Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories - Country Roads to Sobriety: Aaron Goodvin's Story

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

In this episode, we have Aaron Goodvin, who talks about his experiences growing up in a small town in Alberta, Canada, and how he developed a deep love for country music. Aaron shares the influence of his family's love for music and campfires. He discusses his journey with alcohol, starting from weekend drinks with his band to facing a DUI in Nashville. Aaron reveals how the threat of losing everything, including his wife and career, became a turning point for his sobriety. He emphasizes the importance of asking for help and finding support. And this is Aaron’s story on the sober motivation podcast.   Donate to support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/sobermotivation Aaron on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaronjgoodvin/  

Welcome back to season four of the Sobermotivation podcast. Join me, Brad, each week as my guests and I share incredible and powerful sobriety stories. We're here to show sorority as possible, one story at a time. Let's go. In this episode, we have Aaron Goodvin, who talks about his experience growing up in a small town in Alberta, Canada, and how he developed a deep love for country music. Aaron shares the influence of his family's love for music and campfires. He discusses his journey with alcohol starting from weekend drinks with the band to facing a DUI in Nashville.

Aaron shares how close he was to losing everything, including his wife and career. And that became a turning point for his sobriety. He emphasizes the importance of asking for help and finding support. And this is Aaron's story on a sober motivation podcast. How's it going, everyone? Welcome back to another episode. No episodes last week, so we're going to get to coming your way this week, starting with Aaron. Aaron's story first, incredible episode.

As always, if you want to support the podcast, head over to buy me a coffee.com slash sober motivation. Everything helps keep things afloat. Pays for all the subscriptions and all that cool stuff that we don't need to get into. But thank you guys, as always, for listening along. Hope you find something in this story that you can relate to. I think a lot of you will. Incredible to have Aaron as a guest.

So let's get right into it. Welcome back to another episode of the Sober Motivation podcast. today. We've got Aaron with us. Aaron, how are you? So good. How are you, Brad? Yeah, I'm good, man. Thank you for making some time during your busy season to jump on and share your story with all of us. Absolutely. No, it's, I feel like the busiest two weeks of my life are over. That was a crazy last run of shows we had with some, not only just crazy travel, mostly self-inflicted issues where, you know, I messed up time zones, which I do all the time. And I almost miss. a flight. So when we, it was funny when we started chatting over Instagram, I think I was in the

middle of all of that kind of stuff. So it's, uh, it's, uh, no, it's good to be here. Yeah, man, thank you so much. So what was it like for you growing up? Yeah. So I grew up in northern Alberta, Canada, a little town, very small town. Just, you know, everybody knows everybody kind of a thing. My, uh, my family is all still most, for the most part up there. My, my, mom and dad are in Edmonton, but the family that I grew up with, just country music, loving, you know, I have a new song coming out, actually it's already out, but coming to the radio here soon up in Canada called Sedno Redneck Ever, and that whole song is basically, you know, my family growing up, you know, lots of campfires and playing guitars and singing songs to

the wee hours of the morning. I had a really great family, you know, we, we grew up in a, in a great place. You know, I love, I love growing up in Northern Alberta and we looked for any excuses to get together and be together. So that's sort of, uh, that's sort of the way I grew up. So yeah, well, that's interesting, man. Yeah, sounds great, dude. So I definitely was going to ask, like, when the music and stuff started for you and that was, you know, from early on. Yeah, it was very early. I just grew up around it. I thought, I mean, I always joke, I was 12 years old when I found out not everybody loved country music and I was devastated. I was like, what do you mean they don't love?

That's like the best music ever, you know, just because I grew up with it. And so all my uncles and my aunties played, both my parents played, none of them did it professionally. I was the only one who had the grandiose dreams, you know, enough to be able to be like,

oh, I could do this for a living, you know? And I just started writing songs and playing because I found out that was a really good way to get girls to like you. And so I was like, oh,

let's do this. This sounds great. right, you know, so. Yeah. Yeah, great. Thanks for sharing all that with us. What was it like, though? I mean, kind of what brings us together in the podcast is, you know, obviously sobriety and everything too. And I think there's always, you know, hearing all these stories, right, there's people with really good, you know, a lot of memories from childhood that end up struggling with alcohol. And then there's people, too with, you know, obviously a rougher start to life that struggle too. And it sounds like for you, things were, you know, pretty good. School and everything like that was, was good.

for you. When does alcohol come into the picture? What are your early memories of that and what that looked like around you? Yeah. I mean, so I was always around alcohol. I mean, I've talked to my parents about this a long time, but my parents were, they were weekend drinkers and they would get a six pack. I mean, they weren't, we weren't rich people by any means. And I didn't really start into the drinking until I started playing music. And I think like, I think for me, like one of the moments that I remember was I had put my own band together, which everybody kind of told me not to do. They're like, oh, I'm, I do really well up here because I hire all these hired guns. And I was like, I want a group of young guys up there with me. So I got a group of young guys. And I remember we played

this place called the Palomino Salinas Shore Park probably played it about eight times before any other band had played it. And the owner came up and said, let's go do a shot before you get on. And I said, oh no it's okay man we don't drink when we play and uh and he he just sort of looked at me and they just started laughing and i was i wasn't sure how to take it but then you know i was like okay well one shot whatever it's not going to be a big deal and i remember uh we i mean i remember leaving that that place probably four o'clock or five o'clock every morning every time we played there it was a lot of alcohol it was a lot of drinking and i think that was part of like And then it sort of became a part of the dream, right?

