nippertown

So many of us think in terms of black and white. We are either rational or emotional. We create laws in black and white. Yet, looking at the world around us, we are all shades of grey. 

Hey, what’s up and welcome to episode two hundred nineteen of Above Ground Podcast. This week we get into the reasonable mind vs the emotional mind and where the self is in the scrum. Is the self the joining of the two, known as wise mind, or could it be just another mystery that goes unsolved. 

The wise mind brings the band together, and what a power trio it is. Reasonable mind and Emotional mind, round out this triple threat, sure to turn it up to eleven.

First, keeping you cool, task oriented and rational, on drums Reasonable mind. Facts, reason and laying down a wicked in the pocket, four on the floor keeping the band in time. Don’t jam my swing with your emotions.

On guitar we have none other than Emotional mind.  Emotional mind is a shredder and a tearjerker rigged together. Using only feelings, moods, and urges to dance across the fretboard. Our shredder has no time for logic. That would ruin his expression. 

Now holding the pocket and our hearts together is our master of the low end and the boss of the bottom, wise mind. Wise mind lays the rhythm under the melody and the beat. Wise mind walks the middle path using right and left to bring the noise and keep reason and emotion from going solo. 

Thanks for checking out, Above Ground Podcast.  Check back on Wednesdays for episodes and follow us on socials to see what we are up to. Until next week, get well, be safe, stay ABOVE.

A simple definition of neuroscience is the study of the nervous system. What’s not so simple is how the brain and nervous system work together. This week we are geeking out in the hemispheres of our mind. 

Hey, welcome to episode two hundred seventeen of Above Ground Podcast. This week Will & TPP look at neuroscience and the brain with our,  I’m not a scientist, but I pretend to be one on a podcast for an hour selves. 

Click the link below  to check out Psychology Today’s neuroscience center and get some knowledge of your hard drive. Tune in next week when we have Rob Leathen back on to talk about his ketamine diaries and psychedelic assisted therapy for PTSD. As always get well, be safe, stay above.

https://www.psychologytoday.com

Yoga is challenging, but it forces you to be in the moment. The more times we put ourselves in the moment we push ourselves.  The postures provide you a physical map to lead you into the moment. This week we are talking yoga and rebuilding the mountain that is self. Through the trauma fires, fisticuffs and rage, Marc Salvi rebuilt his mountain and its construction of yoga, metal and connection. 

Welcome to episode two hundred fourteen of Above Ground Podcast. Another week, another real conversation about mental health and wellness from the peer-spective. Summer is dashing like a thoroughbred and before we know it the race will be run. Prioritizing self care and exercise is important. Yoga may be the perfect addition to your physical, mental and spiritual health. 

Our guest this week is Marc Salvi. Marc is a Nippertown based yoga teacher. Marc’s classes are designed to bring non yoga people to the practice. Marc came to yoga for help recovering from his aches and pains of the gym rat life. In 2021 Marc completed his RYT200 with Michelle Pollard, owner of Studio 4 Hot Yoga and Pilates of Schenectady, NY. Marc aims to help students cultivate greater body awareness by becoming mindful of every part of the body. With breath work, building strength, gaining mobility, and stability, you will move through your life smoother and more confident. 

Marc can be found on the schedules of Studio 4 Hot Yoga & Pilates, 151 Lafayette Street, Schenectady, NY. Marc also teaches in Slingerlands at JAI Yoga School, 5 Vista Blvd, Slingerlands, NY. 

When Marc is not teaching yoga, he takes part in his other passions. He is a dad of twins(boy/girl). Marc trains Tae Kwon Do with them and is a huge fan of the martial arts. His day job is a  construction project manager with more than twenty years and counting in the industry.  Not to mention he loves metal and hardcore music. 

Thanks for listening to this week’s Above Ground Podcast. Please stop by our table at NipperFest this Saturday and say hey!!! NipperFest will be rocking from 11a-10pm, Saturday at Central Park Music Haven, Schenectady, NY.  Get there and support local music. Until we meet again next week, get well, be safe, stay ABOVE. 

