The Drop the Needle Podcast

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 asked what he could do to help, and why one in 26 people have epilepsy and hardly anyone says so out loud.✨ In this episode:✅ Joey, Dravet syndrome, and two years of misdiagnosis✅ Why music got through when words couldn't✅ Epilepsy as the brain's blue screen of death✅ Zone defense: protecting Julia and Sam✅ Grace for the people who say the wrong thing✅ How a CD release party became Joey's Song✅ The night Butch Vig asked how he could help✅ Freezing Man: 35 artists, two nights, nobody paid✅ One in 26: why epilepsy stays in the shadows✅ Making the ask for Joey's SongSound bites"Then we lost Joe, and it was time to help the next family.""You saw the sun in his face.""My five-year-old son died. I need your help."Chapters00:00 The kid who made sure you were dancing01:46 Welcome, Mike02:10 Headliners, IBM, and the road back to Wisconsin04:50 Three kids from Guatemala, and Joey's first seizure05:20 "Then we lost Joe, and it was time to help the next family"06:42 Why music got through when words couldn't07:37 Epilepsy as the brain's blue screen of death10:00 What you saw in Joey's face11:35 Two years of misdiagnosis12:11 The small breakthroughs that carried them17:50 Zone defense: protecting Julia and Sam18:55 Grace for the people who say the wrong thing20:05 Joey's Song begins as a CD release party22:23 Butch Vig makes the fatal mistake of asking how he can help24:17 "You never know who's going to show up"27:52 Rock camp for musicians32:44 Boyfriends vs. Girlfriends: the battle of the bands35:41 Why epilepsy stays in the shadows39:58 One in 26: every seventh house on your block41:37 "My five-year-old son died. I need your help."43:21 What Joey would make of all this45:03 The playlist round46:56 Three songs that always filled the dance floor48:56 Carry On Wayward Son51:52 Start Me Up52:49 Guilty pleasure: Call Me Maybe and Harry Styles54:15 The song the world needs right now: Everybody Hurts56:13 "Name," and the breakup that still stings1:01:34 How to help Joey's SongToday's Playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/1o15TNcLS2oNtfEHU50tWs💬 QUESTION FOR YOUWho taught you something important without ever saying a word?Share your story in the comments.👍 Like, Subscribe, and Share to help others discover meaningful conversations about music, loss, and what we do with it.🔗 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEJoey's Song and the Freezing Man concerts, The Sylvee, Madison, WIButch VigDravet syndrome and epilepsy research🌐 CONNECT WITH MIKE GOMOLL AND JOEY'S SONGWebsite: https://www.joeyssong.orgInstagram: @joeyssongFacebook: @joeyssongFollow the Joey's Song podcast. The Freezing Man shows stream free on the Joey's Song YouTube channel the night of the show.🎙️ CONNECT WITH JIM ALSTOTT📖 Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? https://a.co/d/020nrzCH🌐 https://www.jimalstott.com🎙️ https://www.dtnpodcast.com#DropTheNeedle #JoeysSong #FreezingMan #Epilepsy #DravetSyndrome #ButchVig #MusicAndGrief #EpilepsyAwareness

Drew McManus learned the word that would become his band's name on a mountain pass in Nepal. It means sitting in the company of truth. He's built ten years and six records on it.The new one is called Elohim, and he didn't pick the title. He was told to.We talk about the revelatory experience that preceded it and the illness that followed, about a father who was a preacher and told a skateboarding punk rock kid he had a minister's heart, and about the question Drew asked for years growing up poor in a house he doesn't pretend was safe: why did all of this happen to me? The answer, when it arrived, had changed shape. Perhaps none of it happened to him. Perhaps it happened for him.We also get into why he won't play two of his early songs anymore, what the music industry looks like from the inside when you've refused to play along, the one sentence a Buddhist said to him at a merch table that became a mantra, and a hidden Nipsey Hussle track that he heard on the Pacific Coast Highway beside a friend who'd been in federal prison three hundred days earlier.Elohim is out now. Twenty seven minutes, built to be played start to finish. Satsang plays Garcia's Chicago on November 4th.Every song Drew named, in the order he named them, 21 tracks from Jackson Browne to Nipsey Hussle. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lrJeDuNf7H8TIAMjd3lXYElohim: https://satsang.ffm.to/elohimSatsang: https://satsangmovement.comInstagram: @satsangChicago: Garcia's Chicago, 4 November 2026Drew McManus is the founder and frontman of Satsang. He named the band after a word he learned on a mountain pass in Nepal in 2013, meaning to sit in the company of truth. Six records later he remains independent and owns all of his music. His new album, Elohim, released 4 September 2026, and the Elohim Tour runs through the autumn. Press photo credit: Drew Korf.CHAPTERS00:00 Intro02:36 The word on a mountain pass in Nepal13:18 How Elohim was made backward28:27 Brian's voicemail as the album intro31:03 A preacher father, and the phrase said most in the Bible36:30 Being told to make a record called Elohim40:25 Malachi, and the name he knew before his son was born49:57 The music round: the songs that made him59:04 Why Bob Marley's lyrics are scripture1:01:17 The hidden Nipsey Hussle track, and the drive down the coast1:08:56 Garcia's Chicago, November 4th

What if the sacred and the secular were never two different things to begin with?Rev. Dr. Rob Zahn is a Lutheran pastor, a theologian, a semiotician, and a musician. He wears Converse under his liturgical robes. He also wrote a book about LSD, a drug smuggling ring, and the birth of contemporary Christian music.To him, none of that is a contradiction. That is the whole point.In this episode of The Drop the Needle Podcast, Jim Alstott sits down with Rob to trace a life that runs from a small town childhood with an absent father, through a doctorate in semiotics, to the hidden history behind his book, LSD to Galilee: Incarnation in the Psychedelic Subculture.Rob explains why he does not frame his father's absence as a forgiveness issue, even after a reunion that surfaced anger, grief, and questions nobody answered. He walks Jim through the line that runs from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love to the Jesus People movement to Maranatha Music, and why Lonnie Frisbee got quietly written out of the cleaner version of that story.Then there is the music. Mumford and Sons in a stadium full of strangers singing the same words. Dave Matthews Band. Meatloaf. Hamilton. Disney soundtracks he refuses to apologize for.Can a pastor tell the truth about where his faith came from and still keep his pulpit?✨ In this episode:✅ Growing up in small town America, raised by a single mother✅ Why forgiveness may be the wrong frame for an absent father✅ The father he found through one mailed letter, and the Las Vegas hotel room✅ What semiotics reveals about culture, congregations, and blind spots✅ Why the sacred and secular divide does not hold✅ Converse under the robes, and other small acts of resistance✅ The Brotherhood of Eternal Love to the Jesus People to Maranatha Music✅ How Lonnie Frisbee was written out of the story✅ Psychedelics, sacrament, and music as portals to the divine✅ Why the church has to keep being put in check by people, not powerSound bites"I'm not sure forgiveness is necessary.""There's no division between the sacred and secular. I think that's a made up thing.""I don't know if there's a more human experience than music.""Which means he wasn't paranoid. He was still underground."Chapters00:00 Welcome: a pastor, a semiotician, a musician01:24 Rob's childhood, music upbringing, and path into ministry03:41 Questioning father absence through theology and identity06:48 Why forgiveness may not be the right frame12:07 The anger and grief that surfaced anyway13:59 What semiotics reveals about signs, culture, and the church19:35 Mumford and Sons, spirituality, and a stadium full of shared meaning22:58 Why the sacred and secular divide doesn't hold26:46 How psychedelic culture and Jesus music are historically connected30:46 Why Lonnie Frisbee was written out of the cleaner church narrative35:14 How Rob's congregation responds to his full story39:42 The Chosen, outsiders, and meeting people where they are46:53 Doubting certainty and embracing the unknown56:43 Music, worship styles, and Rob's first ministry in Las Vegas01:02:26 Rob's father, cancer, and the Brotherhood's underground history01:08:01 Jim shares his own father story and reconnection01:10:57 The music round begins: first radio song, road trip songs, high school anthem01:15:15 Guilty pleasure soundtrack and Disney singalongs01:16:55 A song that could change how people see the world01:18:38 A song that feels written for Rob's life right now01:22:12 Where to find Rob, and we drop the needleToday's Playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/7C9T8To450S3f03qK4Gelq💬 QUESTION FOR YOUWhere have you been told the sacred stops and the ordinary starts, and who decided that?Share your story in the comments.