So the dream was like, have all these successful records and be a big superstar and just drink and be a rock star. That so it's that became a part of what it was all about for me, you know. So early on the drinking was like I was very focused. I was very, you know, I was like let's, you know, but all the guy, all my guys wanted to drink and I always wanted to be a part of that, you know. Another thing I just want to mention on the growing up side of things is like I looked up to a couple of my older cousins and they, I mean, they could drink beer. It felt like they could drink beer all day and it just didn't phase them, right? And so like, so for me, it was like, oh, I want to be able to do that, you know, and the people that I looked up to. And I have a completely different and new and great relationship, you know, with those same cousins.

So I've just realized it's just something that doesn't work for me. Yeah, 100%. And I think, too, when we're growing up, like, we're really impressionable from how, you know, other people and people we look up to and people we want to fit in with and be like, you know. But I think like even me with all the growth on this journey, too, I think too, realizing on the sober side of things is not everybody drank for the reasons I drank or the way I drank, even though I saw them maybe overdoing it here. there they yeah a lot of people went on with their life afterwards they weren't thinking about the next one or the next party or everything else right so right yeah you know i didn't see the whole picture so as you get into this uh you get into kind of the you know the the the vision there of you know drinking and in partying and you know traveling the world and all i can imagine kind of you know

what things were like for you do you see any problem with it as things started or was it just kind of like that's what everybody was doing i'm i'm yeah it was I mean, for me, it was, I mean, for me, there were, there were plenty of, I could have chosen plenty of rock bottoms and plenty of times to stop. And in fact, you know, I got a DUI in Nashville when I moved down here after, you know, and I had, I just quit like cold, you know, turkey. I just like white knuckled. I didn't really deal with any of the issues.

And I just, the reason I quit is because if they, you know, give me another one of those, they could kick me out of the country. And my biggest dream was to be, you know, down here writing songs. and making that this was my whole goal in life was to write and be an artist and so when that was threatened i was like oh i'll just stop you know covid was a big uh a big eye opener because there was literally the reason for living you know the only thing that i had at that time was like connecting with people through music and playing shows and so you take that away and it's like what's the point really and then you sort of fast forward i i got married and my wife

wife is American. So then I became American citizen. Well, once I was this, you know, an American citizen and had a passport, they can't kick me out, you know. So like that thing that was sort of like, you know, hey, you can't drink was gone. And so like it just started slowly kind of creeping back into my world and until it was like a full on problem again. And like I've just realized over the years, like I just don't drink the way other people's drink. And I can't really pinpoint exactly what which time that I drank that it was like but like towards the end I just loved I just loved to drink because I love to drink it had nothing to do with who I was with or what I was doing or you know that's how I drink is like I just want to like I just want to pound him back

until I black out you know like that's just their relationship I have and I realize like my dad blows my mind you can have a drink you can have a beer and he can stop it's like that blows my my like how do you do that? Yeah exactly. Yeah, thanks for sharing that. When you go back to when did you like what did you do after high school? Like what was your your direction? I just play.

Yeah. So I just when I was younger, I just played shows as much as I possibly could. Yeah. And I didn't really know. I didn't really know. And then when I moved to Nashville, um, I played shows and drank, you know. And then when I moved to Nashville, it got even 10 times worse because Nashville is, just like you could take any small town like where maybe when I was playing on the weekends I

didn't drink all week but then I would drink on the weekends or there was a time where I pretty much just drank every night and I got in a few I got in a relationship that you know needed the alcohol otherwise it wasn't going to be a relationship you know yeah just the way it worked and so and so you know there was just I know I'm hopping around all over the place and I apologize I'm also ADD so I need to bring that up. And I was half deaf when I was born with half my hammered strep spent a lot of time in the hospital. So I often look back and go like, man, did my liver just give up a long time ago? You know, like, because it's just like they were pumping drugs into my system just to keep me

alive when I had mastoiditis. And so, and so like I often wonder if that sort of played a role in how I handled alcohol, you know, or how I drink. Because. you know, without paying any attention to what's going on in your in your body, you're sort of like, you know, oh, you know, you don't even think about that. But when I look back on it, I often wonder if that's a, that's an issue. But yeah. That's, yeah, pretty well. Yeah. Well, it's interesting, too, there. You mentioned the ADD aspect of things. Like, I was on this, in this rabbit hole today. Because I have ADHD and I was in this rabbit hole of looking at the connections of alcohol and ADHD or ADD. It said this one study followed 100 people and it said 50% more likely to struggle with like substance use disorder than somebody without. I was like, wow. Yeah, those are pretty high numbers. And I think all of it's, I think it's a combination probably of all the things that's sort of like, you know, it's almost like there's a point where I thought that I could believe in what I was doing more.

more so. Like, I'm actually kind of grateful for the, I mean, I was ADHD, so I have the hyper part too. But, but it's like, it's like when I was a kid, I was on Ritalin through school. And I was like, you know, these were things that like, just to get me through things because I was, I was very different than most others, I think. And so like, well, or maybe a lot the same. Maybe that's the dangerous thought that I get into. It's like, I'm so different than everybody. But, because the thing that saved me was I found out I wasn't.

know so different than everybody but but yeah I think like I think that played a role I think like just in in I'm so grateful that I had it though because I don't know that I would have made it as far as I have in my career without the ADHD and without the alcohol even to a point because because it helped me believe right like when you're in Nashville and you're struggling and you're drinking every you go and write a song and then you're drunk at the bar every night till 2 a.m. and you get up and start at 11 and you're done at 2 p.m., like start 11 in the morning, done at 2 p.m. And then go back to drinking again.

It's like, it's almost like, you know, like I sort of needed that to make it in this town just because I don't know how I would have handled. You know, I don't know that I would have believed in myself enough. It helped me believe in myself, right? That was probably one of the things that was like, oh, man, I need, whether I did or I didn't, it just helped me, you know, so. Yeah. It's interesting.