Missing pieces of the puzzle can cause it all to fall apart.  You can create new puzzle pieces. Connecting the pieces can make a beautiful picture. The displaying of the picture takes epoxy, a frame and care. One misstep can cause the pieces to fall, and when falling to pieces, is it a piece that we are missing or have we put pieces together in the wrong order?

This week on episode one hundred eighty nine the guys discuss the pieces of the helping yourself puzzle. Putting yourself back together is a do it yourself, no one is going to save you project. The wisdom to be gained is outside, but integrating it is an inside job. Just like gasoline is only potential power and unless you pour it into a combustion engine it won’t do what it is intended to do. 

This we week we also mention the fine art of kintsugi. This technique of repairing broken pottery is an extension of the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, the philosophy of finding the beauty in transience, imperfection and simplicity. This great article from the blog, The Conversation will help you understand. 

Some questions to ponder this week; what pieces are you missing? What pieces no longer fit? Is ignorance really bliss when the pieces are falling apart? What do you recognize that no longer fits and are you ready to create new pieces? Does healing ever end?

Thanks for listening to episode one hundred eighty nine of Above Ground Podcast. We appreciate you listening . Please support our endeavors by sharing, reviewing and following. You can also support us at these upcoming events. 

Saturday February 4, 2023 Will is opening for Black Belt Jones, Psychomanteum, Same Old Rat at the Fuse Box 12 Central Avenue, Albany, NY. Doors at 7pm $10 support local music. No support, no scene. 

Sunday March 5, 2023 at the Sages Circle 443 Saratoga Road, Glenville, NY Nippertown's premier metaphysical boutique hosts, Timothy ‘TPP’ Parent and his book discussion and signing event at 6pm. 

TPP's book, Never Underestimate the Power of You, is a help yourself book because life is a DIY project.

Hope to see you out there in support of mental health. Until next week get well, be safe, stay Above.

Suicide is devastating. The aftermath often pulls apart loved ones, and their communities. Loss gives way to grief, guilt and even shame. Time can help you heal, but if you are not mindful, you can lose yourself. 

This week Above Ground Podcast speaks with Donna Thomas. Donna, along with her husband Bobby and daughter Shannon are the founders of James’s Warriors. James's Warriors is a non profit organization that provides resources and education to change the way mental health is perceived in the public and to reduce the stigma surrounding and preventing suicide. 

“You don’t just lose a child you lose the future”, says Donna Thomas. Donna speaks candidly about the loss of her son James. Her approach is authentic and heartfelt. She and her team speak to schools all over New York State. She provides a sense of peace and a mother's love. 

During her presentations she is raw and real. Donna shares the real story with her student listeners. Her students a presented with a coping kit that contains helpful items to allow for a break, knowing that we need comfort. "No one wants to think their child will die by suicide", expresses Donna. There is a disconnect between people who do not understand why someone chooses suicide. In those individuals who choose suicide, there is a pain that won't end and our lost only want that pain to end. 

Some facts about suicide. There is a death by suicide every 11 minutes. From the years 2000-2017, there was a 41% increase in suicide rates for ages 15-25 and was the 3rd leading cause of death for this age group. According to the CDC more than 90% of people who attempt and survive never go on to die by suicide, however. These stats are from the CDC, AFSP and OMH of NY. 

If you are interested in learning more about suicide prevention and volunteering please check out the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their Talk Saves Lives and More Than Sad programs. Please go to the Suicide Prevention Center of NY State to find tools, resources and information to support the effort. 

If you are in a crisis please dial or text 988. For TTY users dial 711 then 988. Dial 1-888-628-9454 for our spanish speaking friends. Vets text 838255. 

We thank Donna and all our guests past and future. Thanks so much for listening this week and please check in every Wednesday for a new episode. Until next week get well, be safe, stay ABOVE.

It’s that time of year again when we welcome the ho-ho holiday spirit back into our lives. We run ragged trying to fill stockings with glee yet leave ours full of coal or worse, empty. This week the guys tackle the most wonderful time of the year and offer some tips for whom the jingle bells toll. 

