RRP 117 — Skyler Ray / Skyler Ray's High-Energy Road to Recovery — Revisited (Summer Bash 2026 Special Edition)

RRP 117 — Skyler Ray / Skyler Ray’s High-Energy Road to Recovery — Revisited (Summer Bash 2026 Special Edition)

Presenters: Julie P. Lewis & Peter B. Dowell  |  1 hr 50 min  |  June 5, 2026

Julie and Peter revisit one of their most beloved episodes — Skyler Ray’s story from Episode 22. Since that first conversation, Skyler has grown to over 250,000 followers, launched the Road to Recovery Tour into its third national year, and married his musical partner Kala Mulcahy. This special edition is timed to Skyler’s Summer Bash 2026 performance at 4D Recovery Vancouver on June 13th (7201 NE 18th Street, 2–5 PM, free).

The original interview is as powerful as ever. At nine, Skyler’s mother left him at a Portland shelter and never came back. Police split him from his brother into separate foster homes the same week. He masked the loss for years — through fights, expulsions, meth at ten, selling, and cycling in and out of Portland’s Justice Center. He rose to sales manager at an office looking directly down on the street corners where his addiction played out, then lost it all. In prison, alone on his bunk, he finally asked himself honestly what he wanted: music. He had never done it sober. His clean date is December 6, 2018.

• 0:00 Re-release intro: 250K+ followers; married to Kala; Summer Bash June 13th at 4D Vancouver
• 16:00 Age 9: mother leaves him at a shelter; police separate him from his brother into different foster homes
• 24:00 Age 18, homeless; meth use and street life around Paranoia Park (O’Brien Square)
• 28:00 Starts selling meth — abandonment issues fuel the addiction to power and acceptance as much as the drug
• 38:00 Sales job to manager of 100-person office in Union Bank Tower — private window overlooking Paranoia Park
• 44:00 Relapse to IV meth at the office; VP personally offers to fund rehab; Skyler declines
• 57:00 The conversation in prison: “I owe it to my nine-year-old boy” — decides to pursue music sober
• 1:04:00 Vision boards cover every wall of his Central City Concern room
• 1:06:00 Meets Kala Mulcahy — opera-trained — at dinner; they write their music dreams together as strangers
• 1:11:00 Everything on that list has happened: 250K+ followers, tens of millions of plays, opening for Kevin Gates
• 1:14:00 “My significant other has never seen me under the influence”
• 1:24:00 Road to Recovery Tour: 3rd year, 70+ events, performing in rehabs, jails & prisons nationwide
• 1:27:00 Upcoming: Gresham Smith Center June 28th (free); 4D Hillsboro Aug 10th; Recovery Out Loud Sept 6th

Websites Discussed:
OfficialSkylerRay.com — Music, tour dates & We Do Recover merch
4D Recovery — Tony V’s recovery community organization
4D Summer Bash 2026 — June 13th, 2–5 PM, 7201 NE 18th St, Vancouver WA 98661
4D Gratitude Night — Early Bird Tickets

RRP Episode 22 — Original Skyler Ray Interview

Real Recovery Podcast

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“Recovery has provided me everything I have ever wanted, right? There’s still levels to it, but it’s still provided me everything I have ever wanted.” — Skyler Ray

#RealRecoveryPodcast #SkylerRay #Recovery #SummerBash2026 #RoadToRecovery #AddictionRecovery #MusicInRecovery #SoberLife #WeD