Yeah. I mean, I think that's one of the things with alcohol, too, that I think maybe we don't talk about a lot is how helpful it does feel for some, you know, chapters of life, right? Yeah, but this town is so difficult. Yeah. Like, like, that it's like, how do you make it if you don't? Like, when you literally no one is telling you, you know, like the thing that I thought that I had when I moved down was that I was very talented and I could write songs and I could sing. and to when I look back on it, that was almost a detriment because at the time I moved here, they just want to take the sort of all ego driven, right? So like these big head labeled people, they just want to take somebody who shouldn't be a star

and make them a star, who shouldn't, who can't sing, who doesn't have the talent. And so when I looked at that, I was like, well, the thing that I have is the thing that they don't want. So if you don't have the alcohol like telling you like, hey, you can do this and you can make it, or friends that don't even exist anymore. I'd hardly talk to, you know, telling you're so great and you have to stay in this town. And, you know, I don't know that I wouldn't made it. So, sorry, go ahead. Yeah.

No, I mean, yeah, that's incredible. Thanks for sharing that. I mean, paints a picture for, I think for me and probably other people that were, you know, it's not the lifestyle, but it, you know, it makes sense to keep things going. I mean, probably, too, I would imagine there's a lot of disappointment that you might go through. and a lot of things that don't work out. On the daily, it's the high highs and the low lows.

Excuse me. The yin and yang, the black and white, if you will, which I, you know, when I finally, you know,

when I finally made a commitment and, well, I mean, I was met with the circumstances that I think I had to meet with in order to even continue, Gully, because it was,

you know, I don't want to go into too much detail, because not a lot of people know exactly what happened. But the bottom line is like, there's a really unfortunate situation in which I'm going to face a lot of consequences. Talking about, you know, my wife leaving and being gone was completely gone, not living at the house, you know,

and among other, you know, legal things that were happening. You know, it was just clear that like I needed to make a change and the way I was doing things was just not going to work anymore. And the biggest threat was like, I thought I was going to lose everything. Like, in fact, if you had asked me at that time, you know, when I'm walking down my, I don't, we don't even have sidewalks in our neighborhood. And I'm walking down the street. And I've got tears in my eyes and I don't know what to, like, I'm literally at the end of losing everything that I worked for and just everything. My career, my wife, my, every, my family, my, you know, all those things.

Like, had I kept going, that's where I was headed down. and that's really what I didn't want. And so all I could do at that point was like, you know, I just called my wife and I said, hey, I'm going to take $5,000 of our savings. I'm going to go to outpatient rehab so that I can continue to do shows. The only way we were making money is that I was playing shows because we were in the middle of COVID. Or we were coming out of COVID. Yeah.

And there were shows we're starting to come back. You know, and my career in Canada has been so amazing and so great that like a show would come up and it could literally help us for the month or the two months. sometimes. So it was literally like, you know, I wasn't really writing for another company. So it's just like the income was like, this is what I have. So I did it. I committed myself to an outpatient rehab and pulled a bunch of money out of our savings account, you know, just to be able to do it. And she was like, yeah, I think that's a good idea. And I was like, okay. So and I did that. And then I don't even know how we got to where we're at now, which is still married with a beautiful child and a bright future. That, part blows my mind. And it's clear, I think when I was drinking the big thing that changed for me, my wife has always been very spiritual, but I never had a spiritual side, like really ever. Like I had an ego-driven thing that I called spiritual, but it was it was totally just like, it was totally just like me against the world and I'm going to do all of these things and I'm

the reason that things happen and I'm the amazing one and I'm the all that. to almost a completely different person and a different way to live. And so, like, I didn't, you know, without me going to that rehab and getting plugged into, you know, AA and learning the steps and learning that I'm not the only one that's the way he is and to developing that spiritual side, you know, because now I can look back on it and go, if I was running my life the way that I would run my life, I would not be where I'm at. Like, I definitely wouldn't still be married. I definitely wouldn't have a beautiful child, a bright future, all those things.

Like I've learned to let go of all those things and have that spiritual side. But without that, I would be completely lost. And we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Probably not the other way of things. I mean, when was that?

And like, what was it like leading up to it? I mean, you mentioned their COVID too, right? I mean, you're isolated. You're not doing what you love. Yeah. That amplified things? Oh, yeah. absolutely like you know it was all the things that I'm sure a lot of people go through

before the end of their drinking career but you know I mean I was coming home from co-wrights grabbing a grabbing beer on the way home I know my wife would get home at five so I would I would stop drinking it four so that I could try and sober up by the time she got home so I was you know drinking on the way home uh hiding it from my band they knew like a song in they're like, oh, Aaron's on the, Karen's drinking, you know, because we had, because in the US, we came back faster than in Canada. And so we were playing shows in the US. And it was also extremely stressful time because I had a sprinter van that was always breaking

down. We weren't making any money. Like, if anything, I was spending money to play. So the added stress on that situation, when I really came back to it as I was going to go fishing one day and I was like, oh, instead I'm going to like move around some merch in the merch trail. trailer and get sort of get that ready while in my sprinter van my band had left a bunch of beer and that's sort of like when it started and then it turned into this and then at the end it was it was orange juice and vodka um and then i literally did a social video so that i didn't look drunk i did it first and then my reward for that was the orange juice and vodka the screwdriver and then and then you know by that night i was you know i was in jail so So by 6 o'clock or 7 o'clock that day.

So, you know, so it's, you know, and I had a, I had a thing I had to, I had to drive to go work at in the studio. And, and there was more vodka there. And like, like literally the rest I could tell you, but I don't remember, you know, I was blackout and I don't remember anything. So, yeah. So it's pretty, pretty, you know, pretty bad, you know, pretty obvious circumstances, you know, and I won't go into all the details of like what happened. But, but, but, because honestly. I just don't, I don't even remember. And that's the scariest part.