Welcome to episode one hundred eighty three of Above Ground Podcast. The holidays leave many of us full of anxiety and dread. Our eardrums are taken over earlier every year by the sounds of Christmas. We have totally forgotten the Thanksgiving holiday and go right from Halloween into what seems an endless sleigh ride into the exhaustion and debt blizzard. If it’s not the wish lists that drive you to more eggnog than normal, it’s the current price of everything. From gifts to our mental health the costs are steep and you will pay for it all year long. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving you stress. 

If you find yourself feeling lonely, stressed and exhausted there are things we can do to fight off Rudolph's angry antlers. Take a time out for your self. If you find overwhelm under the tree, take a walk. Remind your mind that this too will pass with the snow and cold. Cherish the moments of peace when the kiddos drift off to dream of sugar plums dancing on your head. 

According to Boston University, ten million people are effected by SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder). SAD is a type of depression that starts in the fall and amplifies in the winter. These symptoms tend to resolve in spring and are resolved fully by summer. One way to fight the winter blues is to serve the community. Go out and serve food at a shelter, raise funds for an underserved population or cause. There are no shortages of toy drives, 501(C)3s or ways to help in Nippertown or anywhere you hang your stockings with care. 

Try not to be a Scrooge and isolate during this winter wonderland. Get out and skate, sled or snowshoe to your nearest favorite hot cocoa spot. Don't let the season be the reason your alone. Close your laptop, log off your Instaface and go people watch. Feel the stress melt away while you watch everyone else roast their chestnuts in line paying for things they can't afford, for family they hate the other three hundred and sixty four days of the year. Start your own traditions, adopt an elf like Willard and spread Xmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear. 

With the sincerest gratitude we are so thankful for all of you this year. Above Ground Podcast will turn four in 2023 and we are as giddy as a child on Christmas morning hoping for a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and not a pink bunny costume. And if you are hoping for that pink bunny costume that's cool too. No judgement here. If you're searching for that perfect gift for that certain someone stuck back in an era before men talked about their emotions or were man enough to admit they had any, check out TPP's new DIY manual, Never Under Estimate the Power of You. You can buy the guys a coffee or send Nippertown a few bucks to help spread the news of the 518 music and art scene. They also help AGP by putting up our content. Send the gift of music to someone who needs to overcome the despair and mayhem of the ghosts of Christmas past. Make your yuletide bright and take us with you in your earbuds for that last minute Christmas Eve shopping binge and to all get well, be safe, stay Above.

"If I don't grieve in a healthy, active way, it will be a second death for me", says author, Judi Merriam. Judi's middle son Jensen, took his life December 23, 2011. When Judi couldn't find a book to help her along her grief journey she started the painful process of writing one. As the mother of not only Jensen, but two other children, Judi had no choice but to start the healing process. Judi's writing helped her do the work to emerge from the darkness with the help of grace. 

Episode one hundred eighty two of Above Ground Podcast this week deals with suicide and grief. Judi Merriam channeled the pain of losing her middle son, Jensen, into a memoir entitled, Empty Shoes by the Door. Judi's desire is to shine a light of hope into the lives of those who grieve, especially parents who have lost children to suicide. The journey of grief is such an individualized and singular road to walk. Speaking our truth allows us to move forward. "When we pretend it's something it's not, we can't heal", says Judi. Running away from the darkness constantly doesn't allow us to see the light. 

Shock carries us in the aftermath of a suicide loss. "Shock allows us to function, at first, when we don't know how to function." and Judi says it took about the first five months for it to wear off. This gave way to being angry. Anger didn't last long once Judi admitted how angry she was and allowed it to run it's course. People often do not recognize the carnage of a suicide death. Telling someone that their loved one is in a better place or that there is a plan for it can do more harm than good and often leads to a harder healing process. Judi will be missing her son until she dies and the holidays remind her of the loss with the empty place at the table. 

We often cannot make sense of something senseless. No longer asking why and constantly searching for answers, has given way to finding peace without all the answers. Jensen was a creative force and his dream was to be a professional animator. Jensen showed no signs that his life would end by this choice. We need to understand that dialoguing about suicide does not put an idea in someone's head. Quite the opposite, actually. So don't be afraid to ask if you suspect anything. 

