Willie Nile (Umberto Snortz) episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 10, 2025 · 1H 14M

Willie Nile (Umberto Snortz)

from Performance Anxiety · host Marc Shea

This guest is the very definition of resilience. Please welcome singer/songwriter Willie Nile. He has a new album out called The Great Yellow Light that shows Willie is still in top form. But he has a long, storied career and that’s where we get started. He reveals that music has run in the family for generations!  He went to college because the school needed people in the dorms. It was in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing to do, so he started learning how to play the guitar. He moved to New York City to start his music career and set himself apart by just being true to himself. Well, mostly. He did go through a series of nom de plumes like Umberto Snortz & Osgood Pequad before settling on Willie Nile. His debut was critically acclaimed. But when he got sick after his sophomore album, he couldn’t perform and stepped away from music for a decade. He released another album and then stepped away again. He decided to give music one more shot in 1999 and has been putting out great music ever since. His new album has some great cameos and rocks pretty damn hard. Check it out wherever you stream music or buy a physical copy from Bandcamp or willienile.com. Follow his socials, they’re easy to find. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Grab merch at performanceanx.threadless.com or just send money to ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now please enjoy Willie Nile on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This guest is the very definition of resilience. Please welcome singer/songwriter Willie Nile. He has a new album out called The Great Yellow Light that shows Willie is still in top form. But he has a long, storied career and that’s where we get started. He reveals that music has run in the family for generations!  He went to college because the school needed people in the dorms. It was in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing to do, so he started learning how to play the guitar. He moved to New York City to start his music career and set himself apart by just being true to himself. Well, mostly. He did go through a series of nom de plumes like Umberto Snortz & Osgood Pequad before settling on Willie Nile. His debut was critically acclaimed. But when he got sick after his sophomore album, he couldn’t perform and stepped away from music for a decade. He released another album and then stepped away again. He decided to give music one more shot in 1999 and has been putting out great music ever since. His new album has some great cameos and rocks pretty damn hard. Check it out wherever you stream music or buy a physical copy from Bandcamp or willienile.com. Follow his socials, they’re easy to find. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Grab merch at performanceanx.threadless.com or just send money to ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now please enjoy Willie Nile on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Willie Nile (Umberto Snortz)

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This episode was published on July 10, 2025.

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This guest is the very definition of resilience. Please welcome singer/songwriter Willie Nile. He has a new album out called The Great Yellow Light that shows Willie is still in top form. But he has a long, storied career and that’s where we get...

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