I didn't know if I heard anybody. I didn't know if I, I didn't know what happened. I woke up and they were pulling blood out of my arm. That's all I remember. So pretty well. And I mean, looking back at things too,

right? I mean, you kind of leave Alberta to chase this dream and this passion. And then, you know, this is kind of where things end up. And I don't think any of us think it or, you know,

the first time we drank or the first couple times like, hey, this is where it's going to end up. No. You know? No. Well, And it's just like absolutely like definitely not.

And I. Yeah, I mean, just definitely not. There's no like I and I, I feel like broke record, but there's no way I would be where I'm at today if I, if I just kept going. I mean, I probably wouldn't be alive. So,

you know, and there was a number of times in my life where that was pretty evident. And I don't know, you know, I don't know why this is the time where it was like, I think it was me losing everything because of the drinking. where it was just like, okay, well, I don't want to lose everything and realizing that I don't want to lose everything. You know, because I think when you're drinking, you're, you're kind of okay with it.

You're like, ah, whatever, if I lose, whatever. I can get through anything. I've been through a lot of things before. And I think, like, just having it happened so many times and repeat so many bad situations in my life that have come from alcohol, it was like, for whatever reason, this was the rock bottom. And I was able to not only find a place, because, like, I had been kicked off a tour, for drinking before started going to AA, and this was probably about three years before I actually quit this time around where it's like I went to AA and I said, I don't know. I don't really feel

like if I'm, I don't even know if I am an alcoholic. I'm just doing this because, you know, this is what everybody's telling me I got to do. And so I didn't really buy into it or believe, you know, that I really had a problem. And then it was, this time was very obvious. You know, that it's like, okay, I either make the changes or I lose everything. And I was, wasn't ready to, I didn't want to lose everything, you know. And so I was like, well, I've tried everything else. Let's just, let's just dive into this and see if it works. And I remember going to, I went to my first AA meeting after being in recovery and after

being in the, the, what the heck am I trying to say? The outpatient. Yes, the outpatient. Thank you. I was in that and I went to my first AA meeting and they're like, you have to get a sponsor. And I was like, well, I didn't do that before. And so I literally just picked the first guy. I picked a guy who was holding a notepad because I thought that he was like, he was sort of helping run the meeting.

And I was like, hey, you want to be my sponsor? And he's like, I'm sure. I didn't know that you could vet somebody. I just like pick the guy. And he's still, I mean, I just talked to him, you know, I talk to him almost every week. That's a big part of my life, you know, just having somebody that that knows my situation and knows what I've gone through and just being able to talk to them about stuff, you know, big part of my life. Yeah. Yeah.

And somebody who understands it, right? Because there's a lot of, that quote unquote normies, right? I mean, they want to help and they want to support, but they don't necessarily relate, you know, being good for them, but they don't relate to sort of the journey. So it's good with people. Yeah. No, and like the AA piece of everything is, is what's funny is I thought the outpatient was going to fix me. And then when I got out of outpatient, it's like, oh, no, it's the it's the plugged inness of being around. other people that understand.

And, you know, I went in there the first time and I was like very, you know, serious and very, you know, and like now I'm in there and I can say things that I don't even think are funny. And now, now, if you ever come to one of my shows, there's a lot of people that are like, you could be a comedian. And I do love comedy. I'm a big fan. Yeah.

They're like, you could be a comedian. A big part of my show is like when I talk, you know, when I'm talking to people. So, so, but like the crazy thing about me going to an AA meeting. is I will say something that I don't even think is funny. Like, I'm not even trying to be funny. And they laugh, right? And I'm like, oh, these are my people. These are the people I need to be hanging out with.

So, yeah. So it's a, you know, it's a lot of, you know, it's good. It's a good thing. Yeah. The community aspect of it and just being on the journey. I mean, we do it in every other area of our life too, right? If we're trying to do music, then we hang out with other people that do music or whatever it is, right? do it sort of naturally.

I'm wondering too, because you brought up before it's sort of like the ego-driven life in a sense. Yeah. Doing everything your way. How were you able to step aside or work on that to be in this position to let other people help you, support you and be vulnerable? Is that relatable? Say that again.

Let me, I'm trying to. Like, how were you able to kind of get out of your own way in like with the ego of like, I'm going to do it my way and in everything like that. But then when you get into recovery and sobriety, it's important, I think, to get support, let other people in, be vulnerable, share. And like, that's kind of like maybe the opposite of like, I'm a man and I'll just do it my way.

Right. Well, I think the thing, like, the thing that sort of popped up for me is like I'm, I've always been like by nature like an open book. Like I don't really hide a lot of. And I sort of pride myself on being an approach. approachable human. Like that's the part of like what I do that and as an artist and as a songwriter like literally you're That's where I would get therapy. You know like people go to therapy. I went to therapy. I was like this doesn't

