Americana juggernaut Jason Isbell celebrated five years of sobriety yesterday (Feb. 6)—and what an amazing five years it’s been for the Grammy-winning artist. Since going to rehab in 2012, Jason has gotten married to Amanda Shires (2013), released award-winning albums Southeastern (2013) and Something More Than Free (2015), won two Grammys (2016) and welcomed a baby girl into the world (2015).
Jason made a simple announcement on Twitter to commemorate the feat.
5 years sober.
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) February 6, 2017
Congrats on the milestone accomplishment, Jason.
In 2014, Jason sat down with Nash Country Daily to talk about his sobriety, and he was very candid about it.
Below is an excerpt of our conversation.
NCD: Do you remember the last drink you had?
“Yeah, it was moonshine. Well, I remember the last jug of moonshine that I had. I don’t remember what the bottom of it looked like, but I remember what the top of it looked like. We were in Virginia, so it was that stuff from like south of Richmond that’s really, really good—it’s been really good for the last 75 years. That was the last thing that I drank. It didn’t treat me well. I knew that I’d be going into rehab on Monday, so on Saturday night I tried to see how much I could get down and it was a bad experience for sure.”
Is drinking something that you miss?
“Yeah, I think alcoholics always miss it. But it’s something I don’t miss enough, at least right now, to go back to. In a lot of ways, it’s like somebody you dated that you knew was really bad for you but you had this kind of strong attraction anyway. You miss it in that same way. You miss it for a second, but then you think, ‘Thank God I don’t have to put up with it anymore.’”
