The Foundation was setup as a tribute to honor our son and brother, Joseph Martin Gomoll. Joey passed away unexpectedly on March 30, 2010. Joey was afflicted with Dravet's Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, his entire life. While Joey was alive, the doctors were never able to get his seizures completely under control.
Dravet's robbed Joey of most of his ability to speak, but it did not stop him from communicating with everyone he met - no one who knew Joey will ever be able to hear "Hi, How Are Ya?" without smiling - and it most certainly never prevented him from laughing, smiling, singing or dancing.
The Joseph Gomoll Foundation was setup to raise money in support of the Epilepsy Foundation. Our goal is to raise money that can be used for research, treatment and support of those affected by this terrible disease. A small portion of the money raised will also go to the Early Childhood program in Joey's hometown to provide education and services for children with special needs, like Joey.
MUSICIANS UNITE TO PROVIDE A VOICE FOR JOEY'S SONG
CD COMPILATIONS FROM THE JOSEPH GOMOLL FOUNDATION
TO RAISE AWARENESS/FUNDS FOR THE EPILEPSY FOUNDATION
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MADISON, WISC. - Father, activist, and founder of the Joseph Gomoll Foundation, Michael Gomoll honors his late son by raising awareness and funds to support the Epilepsy Foundation through a series of music compilations titled Joey's Song. Joey's Song: Volume 1, released January 25, 2011 contains rare and unreleased tracks and features Grammy nominated artists Neko Case, Tracy Bonham, and The Crash Test Dummies along with critically acclaimed singer-songwriters Slaid Cleaves, Tim Easton, and Ed Harcourt amongst many others.
In addition, Joey's Songs for Kids: Volume 1, a collection of children's songs, includes new recordings of traditional favorites such as "You Are My Sunshine," performed by Matthew Ryan, "Working On The Railroad" by Howie Gelb and "Oh Johnny LeBeck" by Eileen Rose, and originals like "Monkeys" by Steve Wynn, "Hippopotamus" by Jon Dee Graham, and "Mr Teetot" by Ellis Paul.
Freedy Johnston, Greg Percy and his band Retro Specz, Ralph Covert and Michael McDermott performed at a CD release party held at Pinstripes in South Barrington, IL on January 21, 2011. The release party along with the Joey's Song Kickstarter campaign and CDs sales has allowed the Joseph Gomoll Foundation to make significant donations to various epilepsy and special needs related charities.
In the first 2 months since the release of Joey's Song, The Joseph Gomoll Foundation has donated cash and CDs worth over $12,000 to the Epilepsy Foundation, donated $3,000 in special needs playground equipment to an elementary school with special needs services in Joey's home town, donated $500 and 90 CDs to Orphan Resource International in Los Gosozos, Guatemala that services special needs children, donated $1,000 to the Dravet's Syndrome Foundation, and donated 60 CDs to Musicians On Call.
The CDs have been played on over 200 community, college, internet and commercial radio stations. Joey's Song was featured on the syndicated radio shows KiDs Place Live (Sirius) and Acoustic Café with Rob Reinhart. The week of February 21, Joey's Song was the 4th most added album on the Americana Music Airplay Chart, three spots below Lucinda Williams, one spot below The Drive By Truckers and just above Robbie Robertson. Joey's Song also spent 3 straight weeks on the Alternate Root Top 66 International Airplay Chart.
ABOUT JOEY'S SONG: In March 2010, Joey Gomoll was not yet five years old when he died after battling Dravet's Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, his entire life. Soon after, Joey's father Michael Gomoll decided to channel his grief into the creation of the Joseph Gomoll Foundation. "I knew we had to make a difference to others afflicted with the various seizure disorders that are out there," says Mike.
Despite the limitations Joey faced, he was an energetic and happy little boy who loved to play catch, look at books, and spend time with friends and family. Most of all, he loved music. "Music was his link to the world," says Mike. "Joey would listen to music, sing to music and loved to dance."
Music created a deep bond between father and son, and is the inspiration for Joey's Song, a CD collection created by the Joseph Gomoll Foundation to raise funds for epilepsy research. Just three days after his loss, Mike was inspired to contact musicians he and Joey enjoyed listening to and ask for their help. The response was overwhelming.
"Within the first 30 minutes I heard from Matthew Ryan, Eileen Rose, Robbie Fulks and Jason Ringenberg - not via their management or record labels, but directly from the artists themselves," says Mike. "All said 'yes' to our request for songs and asked what else they could do. By the end of the first day I knew we had a chance of making this work. They were incredibly generous."
So generous, in fact, that Mike has enough songs lined up for several volumes of Joey Song and Joeys' Songs for Kids. To date over 90 artists have agreed to donate a song.
