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The Drop the Needle Podcast

The Drop the Needle Podcast

78: DTN Podcast | Jim Alstott Ep. 78 | Joey's Song: He Couldn't Speak. The Music Did. | Mike Gomoll

Sep 24, 2026 · 1h 4m

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What does a child who never spoke a word leave behind? Mike Gomoll's son Joey died at five. With Butch Vig, he built Joey's Song: $2 million raised for epilepsy research, zero paid staff. Dravet syndrome, Freezing Man, 35 artists playing free. Joey couldn't speak. When the music came on, he'd find whoever was in the room, grab a finger, and make sure they were dancing. Fifteen years later his dad runs Joey's Song and Freezing Man, two nights at a 2,500-seat room in Madison with members of Guns N' Roses, Cheap Trick, Tears for Fears, The Bangles and the Goo Goo Dolls, all of them playing for nothing. Mike on the misdiagnosis years, the brain's "blue screen of death," the night Butch Vig…