December 3, 2025 • 23 mins
Join Sarah Harralson for an inspiring conversation with Rob Tomlinson, a transformative figure in the music industry who has dedicated his career to both artist development and addiction recovery advocacy. As a respected music executive and recovery specialist at "Recovery Unplugged" Rob shares his unique perspective on the challenges facing artists in Music City and beyond.
In this powerful conversation, Rob opens up about his work helping musicians navigate the pressures of the entertainment industry while maintaining their mental health and sobriety. He discusses the prevalence of addiction in the music business, the importance of creating recovery support systems for artists, and how the Nashville community is addressing these critical issues.
Rob also delves into his extensive experience in artist development and music business strategy, offering insights on what it takes to build sustainable careers in today’s evolving music landscape. From identifying talent to nurturing long-term success, he shares the lessons learned from years of working with artists at various stages of their careers.
This episode explores the intersection of creativity, commerce, and wellness in the music industry, highlighting how recovery and second chances can lead to profound personal and professional transformation. Rob’s story serves as a beacon of hope for anyone in the music community struggling with addiction or supporting someone who is.
Whether you’re a music industry professional, an aspiring artist, someone in recovery, or simply interested in the human stories behind the music, this episode offers valuable perspectives on resilience, redemption, and the power of music to heal and transform lives.
Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
M Taking a Walk Nashville.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a Walk Nashville,
and today I'm here with Rob Tomlinson, a care manager
at the Recovery Unplugged facility in Brentwood, Tennessee, just south
of Nashville. To give everyone some background on Recovery Unplugged.
They are a national behavioral health provider that provides care
(00:25):
for people going through addiction, substance abuse, and other mental
health disorders, including but not limited to, depression and anxiety
and PTSD. Recovery Unplugged has seven locations nationwide, and here's
the cool thing. Their inpatient and outpatient programs utilize music
(00:46):
assisted treatments to promote healing and long term recovery. Join
me as I take a walk with Rob Tomlinson today.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Welcome to Taking a Walk Nashville with your hosts, singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you for being on Taking a Walk in Nashville today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Rob, How are you all doing good? How are you?
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I'm good? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
So?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Can you just start by sharing what led you to
finding and working for Recovery Unplugged.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Absolutely, I'm in long term recovery myself. I just celebrated
thirteen years sober this past Monday. Thank you. And music
and recovery for me have always been probably two of
the most powerful forces that I've experienced in my life.
Music obviously from a young age, and then recovery as
I was an adult. Music's kind of always been like
(01:40):
my best friend.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
It was there for me when I felt the lonelin
loneliest and it felt it was there for me when
I've been at my highest, you know what I mean,
And there's just so much power in it. And with
recovery unplugged my journey there. I moved to Nashville around
seven years years ago from Philadelphia, pursuing music full time.
(02:03):
I worked in treatment in Philadelphia for about three years,
and this was before the fetanyl and pandemic that came out,
and I was working in treatment during the fetanyl epidemic
and the amount of people that passed away from overdose.
It was very overwhelming and I said I would never
work in treatment ever again. So I pursue music full
(02:25):
time and moved to Nashville, got signed. Then COVID hit right,
so it was like another kind of like call it
fork in the road, you know. I was getting older,
my brother was having kids, I was turning. I think
I turned like thirty two at the time, and being
a full time musician is extremely difficult, especially if it's
(02:48):
a career and not just a hobby like being able
to It's essentially three full time jobs. I had a
really good friend of mine asked me, you know, when
were you the happiest, And my response was one, I
work in treatment because I would work I would do
like music therapy based groups. I would do, you know,
like I'd bring in like a lot of music into
the facility. When I worked in Philly and I saw
(03:10):
that Recovery Unplug was hiring, but they were hiring for
like entry level position, like as like a tech like
making like very little money. And I had, like, you know,
I had multiple years experience working in treatment, but that's
all they were hiring for. But I believe so strongly
in Recovery on Plug's mission and who they are and
(03:31):
what they stood for, that I was like, you know what,
Like it's going to work out. Within within a year,
I was promoted to lead Alumni Coordinator, which is basically
like helping people get into treatment that have been through
recovery unplugged, like say they slip up and they need,
you know, to re enter treatment again, like I was
(03:52):
the guy that they would call. And I also started
taking responsibility of Sober Sessions, primarily in just Nashville, which
is just a sober based concert series that we put
on for the recovery community. And the next year I
got promoted to campaign manager of all of Recovery Unpluggs,
(04:12):
so all of our locations Florida, you know, Virginia, South Carolina,
New Jersey, Texas, Nashville obviously, and my responsibility of this
past year has been our social media presence putting on
sober sessions and all of our locations, which you know,
(04:33):
we just got word that I don't know when this
is going to air, but we just got word literally
like fifteen minutes ago that Anthony Green of Circus Survive
Seos and he's in recovery and he's going to be
headlining our Austin Sober Sessions that we're going to be
doing in November. So lots of really cool things. My
main initiative is do as much dope shit as possible
(04:57):
for the recovery community and for the mental health community,
and just to show that you can have fun sober
and not have to worry about substance or whatever in
order to feel connected. So very cool.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
So, how long has the Nashville facility been around and
who started Recovery Unplugged in general?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So the Nashville Facility's been around for a little over
I would say, like, don't fact check me on this,
but like around seven years okay. Recovery Unplugged was started
by this guy named Richie Supa who is the manager
of Aerosmith and he's been creen for over twenty five
years plus. He went into facilities in Fort Lauderdale and
(05:39):
he called himself Recovery Unplugged. And what he would do
is he would go into facilities with a guitar and
play for the clients to all these other rehabs and
it created such a positive response through music, and he
would go in play songs that he wrote. He helped
co write Amazing by Aerosmith, Pink by Aersmith. You know.
