“Music is service.” – David

This episode of MFM Speaks Out will be different from our usual format. Dawoud Kringle will be interviewing his guest; a professional musician and  recovering drug addict and alcoholic. Out of respect to our guest and the tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous and other substance abuse recovery programs, we are protecting our guest’s anonymity and referring to him as Dave. Our discussion will center around alcoholism, drug abuse, and substance abuse recovery among musicians.

Topics discussed: How did substance abuse and music enter Dave’s life and how they intersected, the presence of drugs and alcohol, stigma of addiction among musicians, how it affected his life and career, the turning point where he decided he’d had enough, the difficulties of cleaning up and staying clean, and advice to musicians (and all others) who are suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.

Music featured on this episode:

“Cocaine Blues” (written by Porter Irving & Rev. Gary David [c. 1905], performed by Dave Van Ronk)

“Heroin” (written by Lou Reed, performed by The Velvet Underground)

“Master of Puppets” (written by James Hetfield, performed by Metallica)