Judi credits her memoir coach Marion Roach, for guiding her along the creative path and helping her craft a tribute as well as a guide to dealing with the grief of losing someone to suicide. Judi speaks her truth and is willing to sit in the ashes and brokeness of what's left behind with you should you want to reach out to her via her website. Check out this Schenectady Gazette article written about Judi and Empty Shoes by the Door. 

Thank you for listening to another week of Above Ground Podcast. Please continue to share, rate, review, subscribe and have open conversations about mental health. Everyone has mental health. Buy us a coffee to keep the show rolling. Check out TPP's new book, Never Underestimate the Power of You. 

Don't forget to drop by and see us at Upstate Punk Rock Flea Market on December 18, 2022 at Empire Live, downtown Albany. 

Until next time get well, be safe, stay ABOVE.

Someone tried to tell me something, don’t let the world bring you down, but nothing can do me in before I do myself. We are often our own worst enemies. Chris Cornell knew that at his core, his lyrics identify it, so  lets blow up the outside world and save it for the ones we can help. 

This week Above Ground Podcast drops episode one eighty one. Inspired by Soundgarden and their track from the 1996 album, Down on the Upside. Blowing up the outside world can help your cause and set you free. It can also hinder your growth. 

We are taught to fear the outside world. We are told it’s a dangerous place. We are force fed a steady diet of us versus them and to wall your kingdom off.  Blowing up the ideas of separation and division never sounded better at this point in the journey. The question is, is it too late to save ourselves? If it were, we wouldn’t be doing this. 

Thanks for listening to episode one eighty one. Please grab TPP’s new book, Never Underestimate the Power of You.  Tim’s DIY book about your ultimate DIY project, you!  

You can find Will’s single Memoir (Despair & Mayhem) on YouTube, Apple Music,  Spotify and everywhere you get your digital tunes. 

Please continue to follow us on Nippertown and all our socials.  You can always show us love in the form of coffee. Buy us a Coffee and help us bring our ideas to more ears that need to hear them. 

Thank you once again for your support. Until next week get well, be safe, stay ABOVE…

Anchors can hold your boat safe in harbor or hold you back from sailing the wild sea. Anchors often collect debris from the ocean bottom or they can make a home for sea life. They can be raised by ferocious storms and tossed away like it never meant a thing or hold clossal steamers within the chop. Anchors represent up and down. My anchor helps stabilize me from the storms and tribulation and return to shore. 

This week episode one seventy nine of Above Ground Podcast is all about anchors. What holds us where we need to be? Which ones need to be raised in order to chart a new course? Through a relationship, a career change, grief, death or a mental health challenge. Anchors take strength and response to move or raise. Quint wouldn't put on a life jacket ever again, but I suggest you take my example of putting one on, in order to stay bouyant in the stormy seas. Take a deep breath. 

It's heavy and the willingness to harness the energy of raising up and setting out to sea can be an amazing act of empowerment or can cause us to fall into deep despair and give our energy over to the dark night of the soul. Face your darkness like every hero does. Become an explorer and learn the terrain of your heart, mind and emotions. Anchors up, time to set sail and chase the sun.

Never Underestimate the Power of You, has hit the streets and is available to order from Amazon. We all have mental health and we have the ability to improve. Maybe it is time we start paying more attention to it and the impacts it has on our daily living. You, the reader have the power to change who you are and who you choose to become. This book is a guide written by a person who embarked on the healing journey—a journey that you too can begin, when you are ready, TPP will be a voice to guide you. 

Recovery is never a straight line. Things we do to comfort ourselves can create the most uncomfortable outcomes. But us humans can overcome even the most difficult situations and with good bones we can reanimate the animal within.

Welcome to episode one seventy eight of Above Ground Podcast. This week we are joined by Mike Langone. Mike is the singer for Nippertown based band Black Belt Jones, the promoter of Upstate Punk Rock Flea Market and the bone artist behind Odds, Sweet Things and Dead Ends.

"You can't focus so much on why, it's more like how I can make things better", says Langone about his struggles with addiction. Langone made his way to Nippertown via the Lower East Side of Manhattan more than twenty years ago. 

Langone took his experience and turned it into a career. First as a CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor) and now as a Housing Specialist for an Albany, NY based non-profit who helps the homeless population. 