He ended up having an investment opportunity with a couple
(06:01):
other guys and they were just like listen, like there's
a need for this and it is such a cool
angle and cool concept. Richie Supa we've been around for
over thirteen years plus thirteen years later, he still plays
at the Fort Lauderdale facility every Friday for the clients.
Thirteen years later. It's called Field Good Fridays. And one
(06:24):
of our alumni that came through Recovery Unplugged over five
years ago. His name is Adam David. He started playing
our Field Good Fridays and literally just won the voice
this past season. So you never know, you know, you
never know who it's going to impact, You never know
how your life is going to be changed, Like even
if it's just like staying clean a day at a time,
(06:47):
Like the power of music and the power of recovery
is so strong. The disease of addiction is horrifying and
insidious in so many ways, but recovery is so much
stronger if it's utilized in a way way that you know,
the ripple effect that music can kind of like drives
the vehicle for it. It's just, in my opinion, one
of the most powerful things.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
So yeah, yeah, I'm a big believer that music heals
and that music is medicinal. And I got to perform
at one of your feel Good Fridays the other month,
and I think it's so important to provide music to
clients and patients, So how do you find these music
performances to be healing to patients?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
It is so the opposite of addiction is connection, right.
One of my favorite cliches is that fear is something
that we learn, I don't believe and not and like
the only thing that we really have fear of is
like legitimate fears, is like fear of like you know,
physically being harmed and so many other things. Right, and
(07:53):
so myself included having you know, PTSD and trauma and
a lot of these things incorporated into my childhood and
then adulthood off obviously like I have rightfully so learned
to be afraid of certain things, certain scenarios, so on
and so forth. So I've learned to put up walls
lack of a better word. Right, music for me, it
(08:13):
cuts through everything, It cuts through all the fear. It
allows me to get to a place of vulnerability and
safety that maybe years of therapy would have to get to. Right,
And and therapy is incredible, don't get it, don't get
it twisted. But a song that I would hear when
I was younger or when a you know, client would
(08:35):
hear when they were younger. I'll give you an example,
like I ran a group one time and I performed
to Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. You know, obviously,
the backstory of the song is like one of the
guys went on a psychedelic trip and just never came
back and wrote a song about very angry. I'm very
pissed off that you did this because I love you
(08:56):
and I but after you go through the grieving process,
say I love you anyway, I just wish you were here, man, Right,
there was a woman that was in that group that
lost her daughter to addiction, and she never properly grieved
over it. I played that song for her tears starts
streaming down her face. The last time that she heard
that song was at her daughter's funeral. She got involved
(09:18):
into addiction, obviously, and then over the course of time,
she never properly emotionally grieved her daughter's death. And when
she heard that song sober for the first time, she was,
all the emotions came up and she was able to
healthily process that emotion in a group setting. That is
like what the power of live music can do. You know,
(09:39):
I'm not a therapist by any means. I'm just a
human being that I believe. It's like experience over opinions
and my experiences as a musician. Now, if that experience
can be applied as many times as possible on a
daily basis, I'm doing a good job. Right. So now
my job v via social media and TikTok and Instagram
(10:03):
and like all that other kind of stuff. Like being
able to do that to an organic arty audience, not
just in our facilities, but being able to do that.
Here's a story, here's an experience, here's a song, and
someone scrolling they're having the worst that they've ever had
and they've seen that. I can tell you, Like so
many people reach out to me, Hey man, I'm struggling.
