Joey’s Song Musicians: Rocking for Epilepsy Research is Personal

This month Seizing Life® goes on location at the Joey’s Song Freezing Man Festival to speak with two musicians about their personal connections to epilepsy and how they became involved in this multiday music festival to raise money for epilepsy research.

The Freezing Man Festival, held last month in Madison, Wisconsin, is a recent expansion of the annual Joey’s Song concert which raises funds that support CURE Epilepsy Research initiatives. All the artists involved with Joey’s Song donate their time and talents, and several of them have personal connections to epilepsy. We spoke with two of these musicians, Kay Hanley and John Cowsill.

Kay Hanley is a singer and songwriter for the band Letters To Cleo. She has also written music for numerous animated television series, and won an Emmy Award for her contributions to the series We The People. She is also the mother to Zoe Mabel, a young woman who has lived with epilepsy for most of her life. Kay shares Zoe’s epilepsy journey from her first absence seizures as a child through her high school and college years to her life today. Kay discusses the confusing and frustrating diagnostic journey that Zoe and her parents endured before finally arriving at an epilepsy diagnosis nearly 10 years after Zoe’s initial seizures. Kay also talks about epilepsy medications, the vagus nerve stimulator, and the effects that these therapies had on her daughter. Finally, Kay tells how she first discovered Joey’s Song, became involved in the concert, and what it has meant to her to be a part of the Joey’s Song community.

John Cowsill is best known as the drummer for the popular, hit-making, 1960s family band The Cowsills, who were the inspiration for the television show The Partridge Family. John also toured and played with the Beach Boys for over 20 years, and is currently playing with The Smithereens and preparing to release an album with his wife Vicki Peterson of the Bangles. John explains how he developed epilepsy at the age of two following a traumatic brain injury. He discusses managing and hiding his epilepsy while playing with the Cowsills, the effects of medications and seizures on school and touring, and how he became involved in the Joey’s Song concert.

If you would like to know more about the origin of Joey’s Song and the amazing annual concert that raises funds for epilepsy research and awareness, check out this episode of Seizing Life with Joey’s Song founder Mike Gomoll:    • Rocking for Research: The Inspiration and ...  

You can also visit the Joey’s Song website for more information on the event and its mission.
https://www.joeyssong.org/

ABOUT CURE EPILEPSY
CURE Epilepsy is the leading, non-governmental funder of epilepsy research. Since its inception in 1998, CURE Epilepsy has raised more than $100 million to fund epilepsy research and other initiatives that will lead the way to cures for the epilepsies. CURE Epilepsy funds grants for young and established investigators and to–date has awarded more than 300 cutting-edge projects in 18 countries around the world. Our mission is to fund breakthrough research that will transform the lives of people living with epilepsy as we lead the search for a cure.

LEARN MORE ABOUT EPILEPSY
Visit the “Understanding Epilepsy” section of CURE Epilepsy’s website:
https://www.cureepilepsy.org/for-pati...

STAY CONNECTED WITH CURE EPILEPSY
Sign up for our newsletter for the latest in epilepsy research news: https://www.cureepilepsy.org/subscribe/
Follow us on Facebook:   / cureforepilepsy  
Follow us on Twitter:   / cureepilepsy  
Follow us on Instagram:   / cureepilepsy  

INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
Share your story: https://www.cureepilepsy.org/personal...
Help us find a cure: https://www.cureepilepsy.org/get-invo...