Dead & Company is back on the road, bringing their kaleidoscope of jams, tie-dye freak-outs, and whatever the hell is still floating in Jerry’s cosmic wake. But something about their upcoming San Francisco shows on August 1st and 2nd hits a little different this time around. Sure, the lineup is killer: Billy Strings opens night one, and Sturgill Simpson (yes, the reclusive mountain man himself) is stepping in for night two. But behind all the psychedelia, flower crowns, and questionable gummies, a new kind of energy is creeping in… Sobriety I know, I know. Sobriety? At a Dead show? That’s like saying no beer at a tailgate! In a scene full of acid tabs, magic mushrooms, Mary Jane and tallboys, staying sober might be the wildest trip of all. But let’s look at our openers who won’t be chuggin before they step on stage. Billy Strings: A Hangover So Bad, It Became a Turning Point Let’s start with Billy. On Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend, he didn’t sugarcoat it. His last drink was on June 16, 2016. After a wild show and a mountain of merch sales, he celebrated at the bar like any rockstar would. Drinks on him. The next morning? Absolutely brutal. “I remember throwing up every 10 minutes… it made a five-hour drive take seven. We missed soundcheck, had to set up in front of the audience. It was embarrassing… I was like, ‘I’m never doing this again.’ And I haven’t.” That’s not just a hangover…that’s a van ride to enlightenment. Billy says he was never a “hardcore addict,” but once he started drinking, he just couldn’t stop. So he stopped for good. Since then, he’s been pickin’ faster, cleaner, and with a focus that’s hard to match. These days, Billy stays California Sober, meaning he’ll still indulge in cannabis from time to time, but it’s a hard pass on the hard stuff… not unlike the great Willie Nelson. Watch Billy talk Sobriety with Theo Von: Sturgill Simpson: From Booze to the Railroad to Real Clarity Now shift gears to Sturgill. In an interview with Jeremy Dylan, the outlaw country king talked about his own complicated relationship with drinking. It wasn’t shakes and withdrawal. It was self-medication. “It was never waking up with shaky hands going, ‘I need a drink.’ It was more self-medicating depression… Then I went to work on the railroad and I didn’t have any need to do that anymore. I found a lot of clarity.” Leave it to Sturgill to literally hop on the tracks to clean up his life. “With sobriety and knowing I’ve got a family to take care of, it’s brought what I can only describe as an intense focus.” He’s not flashy about it. He doesn’t need to be. Like everything he does… it’s authentic, quiet, and absolutely bad***. The Wharf Rats: Keeping It Clean in a Cloud of Smoke And now, the real glue of this sober undercurrent: The Wharf Rats. At first glance, they may look like just another group of Deadheads. But these folks are clean, sober, and on a mission. Named after the Dead’s haunting song Wharf Rat, they’re a crew of recovering Deadheads who hold space for anyone trying to enjoy the music without spiraling. If you’ve ever been to a Dead show (or anything jammy), you know the scene: joints, vapes, tabs, gummies, and God knows what else floating around like parade confetti. For people in recovery, that can be isolating, even dangerous. That’s where the Wharf Rats come in. They set up info tables, mark their spots with yellow balloons, and host AA-style meetings during set breaks. They’re not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, but they follow the same core idea: fellowship without judgment. Grateful Don, a longtime Wharf Rat who now travels with the band, put it best: “Before the Wharf Rats, a lot of people fell through the cracks. You’d be alone, surrounded by people partying, and for an addict or alcoholic, we just can’t use with impunity.” Watch Grateful Don share his story: One Show At A Time So let’s take it in: Billy Strings. Sturgill Simpson. The Wharf Rats. Three different stories, one shared mission: to show that the music doesn’t need to be soaked in booze to blow your mind. Sobriety isn’t exactly the first thing you expect to find at a Dead & Co. show, or in the country/bluegrass world, either. But maybe it should be. Because sometimes the clearest minds make the wildest music. And sometimes the most rebellious thing you can do is stay sober. So when the Dead roll into San Francisco this August, don’t be surprised if the most transcendent sets come from the guys who left the bottle behind. Because sometimes, the clearest trip is the sober one.The post Clean Pickin’: Sturgill Simpson, Billy Strings & The Unexpected Sobriety Movement At A Dead & Co. Show first appeared on Whiskey Riff.