Speaker 1:Now, if what I said to and I will use a, you know, let's pretend he was still alive Elvis Presley, if I said to Elvis and Elvis was interested in our thing, can you come to Madison at your convenience and play a show, I would have a higher hit ratio than what I have because Elvis may say, yes, I'm available. You know and please don't call the National Enquirer that I'm saying Elvis is alive. But you know Elvis might say, yes, I can come any September 3rd and August 4th and, you know, july 18th. Then we could put on a show, raise some money and move on. But that's not what Joey's song is. So what I have to do is find out who's available at that week in January, and there's a number of logistical reasons why we choose that week.
Speaker 1:Having said that, that doesn't mean Joey's song couldn't evolve and I would always like to keep that as a very special Madison thing because of as you mentioned, you know, all of our local Madison musicians between Jay and Pi, you know and I'm blanking on the rest of the names Alex and Frank and everybody else and Corey. There's a special thing to that, and I always want them to come to Madison in the middle of January for multiple days. But literally telling them, can you throw your guitar in the back of your car and drive down to the Avalon in LA or to, you know, third and Lindley in Nashville or Irving Plaza in New York and play a set? So there could be a day, I would like there to be a day when we're doing multiple Joey song events throughout the country. Um, they would not look like Madison. Madison is unique in so many ways. Um, but there could be a day. But right now, um, the the task in front of me is figuring out how to run a four-day event in multiple venues and stay sane.
Speaker 2:Well, and you're also taking a risk with the January dates, which you haven't run into a problem yet. I think there was some snow, but nothing that was like a freezing rain or anything like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, and part of that and here's one more way I will compliment these amazing artists Because of that, everybody does come in a day or two before Now. Part of that is so we can rehearse, which if you saw some of the early Joey Song events you would question whether that ever happened. But now you know we rehearse ahead of time. So in the old format, which was a Saturday show, everybody would come in Thursday night, you know, to give us that buffer in case there was weather, because traveling through you know all the hubs around Madison, whether it's Detroit, minneapolis or Chicago. You know all it takes is, you know a cold front to come through or something. You know some bad weather and it can block a whole lot of people out.
Speaker 1:Everybody understands that some bad weather and it can block a whole lot of people out. And everybody understands that. That's one of the beauties of this is, all of these people travel for a living and they understand what contingency planning is, and so so far we've been okay. The only thing that stopped us was COVID, and that was it stopped more than more than just us. But yes, we are taking a bit of a chance and honestly, andy, that's sometimes my biggest sell against people is yeah, it's Madison in January, but you know you don't have to be outside very much. You know some of these LA people don't even own a winter coat. So what are you going to do?
Speaker 2:You recently had a birthday. Got a message from Paul McCartney.
Speaker 1:Well, yes, technically I did. Now we all know that to be a concert promoter, you have to have a little PT Barnum in you. So I'm sure I'm sure, standing there on the 45 back in whatever, that would have been 65 or 66, when I was five years old and was already a huge Beatles fan and I'd been a part of the fan club, and I'm sure that's just something that's automatically generated, but it popped up on my watch and you know, paul McCartney, like they say, it's your birthday. But I will tell you something funny as a side note Back in 2019, when we played the Barrymore, one of our guests was Brian Ray, and Brian's day job is he plays bass and guitar with Paul, and has for the last 20 years.
Speaker 1:And so I texted Brian with that picture and I said in my head I'm going to imagine the boss getting up, pouring himself a cup of tea on July 22nd, going oh, I got to make sure I text Gamal. To which, of course, brian laughed and said you should continue to think that. So that's how I left it. So in my mind, that's what happened. Paul woke up in his New York apartment, poured himself a nice cuppa, maybe made some toast, and realized that July 22nd was my birthday. What I'm really expecting it is next year, when I turn 64, because then I'm really expecting a very specific text from Sir Paul.
Speaker 2:Well, it's just again incredible, the people you've got to come to. Madison and do this. Brian May, of course, played guitar for Etta James to Madison and do this. Brian May, of course, played guitar for Etta James.
Speaker 1:He's part of her touring band. He was actually her musical director while still a teenager.
Speaker 2:That's just pretty amazing yeah.
Speaker 1:Amazing.
Speaker 2:So have you been an attendee at the Mile Music Festival up in Appleton?
Speaker 1:You know I have not, and Frank and Dave and everybody keep harping on me to do it and I have not. I know very, very well of it. That's quite a sentence there. My english teacher is spinning in her grave right now for that one. Um, I do know that one of the years when the baseball project played up there uh, for those of you that don't know, that's mike and peter from remEM, along with Steve Wynn and Scott McCoy and Linda Pittman they prepared for that show by playing a show in my driveway earlier in the week. So that's my closest rub with Mile of Music is that the baseball project warmed up by playing a gig in my driveway for my neighbors.
