Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Understanding Autism Through Music: An Acoustic Evening for a Cause
Sun, 20 Apr 2025
Send us a text We broadcast live from the Nashville Palace for a special remote podcast supporting "An Acoustic Evening for Autism," bringing together musicians who share their personal connections to autism awareness. • Jamie O'Neill describes how having a cousin with autism inspired her participation in the benefit concert • Jamie emphasizes the importance of slowing down in our fast-paced world to accommodate different needs • Minnie Murphy reveals her 5-year-old son is on the autism spectrum, sharing his special abilities like perfect pitch • Minnie performs original songs celebrating individuality and seeing the beauty others miss • Both guests praise Vanderbilt's Kennedy Center for their exceptional work in autism research and treatment • Our guests emphasize autism shouldn't be viewed as a permanent condition but as a different perspective • The conversation highlights how patience, active listening, and embracing differences creates understanding Tell everyone everywhere about Why Not Me? The World, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone everywhere that you are not alone in this world. https://tonymantor.com https://Facebook.com/tonymantor https://instagram.com/tonymantor https://twitter.com/tonymantor https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)
Chapter 1: Who is hosting the Why Not Me? The World Podcast and what is its purpose?
Welcome to Why Not Me? The World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor. Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world.
Hopefully you gain more awareness, acceptance, and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor, and welcome to today's episode of Why Not Me? The World. We're recording live at the Nashville Palace for a special remote podcast, unscripted, unedited, and full of heart. Tonight's episode supports an acoustic evening for autism, a show happening right here this evening.
We're thrilled to bring you this country experience, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we're enjoying sharing it with you. We've got two fantastic guests joining us tonight. This is week number three of three that I'll be featuring two guests per episode to dive into everything we're covering right here tonight. Thanks for tuning in. Okay, I'm here with Jamie O'Neill. Thanks for coming on.
Chapter 2: What inspired Jamie O'Neill's involvement in the Acoustic Evening for Autism?
Thank you. Glad to be here.
So tell me, what is your journey to get to this show tonight for autism?
um well my journey is I have a relationship with Chuck Rhodes who is working with the committee to help them put on an event such as this and I love Chuck and close ties to autism I had a cousin who was autistic and my aunt passed away and so it's definitely near and dear to my heart and You know, it's hard to me as an entertainer to say no to charities when it's, number one, it is important.
Chapter 3: How does Jamie O'Neill describe the importance of patience and slowing down for autism awareness?
The cause is important. But just overall, we're lucky to get to do what we do. And if someone asks us to be there, it is hard to say no. I live in Nashville. I'm right here. It's like, what's my excuse?
Exactly. So what... And it's always nice when you can use your platform to help others.
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we are, like I said, lucky to get to do what we do. So anytime that someone asks us, it is an honor. That's like, oh, thank you for wanting me there. You know, whatever I can do to add to the night, hopefully.
Yeah, and autism is so misunderstood with so many people that we need events like this not only to help them financially, but to help get the word out there about what the challenges are that they face on a daily basis.
Right, absolutely. Anything, I mean, I have a daughter who's 21, and I know going through school, you know, all the years through elementary to middle school, you know, every child's experience is a different one, and any challenge that is there needs to be met and needs to be fostered and, like,
you know maybe they need extra time on a test you know you don't know what someone's going through and i think it's important because we live in such a fast-paced world to understand that um you know no matter where you are on the spectrum many people are whether it's a kid or an adult right that sometimes it is the extra time. Sometimes it's the patience that we need.
And like I said, you know, the fast-paced thing really gets to us. But it's beautiful when you see a child who takes that extra time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. And if we could be like that, if we could be more appreciative of all the little things in life and slow down and realize that whatever they need, if they need to go that slow, that's how slow we need to go.
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Chapter 4: What value does Tony Mantor see in performing at autism benefit events?
yeah and it's always nice to when you're working on a project or going doing a show you can go up there in front of 5 000 10 000 people whatever the number may be and it's enjoyable and you put on your show and people enjoy what you do but there's a different sense of of value when you do something like this when you know that the people are there to support
autism part of it and you're there to support the autism so it's a completely different feeling in what you're putting out yeah and we're all there for the common goal and the common good of helping those in need It just feels like you've accomplished something. At least when I'm working on a project and it's a music project, it's like I feel good that I did it.
But when I'm working on a project and it's finishing up like an interview with an autistic person or whatever, it feels like I accomplished something.
Yeah, absolutely.
Completely different thought process.
I can see that, yeah.
So how many songs are you doing tonight?
Three.
Three, okay. And anything that you want to tell the listeners that you think is important that they hear about what you're trying to do with the autism?
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Chapter 5: What are Jamie O'Neill's views on Vanderbilt's Kennedy Center and autism research?
vanderbilt is amazing first of all yes um and i have i've been to vanderbilt for physical therapy whether it's on my voice my vocal cords whether it's you know pt for my back my muscles whatever it may be yeah and so i think that they do such great work they do and they're a learning hospital and they're a teaching hospital yes and those are many things that we all need and so i have a lot of respect
When I go there, I've always had a great experience, and I think there's only been a couple of other charities I've been involved with for Vanderbilt, and I've always been just grateful to be there because of the experiences I've had with them.
Well, good. Well, I appreciate you coming on.
Thank you. Thank you for asking.
Yeah, thanks. Okay, I'm here with Minnie Murphy, and she's one of the performers tonight for Autism. Thanks for coming on.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
What led you to do this show for autism tonight?
Well, my sister Jamie invited me to do it, and I have a son that's five, and he's on the spectrum, and so it just made total sense, you know? Oh, okay. I love to support everybody that's going through that and the research with autism, and yeah, so I'm just happy to be here and share some music and have a good night.
So you say that your son is autistic?
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Chapter 6: Who is Minnie Murphy and what is her connection to autism?
And how old is he?
He's five.
Chapter 7: What motivates Minnie Murphy to perform at the autism benefit show?
Oh, okay. All right. With that said, it appears that you're getting a lived experience of this. So this way you can not only help people, but you can also bring more understanding to them about it.
Yeah. It's not something that I fully understand. I mean, I don't even really believe it, to be honest. To me, he's just a regular kid, and I guess he has some sort of behavioral things that are equated with autism. He'll... Organize things line things up and kind of he's really into trains and straight lines and sometimes he'll get in the zone with that but he's a great singer and
Like, even if you are singing a song in one key and then you change the key, he'll follow you. He's got perfect pitch and he's got an incredible memory. So I've heard that, you know, people call it a superpower. And so I'm just going to embrace that, you know, and I think it's important that we, in general with children,
get rid of these ideas of milestones and when people are supposed to attain certain things with their development. So for me, I feel like tonight is about... Celebrating people's individuality and their authenticity and their own pace.
Right.
And just cultivating a supportive environment for the uniqueness of each person.
Absolutely. And that's really what it is. The biggest thing that I found while doing this podcast is the misunderstanding of what people think autism actually is. The closer we can get to people understanding, and that's what this show does. It helps raise money to go to the Kennedy Center at Vanderbilt to help better understand autism and help people get that understanding.
So I think this is a great thing.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I chose to sing two original songs as well as the Doobie Brothers' Long Train Run, just because that's a fun one, you know, without love, you know, where would we be now? But the first song is called Do You, and that's just all about staying true to yourself and leaving your beauty mark that sets you apart is one of the lines, and... I just feel like that was a great message.
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