I'm going through detoks withdrawals and they're not ready for treatment.
(10:26):
But just to note like they're not alone is what
it's about.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah, right, I find those stories on recovery and plugs
social media to be so impactful. So, like you said,
some of the performers at the facility are not music therapist,
But do you have music therapist or what other kind
of treatments music treatments do you have at the facility?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
In Nationale in particular music therapy and having music as
a form of treatment or two completely different worlds. Just
want to make that like absolutely clear. Are all of
our therapists are master level clinicians, but we do not
do actual music therapy, right, Like what people do say
(11:11):
for example, like in a hospice setting having a music
therapist come in, Right, that's completely different than the music
modalities that we use.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Some of the modalities of music that we do use
in therapy would be like an example of a you know,
like recovery playlist is a good example, right, Like having
like an idea. One group that we've run in the
past is like give us a song that you have
that you want played at your one year so anniversary, right,
and you play that at like fifteen days clean, sixteen
(11:42):
days clean, and what you use is like positive projection
to be able to in visualize like what that feeling
would be like and had that inspire to get to
a year, which, by the way, I've had people get
to a year and send me a letter and be like, hey,
just so you know, I remember that song that I
had in that group that one day whatever. Right, We
do a little bit of everything like we do everything
(12:04):
from brain spotting to you know, normal detoc sessions. You know,
when someone's in detox, will have four to five one
on one therapist groups a week. Then obviously as they're
in residential that I'll ramp down. I'll be kind of
based more off of like a community perspective We've had.
We've had therapists that have been there that have worked
(12:24):
with clients to be able to write a song right
while they're going through detox, and they don't have to
be a singer songwriter in order to do that right,
And we have musicians that work there that are in
recovery that you know, myself included that I've had clients
that are touring musicians that haven't written in years, and
(12:44):
I have like, you know, a mini recording set up.
We'll write an album while they're in treatment. So it
really depends on I think it's just a matter of
the angle of how you look at it, right, Like
a lot of people look at music therapy as like
a very distinctive thing, like you go to school for it,
which yes you do. You get a degree in music therapy, absolutely,
(13:04):
but a lot of people have degrees in like real
life experience, and in the world of addiction, having a
lot of knowledge and a lot of clinical background is
absolutely important. That's why we have like, you know, master's
levels clinicians. But it takes a village in order to
elevate someone to get to the truth of who they are, right,
(13:26):
you know.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Yeah, And I think it's really important to talk about
the positive impact of music because I think many people
in the music industry as creative space a lot of pressure.
So maybe some people who are creatives at these facilities,
you know, have struggled with addiction because they were in
a path of music. So how do you help someone
(13:48):
find the positive side of music if they're there after
having a negative struggle with music that led them to addiction.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Sure, I think reframing is a positive tool for just
about it right, whether not. You don't have to be
in recovery, like you can be just a normal human
being and reframing something how something is years ago to
how it is now. Give relationships as an example, you
have one dad relationship and then all of a sudden,
(14:17):
every relationship after that, you know, like that story is
so common amongst so many people, you know, And reframing
trust and reframing relationships like very common. So talking about music,
I'll speak for myself. My relationship with music is and
has been, you know, in the beginning, it was my
(14:38):
first talent show in sixth grade, ten eleven years old.
It was bullied my whole life, right, And then I
saw my dad play music and I'm like, oh my god,
Like he's loved by so many people, that's the answer, right.
So I became obsessed with learning how to play guitar
and sing and like all that other kind of stuff.
So sixth grade talent show rolls around, I perform Standing Over.
(15:00):
I'm like, Okay, this is the answer forever, right, And
I just pursued that with relentless ambition for the next
ten years of my life. It was never enough to
fill that hole within myself to accept myself on a
deep level. Right. So when I got clean, my relationship
with music changed. It wasn't about let me do this
cool magic trick to show you how talented I am.
(15:22):
It was how can I do this thing to let
you not feel alone? Because I know what that feeling
is like. And I think that's really just kind of
what it comes down to, is that, like, how do
you reframe a negative emotion like loneliness, for example, into
saying like, hey, I know what that feels like. Let's
actually feel connected through loneliness. So, you know, you could
(15:45):
take eleanor Rigby for example, which is a song that
is like look at all the lonely people, right, and
being able to say like, Hey, you might be a
sixty year old alcoholic and I might be a twenty
two year old fetanyl addict, but we both know what
loneliness feels like. So we can listen to that song
and then if we could find if we could find
(16:05):
connection through that, what else can we find connection through? Right?