Langone expresses how much his life has changed from living the life of an addict. His vulnerability and choosing to live has provided him a way to stay busy as an artist of the living and the dead. 

https://blackbeltjones.bandcamp.com/album/ep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrzNMmkBJSw

https://www.facebook.com/people/Upstate-Punk-Rock-Flea-Market/100076174182021/

https://www.facebook.com/people/Odds-Sweet-Things-And-Dead-Ends/100045470088401/

https://www.facebook.com/BlackBeltJonesAlbany

Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Above Ground Podcast. We are grateful to have you here and we cherish being the "curators of hope". 

TPP will be releasing his new book, Never Underestimate the Power of You, via Amazon very soon. Please follow our socials for all the updates and a link to order. Until next week, get well, be safe, stay ABOVE.

We believe you must feel it to heal it. Embracing what it means to be human makes life a bit easier to manage, at least we'd like to think so. This includes realizing that it's you alone in our decision to unlock the door and escape from within. 

Epiosde one seventy seven of Above Ground Podcast is all about those pesky feelings we need to find a language to discuss.This week we got Inpired by the Flotsam and Jetsam tune, Escape From Within.

We hold the key to our escape. We all have limited time with this thing called life being terminal in all. When we awaken to this idea, it places the responsibility squarely on us to sign the contract of death that begs to be signed when we scream our way out of the womb onto the earth stage. 

Journaling is a great tool to use to filter your feelings. Having the language to describe what sludge and debris blocks us from our path. Byron Katie's The Work, could be a useful place for you to start.

Ellis Paul says the world aint slowin' down and our real time practice in the human condition takes acceptance and action. When we build these muscles it helps us deepen our capacity to juggle. When we juggle the years like chainsaws don't kill the power.

This Saturday Will is performing at Fuze Box 12 Central Avenue Albany, NY. 8pm showtime $10 at the door. Above Ground Podcast fans come see Will & TPP do a very special song to close out the set. Hope to see many of you there. 

TPP is launching his book, Never Underestimate the Power of You, on November 11th, and you will be able to purchase through Amazon. When we have a link we will post it everywhere. Be sure to check in on our social media. 

Thanks so much for listening this week. Continue following, sharing and being the hope dealers we are.

Until next Wednesday,get well, be safe, Stay Above...

"Healing doesn't happen when we're muscling through it", says our guest Melissa Spaulding. Melissa is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor and EMDR Practitioner based in Utah, and is our guest for episode one seventy six of Above Ground Podcast. 

Melissa Spaulding is a CMHC at Guided Wellness Counseling of George, Utah. Melissa's mission is to help women move past their past and to live an adventurous life. Melissa helps women work through trauma, depression and anxiety. 

One tool in Melissa's arsenal is EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitazation & Reprocessesing. This mode of therapy allows the receiptient to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in their brains. There are three brains; the head, the heart and the body and as Bessel van der Kolk taught us,  the body keeps the score. 

Melissa looks at our memories like sticky notes. When we think of sticky notes they are usually so you can take a number or name or notation. Something imortant at the time, but may not be necessary to hold on to long term. That's where EMDR comes in. It helps you clear the mental sticky notes and stop holding on to memories that no longer require you to hold on to them. 

Melissa Spaulding can be found at guidedwellnesscounselingut.com.

She can also be found on Instagram @guidedwellnesscounseling

It's a wrap on epsiode one seventy six and we thank you so much for listening for another week.

Please come out to Fuze Box in Albany, NY, Saturday November 5th at 8pm. Will Foley is playing with Black Belt Jones, Gay Tastee and Ike's Wasted World. Come hear Will's brand of hard driving acoustic rock light the fuse on a night of hard driving rock with a metallic gleam. $10 gets you in the door. This will be a special night as Above Ground Podcast will be there and ready to rock, hint, hint. That's right TPP and Will together on the stage of what was once QE2. Oh the history and nostalgia. 

Don't forget TPP's new book, Never Under Estimate the Power of You, is due to release through Amazon soon. When we have a date and link for preorder we will post. 

Also Above Ground Podcast will have a mention in the Winter issue of Capital Region Living Magazine.

Thank you to Abby Tegnelia for making that happen. 