But I go write a song and like that you know that's what songwriting is. It's like you're very open. You're very vulnerable and you're very like this is what I'm going through and I want to write a song about it. So so I think as a profession I always sort of lent itself to but I always thought it was me that was doing every everything. And, and like, it had to get beat into my head because, like, I'm, I'm typically very, very hard on myself. And I've always sort of been like a self-help lover, if you will, of like, I buy all the books and the secret came out and I read all that and all the people, I read all the people in that. And I was like, oh, this is it. This is the whole thing. But for me, it was really like going to AA and learning, learning to be, to be open and having a sponsor that that that like I could go to about anything like hey I'm having like I'm I've got a lot of anger

with this you know and they'd be like oh and then we could sort of break it down and like understand why and then he could be like I think you're being hard on yourself whereas my wife could say that and I'm not being a hard on it but my sponsor says it and I'm like oh yeah you might be right you know so I think it's just like learning that you know there's there's people that you can lead on and I don't even know. know if that answer is that question at all. But, but, um, but like I have as, as far as like getting out of your own way, like to me, that's what I learned in the process of recovery. I've learned to do that on a daily basis, right? It's like, I can only handle my side of the

street. What did I, you know, I had a, my wife and I have started a business that is like booming. It's crazy how well this business is done in the year and a half. We've hired somebody. It's like we've got so much work. We've got all this. And we had one situation last week where we had a client that just literally blew up. Like just blew, like the whole thing blew up in our face and their fit in everybody's face. And it's all because they didn't quite understand what it is that we were doing and what we were delivering and then how we were doing that. And they literally thought our whole business was like a sham.

Blah, blah, blah, blah. They wanted all. If I was drunk here and in that situation, that it would have. have taken it from, I would have made it so much worse than what it was. And I just had to, you know, like they're threatening to sue us. They're like, just all these crazy kind of things that we deal with. Like, without AA, without me being plugged in and without me knowing, I was like, okay, how did, what did I do in this situation to cause this person to do this? And I sort of got to the bottom of it to a place to where I was like, okay, well, I'm okay. And, you know, the whole thing is like,

We just gave them all their money back and said, have great, have a good one. You know, but the whole thing was like for me to even get to that place, that would have never happened. You know, drunk Aaron would have never been able to even handle that situation because I'd be like, why are these people treating me this way? I'm this person. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, sometimes it's just about for me, it's just about like, and it was very hard on me. Like, don't get me wrong.

Like it was, it took a week out of my life where I was like, I was concerned with everything about this whole. issue and why these people even thought of this. And then I'm me trying to figure out like what happened what you know, it took it out of me for a whole week. And so it was that that part was very taxing and very hard on not only just me, but my like my wife and Sabrina works. I mean, we thought about this whole thing for a week and we just came down to the conclusion that's like they just didn't understand and what they were getting. And maybe they expected more out of us. I don't know. But like my whole thing was like, I did. everything. I can sleep at night pretty well because I know that I handled my side of the street

and that is literally all I can do. Whereas I think before when I was alcohol, I was like, how can I manipulate these people in this situation? How can I take something and be like, no, it's my way and this is how, you know, instead of just being like, hey, God's going to take care of this, that's the part I didn't have before. I just didn't have that. I didn't have any sense or any relationship with the higher power, like none. Like I thought it was all me. So it's like the part that I have now is like, okay, all I can do with this is like, I can send them their money back and I can say, hey, I'm sorry this was a miscommunication,

blah, blah, here you go. I don't even know what they wanted out of it, to be honest. And now I can just like, I can let that go and I can just be like, okay, it wasn't me. I did everything that I could possibly do in this situation. And I've learned from it, you know, and I've moved on. And I think that that whole situation, I bring that up because for me and my life, that could have been the end.

That could have been the end of everything. You know, just literally. I was like, I'm quitting everything. Screw this business and all this stuff. And just learning out of deal with those types of situations when really all you're really trying to do is just help somebody get to the next level, just help somebody do something and be passionate about people. And they can just take it a completely different way.

And it has not, but learning that it has nothing to do with me, that is all on them. I just, I can only handle my side of the street. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I hope that answered that, but I don't know. Yeah, no. That's, I mean, it just, I think it just shows the massive growth.

Yeah. Right. And we hear a lot too, right? Life on life terms, you know. Yes. You know that too, right? Yes. All the time.

Yeah. Life on life on life terms. Yeah. And like what other people do is, is their reaction is something they got to figure out. It's not our responsibility. with the country music scene though too because you mentioned the songwriting and everything else you know and i mean i'm a big fan of country music and i'll be honest sometimes i'm in the mood for the drinking songs and sometimes i'm not in the mood for the drinking songs what's that

like navigating that sober and i think that you know even like like learning about people and their shit sharing their sobriety like i learn all the time that there's more and more you know big stars or whoever it is, right, that are sober that kind of surprises me, but still talk, still do songs about drinking. I think, you know, is kind of what people enjoy. But what's your thoughts on all of that? And well, it was, yeah, it was one of my biggest fears in that, it was like, how am I going to, you know, in the beginning, it was one of my biggest fears. Like, how am I going to, how am I going to sing to an audience that is drinking and getting drunk and telling them I'm sober and you know what's that going to be like and but you know I can say

you know I can say with a lot of confidence that that all that all that was just a fear because yeah as I continue in this like down this kind of sober path and I've sort of found this like new way to live that really works for me I I still sing songs I still have drinking songs like I had drinking songs I don't write drinking songs anymore and the way that I write them is very different than I used to because I'm not the one who's going to go out there and party with people. But like we have a new song out called Said No Redneck Ever

that it's literally me singing about people drinking. But I'm not the one who's drinking. I still love that lifestyle. I still go out in that lifestyle. I don't spend a lot of time, you know. I'm not, I'm going to go to bed as early as I can. But it's like because I like to go to bed and get some sleep. But yeah, like I say, it was a really big fear.

When I tell an audience, Like, we just came off, you know, I just played, I think it played eight shows in 10 to nine days or something. It's crazy. But every night, I'm like, I'm three years, three months, and this many days sober. And the whole audience applauds. There's not one person there that's because, like, they recognize that for me, that's something that I'm proud of. And maybe, and it's been the most rewarding thing because I'll have people come up and be like, I got 13 years or I got 35 years or I got. or I got one year.