And then that it just causes an open minded ripple
effect too. Well, maybe my dad felt the same way,
maybe my mom felt the same way. Maybe you know
it just like it's all about just reversing and reframing,
and music can be the foundation for that. Yeah, you know,
(16:26):
it can be the foundation for any kind of connection
that might be possible. I don't know if that answered
the question.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
But I think, Salia, I think it's important to reframe
because some people might be and stuck in the mindset
that they can no longer do music, but maybe they
can keep doing music, and maybe it's just in another form,
like you said, writing songs about what they've been through
and their experiences.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, it's the wrong question. So what I mean by
that is like music's not the problem, like on the problem, Okay.
Music is kind of like music is this cool thing.
It's like it's like an attribute that I have if
I were to go all in. It's not just it's
not just me, Like music is not all of who
(17:10):
I am, Like who I am as a person is
a funny, charismatic, very caring, very loving, very empathetic, very flawed,
Like I have all these things as part of being
a human being. And if you can go down that
journey of understanding that you're a human being first being
(17:31):
able to allow music to be just like ten percent
of who I am and not one hundred percent of
who I am, it's not your identity, right, And I
think that's like such a hard battle that so many
people fight, because when you're selling yourself as an artist
or musician, you're the product, and if the product fails,
then all of a sudden that is like, oh my god,
I failed. But that's not true. You have to be
(17:54):
able to understand that the foundation is like Okay, as
any product, you have to learn what works it doesn't work,
but also be able to dissociate yourself from the product.
You know, you have to be able to say like, okay,
I'm rob first, and then whatever happens after that, X, Y,
and Z.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
So yeah, yeah, I think that's very true and important.
You already mentioned a couple of songs like wish You
were here? Is that your healing anthem? Or would what
would you say is your healing anthem?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It's a good question. I would have to say. There's
two songs. Song number one would be After the Storm
by Mumford and Sons. I played that song on religious
repeat when I was in treatment. This was like over
fifteen years ago, so this was I It was when
they had like the iPod homes, remember those. Yeah, I
(18:45):
would like someone gave it to me for like an
hour and they were just like here, just listen to whatever.
I just listened to that song and repeat. So every
single year in my anniversary, I listened to it just
to kind of remind myself. Another song is Endless by
Pine Grove, and that song is kind of about everything
that I talked about, just like being human or I
would also say a little bit of everything by dolls.
(19:09):
It's like kind of like being able to understand that,
like happiness, it's all the spectrum of emotions that come
along with being human. It's not just like feeling good
all the time or feeling bad all the time. It's
like there will always be that, and the sooner that
I accept that, the sooner that I can allow life
to just be life for.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Ready to Yeah, very cool. So, if someone is listening
to this and they want to support Recovery Unplugged in
some way, how can they reach out to get involved?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You can look us up on our website Recovery Unplugged
dot com. I would say that one out of three
people know someone or is someone that struggles with addiction
and mental health. I would say that, like there is
a solution, and that our admissions line is open twenty
four hours, seven days a week. If we can't help you,
we will find someone to help you. Our initiative is that, like,
(20:04):
we obviously have a very good facility, you've been there,
Like we have a very awesome expectation and standard that
we try to uphold by, but we also believe in like, hey,
if we can't help you. We will find someone that
will whether you have insurance or not, whether you have
money or not, whether you have the resources or not,
let us be the resource to help you. I've worked
(20:25):
in that department. I've worked in the park department of
getting people into treatment, and I can honestly say with
like full disclosure that the company genuinely cares about helping people.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
So yeah, yeah, very nice. Facility of the staff there
is great, So definitely check them out. Lastly, we are
on taking a walk Nashville. So do you have a
favorite place you like to take a walk in.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Nashville Percy Warner Percy Warner, Massie Ridge Trail. I was
going to go there this morning, but my car age trouble.
So it's sacred ground for me. I've had the most
conversations with the God understanding there and it's free and
it's beautiful. Coming from Philadelphia and living here, it like
(21:10):
reminds me how lucky I am to live in Nashville, right,
And there's so many beautiful trails around here and local
state parks and you'd be insane to not take advantage
of it if you live here.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Yeah, that's my favorite park is Nazi Regis up the
two mile.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Loop, it's a six mile loop, okay four point five
and oh the Red Trail Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Yeah, that's a top one m of summer.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, it is a good workout, I will say that.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, yeah, it's I think it's in the top ten
in the nation actually for runners because of how sternuous
it is. So yeah, definitely checked out that park Percy
Warner if you're in Nashville. So thank you for your
time today, Rob Everyone. Head to Recovery unplugg dot com
if you would like to seek recovery, refer patient, or
(21:59):
simply support this organization. So any final words you'd like to.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Send now, just grateful, grateful that we get the opportunity
to do this, and I'm super stoked and excited to
see where the next year takes us. We are doing
a lot of really cool stuff. Just know that if
you're a musician and you're struggling, or you know you're
not a musician and you're struggling, to just reach out,
(22:24):
whether it's to us, to a family member, just reach out.
