Posts by Steve Wildsmith
For Liz Stringer, sobriety adds a whole new meaning to ‘First Time Really Feeling’
The wheels weren’t falling off, but they were damn close when Australian singer-songwriter Liz Stringer pulled back into Melbourne after an exhausting tour grind. It was October 2016, she told The Ties That Bind Us recently, and her relationship with alcohol had run its course. The tour to support “All the Bridges,” the record she…
Read MoreLife clean and sober feels ‘All. Right. Now.’ for Drew McManus of Satsang
Courtesy of Greyson Christian Plate Drew McManus is living proof that not all of those recovery cliches, the signs hanging on the walls in 12 Step meetings around the world, are a one-size-fits-all guide to sobriety. The co-founder, songwriter and vocalist for the Montana-based band Satsang, McManus went to rehab in 2010, stumbled briefly and…
Read MoreHappy birthday to us! The Ties That Bind Us celebrates three years
Over the three years The Ties That Bind Us has been telling the recovery stories of musicians, it’s felt a bit like cartography. What I mean by that is this: Recovery is a mountain range, peaks so high it scrapes the clouds, crisscrossed with ravines and gorges, valleys and outlooks, forested meadows and desolate stretches…
Read MoreWith the help of sobriety, Water Liars’ Andrew Bryant finds ‘A Meaningful Connection’
“Pain shared is pain lessened.” That’s an old saw commonly spoken in meetings of various self-help groups designed to help addicts and alcoholics get sober and stay that way. The gist is this: By speaking of the things that weigh heavy on your heart … by allowing your recovering brothers and sisters to help you…
Read MoreOn new song, duo The FBR paints a stark portrait of alcohol’s ferocious grip
Before he met his musical partner Malarie McConaha with whom he founded the roots music group The FBR, Tim Hunter was in a relationship that almost cost him his sanity. In many ways, he told The Ties That Bind Us this week, it felt like being a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, except that the woman…
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