Time to call it an epsiode. We appreciate all our listeners and friends. You can donate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee backslash Above Ground Pod

Until next week get well, be safe, stay ABOVE...

Sending out a distress call is usually thought of when in a state of emergency. Today on episode one seventy five of Above Ground Podcast we send a message to those in distress, to urge you to ask for help. Will & TPP’s hope is that we can help you feel less like a castaway, an island lost at sea. This is our message in a bottle.

What's up everyone? It's time for this week's pod and Will & TPP chat about sending out an SOS when you need help, self-care, when you need a break or you are on the breaking point. We urge you to seek treatment. Seek a person-centered treatment if you want to feel you will have a bigger voice, because you do.

You will always be your best voice, but some individuals have an impairment to voicing their needs. It is scary to stand up for yourself. Some individuals have been marginalized for so long it is an enormous task to do.

If you need to learn a language for talking about your emotions in order for you to voice your feelings go thework.com. Byron Katie's website around the concept she pioneered with the book Loving What Is (2003, Penquin Random House).

Will & TPP jam on some topics related to looking at the self in a reflective and helpful way. We mentioned 988 several times, but we have not used it. Here is the link from our fantastic NY State Office of Mental Health.

Remeber know your crisis numbers and keep your loved ones personal information safe. Copy documents and file the originals. Make it part of your Individual Service Plan or ISP. Or your mental health care plan. 

This Sunday we are at the Upstate Punk Rock Flea Market at Empire Live. Sunday October 23rd, noon-6pm. Pogo Beard Company will have their beard and tattoo balm for sale.We will have your resources and we look forward to meeting you all and having a real conversation. 

Saturday November 5th Will is playing at Fuze Box in Albany NY at 8pm. Will is opening for episode 178 guest Mike Langone's band Black Belt Jones. Also on the bill are Ike's Wasted World and Gay Tastee. Doors at 7pm, show 8pm. $10 at the door. Come down to the iconic club that housed the former QE2. 12 Central Avenue, Albany, NY. 

Don't forget TPP will dropping his new book on you soon also. Never Under Estimate the Power of You. When you are ready to start believing in yourself, you too can start this DIY project. Stay tuned for release date and order link. 

Thanks for joining us on episode one seventy five of Above Ground Podcast. Please continue to share, like, follow, and review. Thank you for supporting us and special shout out to Dan for buying the pod five coffees. Please go to our Buy Me a Coffee and continue your support. We are trying to grow and expand. If you can support or our interested in promoting your cause or business please throw an email to Will at abovegroundpodcast@gmail.com. 

Thnaks for listening please call 9-1-1 for an immediate emergency. Dial  9-8-8 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or still dial 1(800)273-8255 and that will work indefinitely. Until next week,  get well, be safe, stay ABOVE

Sometimes you’re the scariest table in the room other times you’re amongst your tribe. Above Ground Podcast was everywhere and anywhere this past Spring/Summer brining resources, connection and stigma slapping to a neighborhood near you. 

We don’t recognize the power of an experience until we have had some distance from it and are able to look at it with a fresh eye. Fresh eyes are a choice and we choose everyday what we look at. Wayne Dyer says when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. We change too. How can you not? 

 Will and TPP reflect on what they have learned this year. About themselves and how the soil  has become a bit more plentiful to plant seeds of hope. We say thank to everyone we met this Spring/Summer of 2022 here in Nippertown. 

October 23, 2022 is Upstate Punk Rock Rock Flea Market. From 12-6pm for one day only at Empire Live in Albany NY. Above Ground Podcast will be there for this great event.

There are wreckages in life, that can leave us angry, frustrated and bitter. Healing, often leaves us with more questions than answers. Before we know it, we are buried under the weight and desperate to exhume what’s left of ourselves. We need a path to get us out from Beneath the Remains.

Where do we start digging through the events, feelings and traumas that leave us feeling unable to get us looking for the shovel? We often need a catalyst to act as a detonator to blast open our hearts and minds. Much of the debris is left from childhood and patterns of behavior and pain. Our unconscious minds will often shut us down in times of severe trauma to shield us. 

Beneath the Remains is where you may be right now. You don't have to stay there. One by one move the rocks, throw the dirt and build a brand new structure. It will take time, it will take strength, it will take moving forward. It will create light, it will create a new village. 