I promise you. It is the hardest thing to do
in the world, but it's it's giving up one thing
to get gain everything.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
And thank you for being here today and make sure
to follow Recovery and Plugged on social media at Recovery
and Fluted.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson, and check out our other podcasts, Music,
Save Me, Comedy Save Me, and Taking a Walk. Available
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts
M Taking a Walk Nashville.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a Walk Nashville,
and today I'm here with Rob Tomlinson, a care manager
at the Recovery Unplugged facility in Brentwood, Tennessee, just south
of Nashville. To give everyone some background on Recovery Unplugged.
They are a national behavioral health provider that provides care
(00:25):
for people going through addiction, substance abuse, and other mental
health disorders, including but not limited to, depression and anxiety
and PTSD. Recovery Unplugged has seven locations nationwide, and here's
the cool thing. Their inpatient and outpatient programs utilize music
(00:46):
assisted treatments to promote healing and long term recovery. Join
me as I take a walk with Rob Tomlinson today.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Welcome to Taking a Walk Nashville with your hosts, singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you for being on Taking a Walk in Nashville today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Rob, How are you all doing good? How are you?
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I'm good? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
So?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Can you just start by sharing what led you to
finding and working for Recovery Unplugged.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Absolutely, I'm in long term recovery myself. I just celebrated
thirteen years sober this past Monday. Thank you. And music
and recovery for me have always been probably two of
the most powerful forces that I've experienced in my life.
Music obviously from a young age, and then recovery as
I was an adult. Music's kind of always been like
(01:40):
my best friend.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
It was there for me when I felt the lonelin
loneliest and it felt it was there for me when
I've been at my highest, you know what I mean,
And there's just so much power in it. And with
recovery unplugged my journey there. I moved to Nashville around
seven years years ago from Philadelphia, pursuing music full time.
(02:03):
I worked in treatment in Philadelphia for about three years,
and this was before the fetanyl and pandemic that came out,
and I was working in treatment during the fetanyl epidemic
and the amount of people that passed away from overdose.
It was very overwhelming and I said I would never
work in treatment ever again. So I pursue music full
(02:25):
time and moved to Nashville, got signed. Then COVID hit right,
so it was like another kind of like call it
fork in the road, you know. I was getting older,
my brother was having kids, I was turning. I think
I turned like thirty two at the time, and being
a full time musician is extremely difficult, especially if it's
(02:48):
a career and not just a hobby like being able
to It's essentially three full time jobs. I had a
really good friend of mine asked me, you know, when
were you the happiest, And my response was one, I
work in treatment because I would work I would do
like music therapy based groups. I would do, you know,
like I'd bring in like a lot of music into
the facility. When I worked in Philly and I saw
(03:10):
that Recovery Unplug was hiring, but they were hiring for
like entry level position, like as like a tech like
making like very little money. And I had, like, you know,
I had multiple years experience working in treatment, but that's
all they were hiring for. But I believe so strongly
in Recovery on Plug's mission and who they are and
(03:31):
what they stood for, that I was like, you know what,
Like it's going to work out. Within within a year,
I was promoted to lead Alumni Coordinator, which is basically
like helping people get into treatment that have been through
recovery unplugged, like say they slip up and they need,
you know, to re enter treatment again, like I was
(03:52):
the guy that they would call. And I also started
taking responsibility of Sober Sessions, primarily in just Nashville, which
is just a sober based concert series that we put
on for the recovery community. And the next year I
got promoted to campaign manager of all of Recovery Unpluggs,
(04:12):
so all of our locations Florida, you know, Virginia, South Carolina,
New Jersey, Texas, Nashville obviously, and my responsibility of this
past year has been our social media presence putting on
sober sessions and all of our locations, which you know,
(04:33):
we just got word that I don't know when this
is going to air, but we just got word literally
like fifteen minutes ago that Anthony Green of Circus Survive
Seos and he's in recovery and he's going to be
headlining our Austin Sober Sessions that we're going to be
doing in November. So lots of really cool things. My
main initiative is do as much dope shit as possible
(04:57):
for the recovery community and for the mental health community,
and just to show that you can have fun sober
and not have to worry about substance or whatever in
order to feel connected. So very cool.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
So, how long has the Nashville facility been around and
who started Recovery Unplugged in general?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So the Nashville Facility's been around for a little over
I would say, like, don't fact check me on this,
but like around seven years okay. Recovery Unplugged was started
by this guy named Richie Supa who is the manager
of Aerosmith and he's been creen for over twenty five
years plus. He went into facilities in Fort Lauderdale and
(05:39):
he called himself Recovery Unplugged. And what he would do
is he would go into facilities with a guitar and
play for the clients to all these other rehabs and
it created such a positive response through music, and he
would go in play songs that he wrote. He helped
co write Amazing by Aerosmith, Pink by Aersmith. You know.