👍 Like, Subscribe, and Share to help others discover meaningful conversations about faith, music, and meaning.🔗 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODELSD to Galilee: Incarnation in the Psychedelic Subculture, by Rob ZahnZumbro Lutheran Church, Rochester, MNThe Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Lonnie Frisbee, Calvary Chapel and Maranatha Music🌐 CONNECT WITH REV. DR. ROB ZAHNWebsite: robzahn.comInstagram: @rzahn001Facebook: rob.zahnLinkedIn: robzahn🎙️ CONNECT WITH JIM ALSTOTT📖 Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate?🌐 jimalstott.com🎙️ dtnpodcast.com#DropTheNeedlePodcast #RobZahn #LSDtoGalilee #JesusPeople #LonnieFrisbee #Semiotics #Faith #Deconstruction #ChristianMusic #Psychedelics #Lutheran #SacredAndSecular

What if walking away from the religion you were raised in isn't losing your faith — it's the first honest thing you ever did with it?Sunshine Witchski was eleven years old when she noticed the contradictions in what she was being taught in Catholic school. She asked. Nobody had an answer she could live with.What followed was decades of addiction, a rock bottom in Costa Rica, and a long walk back — not to the Church, but to something she could finally call her own.Today she is a psychic medium, soul healer, Reiki master, high priestess, and the founder of Sunshine Readings. She calls herself the Sober Witch.Can you lose your religion and keep your faith?In this candid episode of The Drop the Needle Podcast, Jim Alstott sits down with Sunshine Witchski to talk about growing up Catholic in Detroit, the question at age eleven that started everything, the years she spent numbing what she couldn't name, and how she built a spiritual life on her own terms — one with room for tarot, recovery, shadow work, and every part of herself she was once told to hide.Sunshine shares the moment she stopped performing belief, what rock bottom actually looked like, and the day she walked into a room full of strangers and heard the only thing that could have reached her: you are not alone, and there is hope.Together, Jim and Sunshine get into the difference between prescribed religion and personal faith, why shadow work isn't optional, why receiving help is harder than giving it, and what changes when you decide the universe might be conspiring in your favor.✨ In this episode:✔️ Growing up Catholic in Detroit✔️ The question at age eleven that changed everything✔️ Rock bottom in Costa Rica✔️ The room where hope came back✔️ Prescribed religion vs. personal faith✔️ Shadow work and healing old wounds✔️ Why receiving is more vulnerable than giving✔️ Personal sovereignty and self-acceptance✔️ Pronoia — the opposite of paranoia✔️ Music as the soundtrack of a life"Walking into a room with other alcoholics told me I was not alone, there was hope."Whether you're in recovery, quietly questioning what you were raised to believe, or just tired of carrying something by yourself, this conversation is an invitation to stop hiding and start showing up whole.Playlist link:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5gLQWLHy75QE25XypLW2cW?si=71c4568692d94bc3💬 QUESTION FOR YOUWhat part of yourself were you told to hide — and what would change if you stopped?Sound bites"Walking into a room with other alcoholics told me I was not alone, there was hope.""Receiving is a very vulnerable thing, showing emotion many are not comfortable with.""Pro Noia is the opposite of paranoia, believing the universe is conspiring in your favor."Chapters00:00 Introduction to Sunshine's background and work02:00 Growing up Catholic and questioning authority06:28 Realization of religious contradictions at age 1112:49 Transition from religion to personal spirituality26:53 Rock bottom in Costa Rica and the path to sobriety36:25 The power of community in overcoming addiction45:28 Shadow work and healing past wounds52:26 The vulnerability of receiving help59:37 Music as a reflection of life and emotions01:00:15 Closing remarks and contact informationPlaylist link:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5gLQWLHy75QE25XypLW2cW?si=71c4568692d94bc3Share your story in the comments.👍 Like, Subscribe, and Share to help others discover meaningful conversations about spirituality, healing, and connection.🌐 CONNECT WITH SUNSHINE WITCHSKIWebsite: Sober Witch LifeReadings: Sunshine ReadingsInstagram: @sunshine_readingsIlluminate: Sober Witch🎙️ CONNECT WITH JIM ALSTOTT📖 Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate?🌐 jimalstott.com🎙️ dtnpodcast.com#DropTheNeedlePodcast #SunshineWitchski #SoberWitch #Sobriety #Recovery #ShadowWork #SpiritualAwakening #PsychicMedium #Tarot #Deconstruction #PersonalSovereignty #Pronoia

