Sometimes, some of the greatest art comes out of the worst misery. At least that’s been the case with some of the hottest stars from country music. But by sharing their stories, they are giving advice to younger generations, not only of aspiring country musicians, but regular folk as well.

The efforts to shed light on the dark corner of drug and alcohol addiction began in 2003 with the release of The Songs of Hope, Awareness, and Recovery for Everyone (SHARE) CD featuring 17 songs from a variety of artists.

At the time of SHARE’s release, noted Nashville Journalist Rob Simbeck wrote: “In recent decades, there has been a change. More and more, it is possible to see victories, to hear stories of the famous, the infamous, and the peripheral alike pulled back from the precipice by a message of recovery carried by one person to another. This CD catalogs that movement from hopelessness to hope, from weakness to strength.”�

Another big step forward by country music stars, as well as those from other music genres was the subsequent development of mpower, or Musicians for Mental Health. At the time, mpower’s founders noted: “Music has always been a source of inspiration and motivation. Today, as more and more leading artists step forward to share how they have coped with mental health and substance abuse problems, we can fight the stigma and carry the message to young people all across America that they are not alone and that help is available.”�

As country stars like Keith Urban publicly relate their own stories of addiction and recovery, it empowers the rest of us to stand up and face our own personal demons as well.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 9:57 am and is filed under Country Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.