He ended up having an investment opportunity with a couple
(06:01):
other guys and they were just like listen, like there's
a need for this and it is such a cool
angle and cool concept. Richie Supa we've been around for
over thirteen years plus thirteen years later, he still plays
at the Fort Lauderdale facility every Friday for the clients.
Thirteen years later. It's called Field Good Fridays. And one
(06:24):
of our alumni that came through Recovery Unplugged over five
years ago. His name is Adam David. He started playing
our Field Good Fridays and literally just won the voice
this past season. So you never know, you know, you
never know who it's going to impact, You never know
how your life is going to be changed, Like even
if it's just like staying clean a day at a time,
(06:47):
Like the power of music and the power of recovery
is so strong. The disease of addiction is horrifying and
insidious in so many ways, but recovery is so much
stronger if it's utilized in a way way that you know,
the ripple effect that music can kind of like drives
the vehicle for it. It's just, in my opinion, one
of the most powerful things.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
So yeah, yeah, I'm a big believer that music heals
and that music is medicinal. And I got to perform
at one of your feel Good Fridays the other month,
and I think it's so important to provide music to
clients and patients, So how do you find these music
performances to be healing to patients?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
It is so the opposite of addiction is connection, right.
One of my favorite cliches is that fear is something
that we learn, I don't believe and not and like
the only thing that we really have fear of is
like legitimate fears, is like fear of like you know,
physically being harmed and so many other things. Right, and
(07:53):
so myself included having you know, PTSD and trauma and
a lot of these things incorporated into my childhood and
then adulthood off obviously like I have rightfully so learned
to be afraid of certain things, certain scenarios, so on
and so forth. So I've learned to put up walls
lack of a better word. Right, music for me, it
(08:13):
cuts through everything, It cuts through all the fear. It
allows me to get to a place of vulnerability and
safety that maybe years of therapy would have to get to. Right,
And and therapy is incredible, don't get it, don't get
it twisted. But a song that I would hear when
I was younger or when a you know, client would
(08:35):
hear when they were younger. I'll give you an example,
like I ran a group one time and I performed
to Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. You know, obviously,
the backstory of the song is like one of the
guys went on a psychedelic trip and just never came
back and wrote a song about very angry. I'm very
pissed off that you did this because I love you
(08:56):
and I but after you go through the grieving process,
say I love you anyway, I just wish you were here, man, Right,
there was a woman that was in that group that
lost her daughter to addiction, and she never properly grieved
over it. I played that song for her tears starts
streaming down her face. The last time that she heard
that song was at her daughter's funeral. She got involved
(09:18):
into addiction, obviously, and then over the course of time,
she never properly emotionally grieved her daughter's death. And when
she heard that song sober for the first time, she was,
all the emotions came up and she was able to
healthily process that emotion in a group setting. That is
like what the power of live music can do. You know,
(09:39):
I'm not a therapist by any means. I'm just a
human being that I believe. It's like experience over opinions
and my experiences as a musician. Now, if that experience
can be applied as many times as possible on a
daily basis, I'm doing a good job. Right. So now
my job v via social media and TikTok and Instagram
(10:03):
and like all that other kind of stuff. Like being
able to do that to an organic arty audience, not
just in our facilities, but being able to do that.
Here's a story, here's an experience, here's a song, and
someone scrolling they're having the worst that they've ever had
and they've seen that. I can tell you, Like so
many people reach out to me, Hey man, I'm struggling.
I'm going through detoks withdrawals and they're not ready for treatment.