Speaker 2:Mike, I'm sure you've got a lot of stories you're not even telling us. Is there somebody, a really big name, that you're gunning to get at a future Joey song but still haven't been able to sink the hook yet?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a couple of them. I met Eddie Vedder in 2020. So, not to dissuade many of our local Wisconsinites, but I'm a lifelong Cubs fan. Now that's because I was born I'm so old and I grew up, you know, in those formative years living in Racine when there were no Milwaukee Brewers and we all got Channel 9. And I just never switched allegiance and I met Ed. We were both part of Randy Huntley's fantasy camp, which is where old guys like he and I go to pretend we can still play baseball like we did in high school. And I talked with Ed and I told him of our event and he signed a bunch of stuff for me and said, yeah, maybe someday and I haven't been able to close that deal there may be an opportunity sooner rather than later we just mentioned earlier, if Paul McCartney played I mean, paul is our Mozart, right, so he would be the person, but Ed's pretty high up on that list. The other one that's high on the list because of his relationship with Butch is obviously Dave Grohl. But those are not yet I say yet realistic yet.
Speaker 1:We kind of have to prove ourself every year and keep moving up that, and I guess now would be a good time because it's not a secret, because you can see it on our webpage. But we've upped our game a little bit. So this year you mentioned the Go-Go's. Jane Weedland from the Go-Go's is joining us, so that's another rock and roll hall of famer. We've got John Resnick from Goo Goo Dolls, so we've added Go-Go's and Goo Goo's.
Speaker 1:That's probably what I'll be saying at the end of the night on Saturday, if I can get a word out joining us We've got a couple other folks we're poking around at that I'm not going to disclose right now that are of that same stature, maybe even a little higher, somebody that's playing stadium shows right now, and so every year it's kind of an incremental rise. So, but Ed's in that category and Ed has supported Cure, which is one of the charity, the main charity. We give our money to this. So I know Ed's got a soft spot for the epilepsy community as well. So those are the kind of folks. Obviously if Taylor or Beyonce would like to come and play, I think we can find a slot for them as well.
Speaker 2:Well, it's got to be hard to limit the size of this. It really had to get bigger, because once somebody plays it, it seems they roll into the annual group that performs every year because nobody wants to not do it again.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you a really interesting story. So, as I was putting together the week of events and was scheduling and slotting in folks, and right now, again, it's not etched in stone. It looks like we're going to do the Bangles show on Friday and I was talking with Vicki and was saying so, if you know, you can just come in on Thursday if you want to. You know, because she's a California gal, she lives in New York right now, you know, and she said, well, when's the first show? And I said, well, at least on Wednesday, maybe sooner, she goes. Well, I'll come in on Tuesday or Wednesday because of FOMO, right, fear of missing out and the family and again, not trying to say it's me, it's them that we've created.
Speaker 1:You know, now these people are all friends because they may know of each other, but they don't know each other all of them. I sit on social media, as we all do, and I'm friends and I watch them now liking each other, but they don't know each other all of them. I sit on social media, as we all do, and I'm friends and I watch them now liking each other's posts, and there's a really cool family. That's kind of, you know, that's kind of come out of this and it is People you know always want to come back, and I mean that seriously.
Speaker 1:I can tell you, if you look at the past list, especially since we've started we were at the Barrymore moving forward If somebody hasn't come back it's only because their schedule doesn't make it work. I've never had anybody tell me nope, we're done, I did my time. So it is a lot of fun and I know the artists have a lot of fun not playing their songs and playing other songs I was delighted to see that the full belly band was going to be there yeah, next year.
Speaker 2:And the full letters to cleo, which I saw you and sam at that show.
Speaker 1:I saw you in attendance there yeah, yeah, um, they're, they both, and I was basically told by k and I was told by t. You need to ask because I'm, I'm, I can be real aggressive on some things and on other stuff it's like, well, they're already giving a lot of their time, but yeah it, it's, it's great, and there's going to be some others. I guess I can talk about it right now. I don't know if it'll happen, but Chris is going to try to put Fountains of Wayne back together and do a full Fountains of Wayne show.
Speaker 2:And there's some other stuff going on.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's great. I can't wait to hear more details on this Incredible job. If people haven't attended the show, go to it. If you're from Appleton, it's so cool to see Frank and Alex up there with all the guys from Madison. It really is a unique experience and it's another thing that makes Wisconsin so great. Again, the dates for Joey's Song is going to be January 8th through 11th 2025. It's going to be called Freezing man. You can find out more at joey'ssongorg. Go and check out the Joey's Song podcast and also check out the Seriously Sun Prairie podcast, which I try to catch once in a while.
Speaker 2:Michael, thank you so much. I know you're a busy guy. I appreciate you spending an hour with us. And again, joeysongorg, michael, thank you. You've been watching Fox City's Core on WCZR Code Zero Radio.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us for the Joey Song Podcast. Remember to visit our website, joysongorg. Follow us on all our social media handles which are at Joey Song. We'll to visit our website, joysongorg. Follow us on all our social media handles which are at Joey Song. We'll see you guys at the show. Oh, geez, sorry about the record scratch. Wait a minute. I forgot one thing.
Speaker 1:If you want to help us spread the word about Joey Song and our podcast, there's a few things you can do that are real simple that will help us. One of the things you can do is follow the show wherever you get your podcast. Give us a five-star review I mean, why wouldn't you and write a review. All of these things help our podcast and our cause get more traction and seen throughout the community. And if you wanted to tell a few friends about Joey's Song in the podcast, that would be great as well. And, of course, you can visit joey'ssongorg and follow us on social media. All of our handles are at Joey's Song. Okay, I think that's it. We will see you guys at the show.
