
Jeff Robson and Joe nolan about music, mental health and the static Roots Festival
Fly With Your Shadow
Have you ever listened to our "master of ceremonies", Jeff Robson's fantastic podcast "Fly With Your Shadow"?
Fly with your Shadow is an interview-based podcast featuring conversations about music, mental health, and the devastating effect that the COVID pandemic has had on all of it.
raving about the audience
In episode #14 of the podcast, Jeff Robson talks with Joe Nolan about his career, how mental health issues impacted his career, and how Joe is getting along with it.
Of course the Static Roots Festival comes up in the conversation and both Jeff Robson and Joe Nolan keep raving about the amazing audience and atmosphere at the Static Roots Festival.
Jeff Robson about the Static Roots Festival:
โItโs a remarkable community. Itโs kind of like a house concert on steroids. Weโre all there in this place partying and having fun but at the same time everybody is hyper focused on the music. You donโt dare talk during most bandsโฆ.โ

"for the first time ever I felt fully understood"
Jeff Robson asks Joe Nolan "Did something special click in that room?"
Joe: โI donโt think it was any different from what Iโve been doing. Nothing was different. I think the difference was it was received and accepted in a way Iโd never experienced. Iโve been doing that show for a year all over the place. But there is something that happens when everybody is together in a room in a moment and nothing else matters. Nobody is thinking about anything else except for whatโs happening and that happened there. It was one of the highlights of my life because I felt so understood. And it felt like one of the first times where I felt fully understood for what Iโve been working on.โ
"I would never have sung a couple of those songs at a tour in Europe"
Joe: โThere was something special when something like that happens like at the Static Roots Festival when all of a sudden everybodyโs together and itโs like ONE thing. Itโs not about me, itโs not about anybody else. Itโs just that ONE thing happening. When this happens it allows me to take some risks. I would never have sung a couple of those songs at a tour in Europe.โ
โThere was something special when something like that happens like at the Static Roots Festival when all of a sudden everybodyโs together and itโs like ONE thing. Itโs not about me, itโs not about anybody else. Itโs just that ONE thing happening. When this happens it allows me to take some risks. I would never have sung a couple of those songs at a tour in Europe.โ
He continues: โThe audience allowed me to do it. When youโre in something like that when itโs happening, live, the audience allowed me to do it. I was just allowed to be Joe. For so long, I mean 90% of my shows Iโm fighting the audience. I didnโt have to fight. I gotta be me. And I definitely gotta be a little bit more vulnerable because I was just going with the flow. I felt like I can share some of these things. They are just too hard to share when everybody is NOT together. There is no way Iโm going to sing a song like โOde To Sturgeon Countyโ. I canโt sing it unless weโre all together. It just doesnโt work, itโs just too hard for me. It wasnโt credit to me. It was credit to the happening that was going on there!โ
"everybody was crying at some point during the show"
Jeff Robson about Joe Nolan's performance at the Static Roots Festival 2019:
โAnd your show! Iโve seen every band at that festival from the very first til the very last. Iโve never seen anything stop time the way you were able to in that show. Iโm sure everybody was crying at some point during that show. I remember looking around at the guys around me feeling like โOh my god. I hope nobody sees that Iโm so emotional at this showโ and then everybody else is exactly the same! It was something else. All the hairs on my arms are standing on it just thinking about it! It was something special and something fun.โ
Fly With Your Shadow
listen to the podcast
If you would like to listen to Jeff's podcast, here is the YouTube version. We highly recommend to listen to the full episode. Around minute 40, Jeff and Joe start talking about the Static Roots Festival. Make sure to subscribe to Jeff's YouTube channel or his amazon music presence and why not on PodBean? He deserves a ton of listeners!