What if the signs you've been asking for are already happening... but you're overlooking them?Psychic medium Gina Versace, better known as The Inked Medium, believes our loved ones and even our pets, never truly leave us.From repeating numbers and feathers to dreams and unexpected encounters, Spirit is constantly communicating. The key is learning how to recognize the messages.Do our loved ones continue communicating after they pass away?In this heartfelt episode of The Drop the Needle Podcast, Jim Alstott sits down with Gina Versace, internationally known as The Inked Medium, to explore spirit communication, intuitive development, pet communication, and the everyday signs that remind us we are never truly alone.Gina shares remarkable stories from her own life, beginning with seeing spirits as a young child, through discovering her calling as a professional psychic medium, and building a life dedicated to helping people reconnect with loved ones on the other side.Together, Jim and Gina discuss how Spirit communicates through numbers, dreams, symbols, animals, and emotional impressions, why setting energetic boundaries is essential, and how anyone can begin strengthening their own intuition.✨ In this episode:✔️ Childhood spirit encounters✔️ How loved ones communicate after death✔️ Pet communication and animal spirits✔️ Why repeating numbers like 444 matter✔️ Spirit guides and signs✔️ Meditation and energetic protection✔️ Developing intuitive gifts✔️ Private vs. group mediumship readings✔️ The importance of spiritual boundaries✔️ Music, healing, and raising your vibration"Spirit signs are in everyday things."Whether you're curious about mediumship or you've experienced signs from someone you've lost, this conversation offers comfort, insight, and practical guidance for trusting your own spiritual connection.Playlist link:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4mzHMk1ZHacW3XBCiYxiin?si=37e9376925b646e2💬 QUESTION FOR YOUHave you ever received a sign from a loved one or pet that made you stop in your tracks?Sound bites"Music lifts my spirits and helps me heal.""My dad sends me 444""Spirit signs are in everyday things"Chapters00:00 Introduction to Gina Versace and her background01:22 Gina's childhood spirit sightings and family heritage04:19 The influence of early childhood experiences on her gift06:14 Connecting with spirit through signs and protection08:12 The significance of asking for signs and guidance10:07 The story behind the Inked Medium brand12:48 Her Italian Sicilian heritage and spiritual upbringing15:52 Transition from corporate career to full-time mediumship17:29 How to recognize signs from spirit in everyday life19:46 Meeting spirit guides and their presence22:09 The message of never being alone from spirit24:00 Gina's motorcycle accident and recovery story27:01 The role of pets in spirit communication30:18 How animals come through in readings and their surprises33:31 Spirit orbs and sacred geometry in photos36:00 Signs from loved ones and spirit guides in daily life37:55 Family and friends on the other side and their connections42:47 Differences between private and group readingsPlaylist link:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4mzHMk1ZHacW3XBCiYxiin?si=37e9376925b646e2Share your story in the comments.👍 Like, Subscribe, and Share to help others discover meaningful conversations about spirituality, healing, and connection.🌐 CONNECT WITH GINA VERSACEWebsite: The Inked MediumInstagram • Facebook • TikTok(Charity work and social links in the description.)🎙️ CONNECT WITH JIM ALSTOTT📖 Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate?🌐 jimalstott.com🏕️ The Listening Field Retreat#DropTheNeedlePodcast#GinaVersace#TheInkedMedium#Mediumship#SpiritCommunication#SignsFromSpirit#SpiritGuides#PetCommunication#AnimalSpirit#Intuition#PsychicMedium#SpiritualAwakening---🎙️ The Drop the Needle Podcast explores the intersection of spirituality, healing, personal growth, and the power of music through insightful conversations with thought leaders and intuitives.🌐 Visit our website: dtnpodcast.com📲 Follow us on social media: @thedtnpodcast📧 Reach out to Jim: [email protected]🔗 The Drop the Needle Podcast is on Apple and Spotify