This past Saturday was NIpperFest 2022. We met amazing people, had wonderful conversations and hopefully we made the world a little less dark and scary for some of you. We are so grateful to be fortunate enough to bring you this content every week. 

Special thanks to Kevin Maloney. Kevin was in-studio when we recorded this episode. Kevin's incredible talent bookends every episode now. Kevin created our intro/outro music. Kevin also played guitar on Will's latest single, Memoir. Kevin's talent is immense and lives forever on recordings from his band Withstand and the Final Sleep. 

Huge thanks and gratitude to Jim Gilbert, Laura D, Amy Klemme and everyone at Nippertown for their support and we couldn't be happier to be part of the team. Ralph Renna for his friendship, dedication to our scene and for getting AGP involved. Vegas Nacy and the Empire Live team for their security at NipperFest this past weekend. Last, but not least, everyone that came out, shared stories, took resources, and chose to not let stigma get in the way of coming over to our table. See you soon!

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https://castbox.fm/channel/Above-Ground-Podcast-id2561617?country=us

https://www.audible.com/pd/Above-Ground-Podcast-Podcast/B08K564DM3

http://www.willfoley.net/#music

https://open.spotify.com/track/5ojjY0hMcefCfcwDFhAZWn?si=f0058da3d7ec483e&nd=1

https://youtu.be/QjfwOJ_Szj0

Memoir (Despair & Mayhem) [feat. Kevin Maloney] - Single by Will Foley

https://music.apple.com/us/album/memoir-despair-mayhem-feat-kevin-maloney-single/1569777715

This week's episode title was inspired by the band Sepultura.

Until next week, get well, be safe, stay ABOVE.....

Jim Gilbert is a creative fire storm, solution opportunist and the Heart of Nippertown. Jim views his ADD as a superpower that just needs management. Jim is driven beyond the grind, beyond inspired and is the beat that keeps the Heart of Nippertown pumping.

Jim discusses the cocktail that allows him to do ten things at once. We talk NipperFest 2022 and the great acts and logistics of it all. Above Ground Podcast will be there with your mental health resources from NYS Office of Mental Health, AFSP Capital Region, NAMI NYS, Healing Springs, and so many others. We all need a hug too. AGP will giving free hugs to anyone that needs one. 

Jim Gilbert is the Publisher of Nippertown and the Director of Operations for OverIt, a multi-media company in Albany, NY.  Jim was the co-owner of NYSMusic.com Jim is also a concert photographer, with his name etched into many of the great photos we see on Nippertown, NYSMusic.com and all over media. 

Please checkout the links below to find Jim’s work and connect. 

https://nippertown.com

https://overit.com

https://nysmusic.com

Thank you for listening to this episode of Above Ground Podcast. Please continue to rate, review, follow, friend, fan and share. Until next time get well, be safe, stay Above.

Two days out of prison, Frank"The Legend" Shamrock started a career of truly legendary proportions. Overcoming years of abuse, group homes and run-ins with the law. Things could have rolled much differently. Following the Warrior"s Code is the only path out.

The Legend was a child in Northern California. He survived abuse, maltreatment and severe trauma. Learning that crime and getting into trouble would get him out of his terrible home environment, he made it his own. 

Having nothing left to loose, Frank found himself in prison. He went to Shamrock Martial Arts School two days after his release. He was at the forefront of no-holds barred fighting, which would become Ultimate Fighting. MMA was made for him and he for MMA. 

Listen to him lay his life out unflinchingly. The pain and the ultimate. From living in the tool shed as a child. To producing Bipolar Rock N' Roller, the Showtime documentary of friend and renowned WWE and Combat Sports Announcer, Mauro Ranallo. 

What he learned from his experience was resilience and how to reinvent himself. Now an entrepreneur, speaker and producer.  a A staunch mental health advocate. A portion of his work goes to help Fountain House. A New York City non-profit which practices a specialized form of therapy using the setting of intentional community. 

He is the author of, Uncaged:My Life as a MMA Fighter. 

