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“I Just Didn’t Think I Could Do It” – Turnpike’s Evan Felker Reveals He Was Sober For Nearly 2 Years Before He Started Writing Again
Sobriety is a very popular topic today in the country music space. With many artists pursuing a completely sober lifestyle, or a partially sober lifestyle, giving up booze but enjoying some herbal medicine, the conversation has spotlighted that to be a country superstar, you don’t need the help of substances. The increase of sober artists has sort of flipped the rock-and-roll mentality of partying and living a wild lifestyle on its head, and, in turn, it’s empowered music fans to follow suit, knowing that their favorite singer or songwriter has faced the same struggles.
The frontman for the Turnpike Troubadours, Evan Felker, has faced his own struggles with addiction and, in the past two years, has really opened up about his sobriety and what led him to get sober. Die-hard Turnpike fans know that it was a long road to get back to where they stand today. The group spent years defining their sound, but all of that went on hold when they took an indefinite hiatus in 2019. After sudden cancellations and several on-stage drunken incidents, the band took a break while Evan Felker got his drinking habits under control. While most fans never lost hope… there was a point where we didn’t know if Turnpike would ever take the stage again.
But after spending some time off the grid ranching, Felker was ready to take the stage again. But getting back to that point of confidence in singing and songwriting took the Oklahoma native some time.
During a recent appearance on The Converse Cowboy podcast, hosted by Mike Roberts, Felker revealed that he had been sober for a long time before he even thought about putting pen to paper.
Mike Roberts raised the point by asking Felker whether his 2017 self would believe he’s sober, healthy, and thriving today. Felker candidly admitted that his past self would not have imagined he’s in the spot, personally and professionally, that he is in today.
“I don’t think so. You know so much happened in between there, and like… The kind of music that I play had a pretty low ceiling of how successful you could be. You know, and in terms of like how you could like make money and be visible. That changed a lot during COVID. That all, this stuff blew up.
Of course, I was hanging out, running cows at my buddy’s place. Completely off the grid. I wasn’t touching a guitar. I just got sober. I mean I picked one up for whatever, but I didn’t try to write for… I bet I was sober a year and a half, two years before I got scribbled anything down.
I had a weird anxiety about it. Yeah, I didn’t, I just didn’t think I could do it very well, and I kind of couldn’t. It took a minute to sort of recalibrate.”
Roberts then asked Felker some about his time in rehab, to which Felker shared candidly that he did a 90-day program. Felker shared that the whole time he spent in rehab he had a crash course on how to obey rules, be a good person, and shaped a new identity within being sober.
Felker also shares that when he entered rehab, he had not yet come to terms with the idea that he was an alcoholic, which looped back to a quote Felker shared previously that he had to come to the revelation that his drinking was not a product of being on the road, but because he had an addiction.
“I think I accepted that is what was happening, but I didn’t accept that the only way out of it, for me, was to really never touch alcohol again. You know what I mean? That’s the tough one for everybody, the sort of surrendering to the fact that this isn’t in the cards for you anymore. It’s not on the table for you anymore, if you want to have a good life.”
Hearing about Felker’s growth is incredible, and it’s evident that he’s found peace in his life through ranching. The family has changed his life for the better, and his songwriting is just as profound after getting sober. It’s rumored that Turnpike is dropping a record this year, and if that’s true, I can’t wait to see how they build off The Price Of Admission.
Check out the entire interview, it’s well worth watching.
The post “I Just Didn’t Think I Could Do It” – Turnpike’s Evan Felker Reveals He Was Sober For Nearly 2 Years Before He Started Writing Again first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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