(10:26):
But just to note like they're not alone is what
it's about.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah, right, I find those stories on recovery and plugs
social media to be so impactful. So, like you said,
some of the performers at the facility are not music therapist,
But do you have music therapist or what other kind
of treatments music treatments do you have at the facility?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
In Nationale in particular music therapy and having music as
a form of treatment or two completely different worlds. Just
want to make that like absolutely clear. Are all of
our therapists are master level clinicians, but we do not
do actual music therapy, right, Like what people do say
(11:11):
for example, like in a hospice setting having a music
therapist come in, Right, that's completely different than the music
modalities that we use.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Some of the modalities of music that we do use
in therapy would be like an example of a you know,
like recovery playlist is a good example, right, Like having
like an idea. One group that we've run in the
past is like give us a song that you have
that you want played at your one year so anniversary, right,
and you play that at like fifteen days clean, sixteen
(11:42):
days clean, and what you use is like positive projection
to be able to in visualize like what that feeling
would be like and had that inspire to get to
a year, which, by the way, I've had people get
to a year and send me a letter and be like, hey,
just so you know, I remember that song that I
had in that group that one day whatever. Right, We
do a little bit of everything like we do everything
(12:04):
from brain spotting to you know, normal detoc sessions. You know,
when someone's in detox, will have four to five one
on one therapist groups a week. Then obviously as they're
in residential that I'll ramp down. I'll be kind of
based more off of like a community perspective We've had.
We've had therapists that have been there that have worked
(12:24):
with clients to be able to write a song right
while they're going through detox, and they don't have to
be a singer songwriter in order to do that right,
And we have musicians that work there that are in
recovery that you know, myself included that I've had clients
that are touring musicians that haven't written in years, and
(12:44):
I have like, you know, a mini recording set up.
We'll write an album while they're in treatment. So it
really depends on I think it's just a matter of
the angle of how you look at it, right, Like
a lot of people look at music therapy as like
a very distinctive thing, like you go to school for it,
which yes you do. You get a degree in music therapy, absolutely,
(13:04):
but a lot of people have degrees in like real
life experience, and in the world of addiction, having a
lot of knowledge and a lot of clinical background is
absolutely important. That's why we have like, you know, master's
levels clinicians. But it takes a village in order to
elevate someone to get to the truth of who they are, right,
(13:26):
you know.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Yeah, And I think it's really important to talk about
the positive impact of music because I think many people
in the music industry as creative space a lot of pressure.
So maybe some people who are creatives at these facilities,
you know, have struggled with addiction because they were in
a path of music. So how do you help someone
(13:48):
find the positive side of music if they're there after
having a negative struggle with music that led them to addiction.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Sure, I think reframing is a positive tool for just
about it right, whether not. You don't have to be
in recovery, like you can be just a normal human
being and reframing something how something is years ago to
how it is now. Give relationships as an example, you
have one dad relationship and then all of a sudden,
(14:17):
every relationship after that, you know, like that story is
so common amongst so many people, you know, And reframing
trust and reframing relationships like very common. So talking about music,
I'll speak for myself. My relationship with music is and
has been, you know, in the beginning, it was my
(14:38):
first talent show in sixth grade, ten eleven years old.
It was bullied my whole life, right, And then I
saw my dad play music and I'm like, oh my god,
Like he's loved by so many people, that's the answer, right.
So I became obsessed with learning how to play guitar
and sing and like all that other kind of stuff.
So sixth grade talent show rolls around, I perform Standing Over.
(15:00):
I'm like, Okay, this is the answer forever, right, And
I just pursued that with relentless ambition for the next
ten years of my life. It was never enough to
fill that hole within myself to accept myself on a
deep level. Right. So when I got clean, my relationship
with music changed. It wasn't about let me do this
cool magic trick to show you how talented I am.
(15:22):
It was how can I do this thing to let
you not feel alone? Because I know what that feeling
is like. And I think that's really just kind of
what it comes down to, is that, like, how do
you reframe a negative emotion like loneliness, for example, into
saying like, hey, I know what that feels like. Let's
actually feel connected through loneliness. So, you know, you could
(15:45):
take eleanor Rigby for example, which is a song that
is like look at all the lonely people, right, and
being able to say like, Hey, you might be a
sixty year old alcoholic and I might be a twenty
two year old fetanyl addict, but we both know what
loneliness feels like. So we can listen to that song
and then if we could find if we could find
(16:05):
connection through that, what else can we find connection through? Right?
And then that it just causes an open minded ripple
effect too. Well, maybe my dad felt the same way,
maybe my mom felt the same way. Maybe you know
it just like it's all about just reversing and reframing,
and music can be the foundation for that. Yeah, you know,
(16:26):
it can be the foundation for any kind of connection
that might be possible. I don't know if that answered
the question.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
But I think, Salia, I think it's important to reframe
because some people might be and stuck in the mindset
that they can no longer do music, but maybe they
can keep doing music, and maybe it's just in another form,
like you said, writing songs about what they've been through
and their experiences.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, it's the wrong question. So what I mean by
that is like music's not the problem, like on the problem, Okay.
Music is kind of like music is this cool thing.