One of the ones I can't get out of my head is this lady came up. She's my daughter is newly on a sober path. And I was like, oh, that's awesome, not knowing that her daughter was right behind her. And so that's so great. Like, you know, like, you know, I wish you the best with that. Like, it's a really great way to live. And then she was right behind me. And she goes, well, she's right here.

And I was like, oh, well, nice to meet you. And I was like, good for you. And she asked me, do you go to meetings? And I said, yeah, yeah, I do. I said, I'm going to be completely honest. I've been very busy, so it's been very hard for me to get to one. But whenever I have a chance, I go. And she goes, well, I've been in two meetings.

And she goes, I haven't spoke up yet. And I said, well, that's okay. You know, just speak up when you're ready to speak up. But just keep going to those meetings because you can learn a lot from them. And so like just being a part of that conversation and being somebody that maybe she's inspired by. Just hearing, like, that to me is what the whole sober community is all about, and especially like that early in sobriety for her to know that I go to meetings and that she can go to

meetings and not say anything until she's ready. What an amazing gift that is to be able to give somebody. Like that's the thing for me where I was like, oh my, like I still, I get, I get in America, they call them chill bumps, goosebumps. I don't know why to come chill bump. But I get goose bumps. Bump's just thinking about that because I'm like, oh, man, like, that's so, what a great thing to be able to, you know, and I think in order to have this thing, you have to be able to give it away. So I'm very, I'm very public about my sobriety. We just got book offered a show that's a sober recovery show, you know, in September, which is so cool. Like, I think there's just a whole, there's a whole audience out there that I think is sort of starving for that because I think there's a lot of us that want to be sober. And I also think that the newer generation isn't, as crazy about drinking as maybe ours was, you know?

Because ours is just, it's run rampantly, you know, and so, so like I say, it was a big fear in the beginning. I still write drinking songs. I, you know, I have no problem writing a drinking song. I was a drinker, and I liked to drink, you know, I know what that feels like. And so, so I don't have as big of an issue with it as I used to. But, like, you know, one of my biggest hits is lonely drum, and it's literally about getting drunk and trying to get a girl to come over.

So, you know, it's just, it's part of the culture. I still sing it. I still lived it, you know. But now when I write about it, it's usually like either a thing of the past or from somebody else's perspective, you know. Yeah. That's got to be a cool thing with all the music you've done to and all the songs you've written to see like in the lyrics, the growth or sort of how things have changed in your life, too, to like where you were. And you know what I mean? Because you know all the stories behind it.

You know what I mean? Yeah. all the stories behind it and kind of what fueled it, the emotion and everything. This newest song, though, walk us through that a little bit, man, because I want to share the story, too. I was on Apple. You know the story, but I'll share that. I love the story with everybody.

I was on Apple, and I'm looking up new music to listen to, right? For my workday, I'm like, I've been listened to the same stuff. I'm like, I need something new. So I check to see what's new. I see the, you know, drink in hand. I listen to it. And I'm like, okay, this is either somebody who's sober or somebody, there's something here. I was like, they know too much. I was like, Aaron, you know, knows too much about.

There's too many similarities in the writing. Yeah. So, yeah. And I was like somebody who wasn't, I was like, it would be kind of, it would be different if somebody who wasn't wrote it. But, yeah, so I connected with you. And I was like, yeah, this is great. And here we are. But like, I'm so glad you did, man. Like, it was such a, so awesome to just hear from you. And, you know, it's my favorite thing that happens. Um, with all of this is like the fact that like I literally had no control over that situation. And then here we are having a conversation about it. And, you know, maybe somebody hears my story gets inspired. Here's anybody that you talk to in my world that maybe is looking for some,

maybe looking for you, you know. And I think that's like the whole, that's the whole I don't have control over any of that thing. When that turns to such a positive thing, I'm always so happy with it. So I'm glad you reached out. And, yeah. Yeah. And you were like, you know too much about this. You must be sober. So I think I probably wrote this about two years into my sobriety. And it was like a thing that I wasn't like that I was finally just ready like, hey, let's just go write some stuff like this because I hadn't really done it yet. Like I think in the first year of sobriety, you're just trying to last 24 years. Just try to get through the next day. You know. And so I wasn't like that comfortable in like. like, hey, I'm ready to just like talk about this. But it was clear that that day I was, I had that title in my, in my, in my phone forever. Because like, you know, it's like, I'm always sort of laughing and joking around about like, like me, like you probably see me. I'm sipping on a coffee. If I wasn't sipping on a coffee,

you'd be a die co. Like, I always have to be doing something with my hands. So I'm always like, man, I need, you know, I was like, man, I was like, man, this is a kind of like my drinking hand, you know. I need to have something in my drinking hand. And I was like, oh, that's kind of a cool title. And I brought it in that day with somebody that I've written with before, Andrew Capra and Mary Cutter. We'd written a different song before.

And I was like, they just really seemed to, I was like, I know if I just like open up and tell my story about where I'm at, what I'm doing, they're going to love it and they're going to want to make something out of it. There's a lot of rights that you go in that are very political in town where it's like you're going in, you're trying to write the big hit that everybody's going to want to cut. the next day, you're sort of putting everything in there that's about that. I knew that they would be like, oh, you know, and they're also, you know, they've been fans of

mine, which is really great. I mean, man, let's write something for you. And I was like, okay, sure, you know. I was like, well, I have this one thing. And I play Tennessee whiskey every live show. Like, I'm a big Stapleton fan. It's literally my favorite song to sing. I love what he does.

And it sort of has that kind of original nature in which it's like, he's not going to write something. Me and him actually write very similar. Similarly, I've heard, I've never written with him, but he just goes in and writes whatever song is in the room. It's just whatever thing is happening with him that day. It's not that sort of political move. It's very, I'm just going to write what I want to write.