You can find all Frank Shamrock at his official website. 

https://frankshamrock.com

Thank you for listening. Be well, be safe, be Above,,,

Change management consultant, Joelle Monaco joins us this week. Joelle is a proponent of people first workplaces and communities. An educator by passion, Joelle wants to empower you to end stigma and create the world we all could use.

As a mental health consultant and trainer, Joelle has seen change. Starting out more than fifteen years ago, people wouldn't return her calls. Now they seek her out. They seek her knowledge and wisdom. 

We will breakdown the three stigmas we all encounter, self, public and institutional. Find out why Joelle has chosen the turtle as her spirit animal. Her passion is organizational development and building relationships to support operations. 

Joelle is a proponent of the people first view of community and workplace. We will spend a third of our lives in our place of work. We now have more than five generations in the workplace together. We tend to not leave our baggage at the door. Following the pandemic team building became a box to check. 

Managers are put in positions because they are good at a task. They are often not leaders. They often do not want to be. Community education turned into change management. What is holding us back? Let's talk about it. 

You can find Joelle Monaco at Joelle Monaco Consulting. She is also the Director of Outreach and Business Engagement for the Mental Health Association of NY State (MHANYS).

Thanks for joining another real conversation from the PEERspective. Join us every Wednesday for a new episode. If you like what you hear follow, friend, share and spread the vibes with one of our links below.

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Memoir (Despair & Mayhem) [feat. Kevin Maloney] - Single by Will Foley

https://music.apple.com/us/album/memoir-despair-mayhem-feat-kevin-maloney-single/1569777715

The Gospel According to Josh is HOPE. Utilizing his many artistic talents to bring suicide prevention, mental health, storytelling and emotional intelligence to the masses. Changing the familial legacy he nearly chose to accept as his own. Josh is truly kicking his blue genes in the butt. 

Josh Rivedal is a mission driven, author, speaker, actor, comic. He is the man behind The i'MPossible Project He is the creator of Changing Minds; a five-module mental health based curriculum. It combines lecture, storytelling, group discussion and improv theatre to enhance emotional development. 

Josh shares with us the story of his abusive childhood and the legacy of suicide which both took his father and his grandfather. That legacy nearly became his. 

Josh has wrote a one man play, Kicking My Blue Genes in the Butt. His memoir The Gospel According to Josh is based on that one man show. He is creator of the i'Mpossible Project which has released four book volumes of stories by others who have taken lemons and turned them into lemonade. We have had several guests from that book series on the pod already. With others to come in the future. 

Find Josh at these links;

http://www.joshuarivedal.com

https://www.iampossibleproject.com/the-gospel-according-to-josh/

josh@iampossibleproject.com

Thanks for listening and for your continued support. Here is a list of our links. Until next time Be Above....

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Memoir (Despair & Mayhem) [feat. Kevin Maloney] - Single by Will Foley

https://music.apple.com/us/album/memoir-despair-mayhem-feat-kevin-maloney-single/1569777715

Laura DaPolito is a 5-1-8 Licensed Clinical Social Worker and half of the dynamic duo that owns Nippertown. She is an energy goes in person with lots of experience working with trauma. Laura was called to this work. Laura is a HOPE dealer and a HEALER.

Laura D. comes from a legacy of healing. She has a 25 year career and counting. Her initial work began with working in the violence against women field. During her work in the domestic violence shelters she fell in love with working with children. She works for an innovative 5-1-8 school district. This has allowed her to start a day treatment program for children with mental illness and outpatient work with their families.

Laura believes hope is the ultimate tool to heal. She answered her calling. Coming from a long line of healers. Connection to others is a driving force, not only in her work, but in her life. 

Her love for animals almost led her to be a veterinarian. A period of complicated grief and depression led her to meet a group of wonderful healers and forever changed her path. We are forever grateful. 

Thanks to Laura for our wonderful conversation. Please listen to her wonderful story. 

Thanks to everyone who listens, follows, friends, shares and tags. We are truly grateful to bring this pod to you every week. Here is a list of our links. Until next week be well, be safe, be ABOVE...

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Memoir (Despair & Mayhem) [feat. Kevin Maloney] - Single by Will Foley

https://music.apple.com/us/album/memoir-despair-mayhem-feat-kevin-maloney-single/1569777715