It's like it's like an attribute that I have if
I were to go all in. It's not just it's
not just me, Like music is not all of who
(17:10):
I am, Like who I am as a person is
a funny, charismatic, very caring, very loving, very empathetic, very flawed,
Like I have all these things as part of being
a human being. And if you can go down that
journey of understanding that you're a human being first being
(17:31):
able to allow music to be just like ten percent
of who I am and not one hundred percent of
who I am, it's not your identity, right, And I
think that's like such a hard battle that so many
people fight, because when you're selling yourself as an artist
or musician, you're the product, and if the product fails,
then all of a sudden that is like, oh my god,
I failed. But that's not true. You have to be
(17:54):
able to understand that the foundation is like Okay, as
any product, you have to learn what works it doesn't work,
but also be able to dissociate yourself from the product.
You know, you have to be able to say like, okay,
I'm rob first, and then whatever happens after that, X, Y,
and Z.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
So yeah, yeah, I think that's very true and important.
You already mentioned a couple of songs like wish You
were here? Is that your healing anthem? Or would what
would you say is your healing anthem?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It's a good question. I would have to say. There's
two songs. Song number one would be After the Storm
by Mumford and Sons. I played that song on religious
repeat when I was in treatment. This was like over
fifteen years ago, so this was I It was when
they had like the iPod homes, remember those. Yeah, I
(18:45):
would like someone gave it to me for like an
hour and they were just like here, just listen to whatever.
I just listened to that song and repeat. So every
single year in my anniversary, I listened to it just
to kind of remind myself. Another song is Endless by
Pine Grove, and that song is kind of about everything
that I talked about, just like being human or I
would also say a little bit of everything by dolls.
(19:09):
It's like kind of like being able to understand that,
like happiness, it's all the spectrum of emotions that come
along with being human. It's not just like feeling good
all the time or feeling bad all the time. It's
like there will always be that, and the sooner that
I accept that, the sooner that I can allow life
to just be life for.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Ready to Yeah, very cool. So, if someone is listening
to this and they want to support Recovery Unplugged in
some way, how can they reach out to get involved?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You can look us up on our website Recovery Unplugged
dot com. I would say that one out of three
people know someone or is someone that struggles with addiction
and mental health. I would say that, like there is
a solution, and that our admissions line is open twenty
four hours, seven days a week. If we can't help you,
we will find someone to help you. Our initiative is that, like,
(20:04):
we obviously have a very good facility, you've been there,
Like we have a very awesome expectation and standard that
we try to uphold by, but we also believe in like, hey,
if we can't help you. We will find someone that
will whether you have insurance or not, whether you have
money or not, whether you have the resources or not,
let us be the resource to help you. I've worked
(20:25):
in that department. I've worked in the park department of
getting people into treatment, and I can honestly say with
like full disclosure that the company genuinely cares about helping people.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
So yeah, yeah, very nice. Facility of the staff there
is great, So definitely check them out. Lastly, we are
on taking a walk Nashville. So do you have a
favorite place you like to take a walk in.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Nashville Percy Warner Percy Warner, Massie Ridge Trail. I was
going to go there this morning, but my car age trouble.
So it's sacred ground for me. I've had the most
conversations with the God understanding there and it's free and
it's beautiful. Coming from Philadelphia and living here, it like
(21:10):
reminds me how lucky I am to live in Nashville, right,
And there's so many beautiful trails around here and local
state parks and you'd be insane to not take advantage
of it if you live here.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Yeah, that's my favorite park is Nazi Regis up the
two mile.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Loop, it's a six mile loop, okay four point five
and oh the Red Trail Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Yeah, that's a top one m of summer.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, it is a good workout, I will say that.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, yeah, it's I think it's in the top ten
in the nation actually for runners because of how sternuous
it is. So yeah, definitely checked out that park Percy
Warner if you're in Nashville. So thank you for your
time today, Rob Everyone. Head to Recovery unplugg dot com
if you would like to seek recovery, refer patient, or
(21:59):
simply support this organization. So any final words you'd like to.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Send now, just grateful, grateful that we get the opportunity
to do this, and I'm super stoked and excited to
see where the next year takes us. We are doing
a lot of really cool stuff. Just know that if
you're a musician and you're struggling, or you know you're
not a musician and you're struggling, to just reach out,
(22:24):
whether it's to us, to a family member, just reach out.
I promise you. It is the hardest thing to do
in the world, but it's it's giving up one thing
to get gain everything.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
And thank you for being here today and make sure
to follow Recovery and Plugged on social media at Recovery
and Fluted.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson, and check out our other podcasts, Music,
Save Me, Comedy Save Me, and Taking a Walk. Available
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.