And, you know, granted, he had written a bunch of number ones before so he can do whatever he wants. You know, he's probably got enough money in the bank to kind of write whatever that you want to write. I'm still working on that. But I think like, so I went in that day and I was just like, I was like, I have this type called drinking and I want to write about more sobriety and they're like, oh,

I didn't even know if they knew I was sober. It was like one of those things where, because I hadn't drank for, you know, it wasn't a public knowledge thing that I was like, oh, I don't drink, you know, enough, you know, now I think it really is, but obviously since the song came out for sure. But so I was like, I got this thing

and so I sort of played the kind of guitar thing. And it just, it just like literally just spilled out. And I pretty much wrote the whole thing, because, like, you know, they weren't writing from experience, but like they were sort of helping me put it together. And I was like, I don't know if I like this or like this. And so that I just really, for me, co-writing is the greatest gift ever

because I don't remember the last time I wrote a song by myself. Like I almost need to have to be able to bounce stuff off of people and get the feedback from it immediately to be able to just put it together. Yeah. And we just like, I just wrote it from the perspective of, you know, although there's probably some lines. you might want to bring up, but there's a lot of, there's a lot of recovery talk in there. Yeah, there is, man.

I mean, I've got the lyrics right here, dude, and I highlighted some of the things. I love it. And, I mean, we kind of touched on this a little bit, but you have the one line in there. What started off as fun had started changing the man, you know, and I think that there's so many people that can relate to that, because for a lot of people, there were some of those, there were a lot of those good times. and then things change. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and I think my favorite, yeah, absolutely. One of my favorite recovery lines, if you will, is like alcohol stores stealing joy from tomorrow. And I always love that because that to me is how I drank. It's like, no, I want it now. Like I want, you know, I want, and what do I want now? Probably love, you know, as much love as possible is what I want now. And so drinking could give that to me if I went out and talked to somebody and they were like,

oh, man, I meant being meaning to tell you, you're that when you played that night, it was really great. Or when you, to me, it's all about validation. Like, I think that's what we're all looking for as humans is like what we're doing is the right thing. And we need to keep doing it. And so if I went out and drank and talked to people and they would tell me how great I am or I played somewhere above it, like that's what I, that validation is really what I was

after. And so the drinking just what when it started changing the man was probably the last the last, this last go at it where it was like I remember being sitting in bed with my wife and she'd be right beside me and she couldn't feel further away. And it was because she had to put up walls to block herself for what she ultimately knew was coming. Like I was not the same person. She's like, I can.

It's not drinking is not just a thing. where you drink and you have fun. Like now you're not even a good part. You're angry. You're like you're just a different person. You're not even Aaron. Like you're a different guy. And so that's kind of where that line came from because it really did.

Like I went in and it became apparent like when I drank that I was a different human being. You know, I was not. I was just not a good. I don't know it wasn't a good human being, you know. Yeah. This is because I found towards the end for me it became a tunnel vision. When I started drinking, that's all I wanted to do. And I wasn't really worried about much other stuff.

I mean, it's so interesting too, right? And you've shared about your relationship with your wife, you know, quite a bit in the episode, too. And I mean, I think it is always an incredible story of these other people. You know, we're the ones who get sober and do it, but other people that, you know, I almost look back at people in my life, too. And I'm just like, I tell them all the time, even after all these years, like, I don't know how you did it. But, like, thank you for doing it. because I don't know if I would have been able to do it for someone else. I'm like,

that would really push me up against a tough place. Yeah, absolutely. I probably don't tell her enough, but I'm so grateful that I think like when I met V, I was pretty lost. I wasn't drinking at the time, but I just got that like first DUI. I was very open about my issues and my problems

and all the stuff that was going on. And I think that was something that she really saw in me that not only was I open about it, but I was always the guy who was like, if something was wrong and I really realized that it was wrong, like I would try and find a way to change it. I think that that was something that she always liked about me. It's like, oh, we got an issue with this.

Like, oh, I'm going to try and become a better person and fix that, you know. I think I just like when this last battle gave, is like I really just felt like I had tried everything that I could possibly do. Yeah. And so there was a lot of give up in me. And that was the part that she didn't like. She was like, that's not who you are. Like you're the guy who's going to, you know,

if there's an, you know, like you want to help and you want to change and you want to be a better person. But I'd sort of given up on that. And so she's like, well, that's not the person I fell in love. You know,

you're completely different. You're a, I don't know what you are, but you're another guy. And absolutely. I often say the first time my wife came back was like to actually talk to me and have a conversation. You know, after she had left, it was like, I thought she was like maybe coming back to stay and she was not. And that was really hard for me again, but I was like, okay, I just have to accept this and I just have to be okay with it.

And, and, you know, but that conversation was like, hey, I'm not going to leave you hanging. Like, you have things you need to figure out. Like we could figure some of these financial things out together and some of these things. she's like, I'm not just going to, you know, because that's not who I am. And I was like, okay, yeah, that's, and I had to like be okay with that. And looking back on that, that was so hard on me, but it was exactly what needed to happen at that moment. And somehow, like I said, I don't even know how she came back. Much like when we first got together, I couldn't even, my, one of my favorite stories about us first getting together is like we didn't, we realized two weeks after we moved in together that we moved in together.

