Posts by Steve Wildsmith
The Lumineers speak truth to the labyrinthine web that addiction weaves
The Lumineers are, from left, Byron Isaacs, Jeremiah Fraites, Wesley Schultz, Lauren Jacobson and Stelth Ulvang. (Courtesy of Danny Clinch) As The Lumineers, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites didn’t set out to write an addiction record. While both men have personal experiences with loved ones who have struggled with addiction and alcoholism, neither has battled…
Read MoreLet the ‘Good Times’ roll: Through sobriety, singer-songwriter Glenn Jones rediscovers his muse
Singer-songwriter Glenn Jones spent a good chunk of his young adulthood touring the country, playing rock ‘n’ roll and giving full-time music his best efforts, and while he may have overindulged on occasion, alcohol was never a problem. Even after he got married in his late 20s, embraced the corporate life and relegated music to…
Read MoreOn ‘CONSUME,’ The JAB weaponizes rock against stigma, suffering
Courtesy of Karen Rettig Beloved broadcaster Paul Harvey once regaled millions of listeners with his touching, poignant tales of humanity, delivered in the measured cadence of his soothing Midwestern drawl. Often, key parts of his stories were withheld until the end of the broadcast, at which point Harvey would sign off with the signature phrase…
Read MoreCountry’s Rachel Stacy: Sassy, soulful, grateful and recovering
Rachel Stacy knew she was a drug addict, and when she admitted her problem to herself and another person in 2009, she thought she had put it behind her. Addiction doesn’t work that way, however, and even though she quit drugs, alcohol crashed through those flimsy walls like the Kool-Aid Man in those commercials of…
Read MoreSinger-songwriter Joe Nester builds a ‘Nation’ through music, recovery
The benefits of a life in recovery still blow Joe Nester’s mind on occasion. There was once a time in his life when, addicted to crack and heroin, he was homeless, sleeping under bridges and using Boston Market cardboard boxes for a bed. He was one of the nameless, faceless afflicted that populate the streets…
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