Like, we didn't even realize it in the moment. like she was getting out of school and I was like well I have a store gene if you need a place to put your stuff because she doesn't wasn't know if she's going to move back with her mom in another part of Tennessee or she was going to just like stay here and I was like well I have a storage you I just rent it and then you can put your stuff in there and we'll figure it out and too you know she's at my house two weeks later I was like do we move in together can we even talk about this you know like that's kind of how right it was you know and I tried to fight that oh my lord that anyway that's another

story but my mom and dad you know when they were down here when i had to kind of go through something they came down and they stayed down here in this trailer that i'm in right now and like they're very supportive um just everybody in my life my band stuck with me through all that stuff and they've been through with me through a lot of stuff and they they've been so great so like i like i say i don't know how i don't know why or how they they did all that but i'm so grateful that they did so Yeah. What approach seemed to work best for you too? Like were people hard on you to quit drinking or were people supportive in a different way, if that makes sense? Yeah. Like, I would probably have to lean on my band leader on this one because he was always extremely respectful to whatever I was doing. Like he was like, hey man, okay, well, hey, this didn't work before.

You know, like you've tried to drink and play and do all this stuff before. But, you know, but if you say you're a big boy and you can handle it, then I'm going to trust you know to handle it. My mother-in-law is another big one that, you know, she was very like, you know, you can't. You know, like she was very hard on me on that. My mom was too, I think, you know, my dad didn't quite understand it, but I think my mom understood that I was an alcoholic. I just wasn't ready to admit that yet and was very. if she knew that I was drinking. She could always pretty much tell.

I think mothers can tell when their sons are drinking and they shouldn't. And that was very, I know that that was extremely hard on her, but she's my mom. She's never gave up on me and always, you know. And like to this day, it doesn't matter. Like I,

one time they picked me up drunk in Calgary when I was going up for a show or whatever. And she often says, like every time she picks me up in Calgary, she cannot think about that time. She picked me up and she knew that. I was, you know, so it's really hard on, and I think that was something that A helped me with you because learning your impact on other people and what they go through, like my wife is really great because, like, you know, now she knows that, you know, I've sort of found recovery. She wouldn't have come back if,

you know, and somehow when she came back, we got pregnant, which is the craziest thing ever. And I was like, oh, God, now we got to deal with this. Oh, my God, I was like, call my sponsor. My wife's pregnant. What the hell do I do? Speed dials. Yeah. But it was like, you know, the thing is like, hey, this is a good thing. And this is a gift from God. And God obviously thinks that this is the time to do this.

And it's just something I never had before. And I think they recognize now that I have that. Like, I think my mom even recognizes that I have that. And my even my band leader, like they now, they're like, oh, man. And they will often say, like, we'll be on the road. And it'll be like, oh, man. the way, like, my buddy Casey, who's my bandleader tour manager, has been for 13 years, was like, man, like, the way Aaron, like, he's even told Victoria, like, my wife, Victoria, the way Aaron handles himself in some of these situations, like, where before, even if he wasn't drinking, like, it, it was, there was going to be some shit going down. Like, Aaron's going to lose his mind.

and just like, and Casey, there's been times where Casey's like, oh, okay, that's not how you usually react to what things like this happened. So like that, and that's the gift, man. Like, that's the gift of letting go, letting God one day at a time.

I just need to get through today, not have a drink. And that's, that's a win. If I do that today, that's a win. Yeah. And it's a win every day. So it's like, yeah, there's so many blessings, you know. Yeah. And I, like, I'm grateful even for us having conversation. There's so many times in my life that I will have an AA meeting in an airport in

Atlanta or Minneapolis with somebody I don't even know. We really, you know, where it's like you just these kind of serendipitous things and be like, oh, no, actually, I don't drink and oh, neither go I. How long you've been at? You know, and all of a sudden, before you're having, before you know, you're having an AA meeting in a place where you never thought that was ever happen for you. So, you know, I really do believe that, you know, God is looking out, out for us and our kind and puts us in these situations to be better than we ever were. So it's pretty awesome. Yeah. Now, that's incredible, man. Thanks for sharing that, dude. And thanks again for joining. Just one more question to wrap things up. If anybody's listening

that's struggling to get started or stay on the path, what would you say from your own journey? Yeah, you've got to find I would have never got so plugged into AA if I didn't have that recovery center making sure that that was something that I did like I went to a meeting and got a sponsor. Without that step, I wouldn't have committed myself as much as I did

and I just know me. I'm just like, ah, I got it. You know, I could do this. But my biggest thing, and I even say this during shows, is like if anybody's going through a hard time, like you have to be able to ask, you have to ask for help, right?

And don't be scared to ask for help. You know, don't think that there's nobody out there that can help you. Because there is. And like, that's just the truth of it. So I've always thought, you know, and I've always told other people,

it's like, you've got to find, it's not even just about going to an AA meeting, like go to a several different ones until you find one. Yeah, that you feel resonates with you. Because like my first, meetings that I went to when I didn't admit that I was an alcoholic. I often wondered, I was

like, man, if I would have really searched and went and found this other group that I found, maybe I would have stuck around then, you know, and how good would my life be now if I had done that? So I always just encourage people, you can go and sit there and you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. And, you know, and just try and find somewhere where you go, oh, I really resonate with that or that or that. And it's because it's really about that. first getting plugged in and feeling like you're plugged in, that helped me continue to go back and be like, oh, this is actually helping you know. Yeah.

Because the first few times I did it, I didn't feel that way. And not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just, it's just like if you go in and you don't feel that way about that specific group or whatever, the whole thing is I could go back to that group now and probably feel like I'm totally plugged in, you know? So it's like, you know, I think that that's kind of the main thing. But if it's a problem and it keeps coming up that it's an issue, do whatever it takes to get to a place to where you, because it is so worth it to do it. It's so everything in my life. Yet do I have problems? Yes, I have problems. But I'm busier now in a good way than I've ever been in my whole entire life. Like I think what I was after before, I feel like I've been given all those gifts. And like I'm stressed. Yeah, of course. course, I've got a million things to do. Every day I have things to do. I've run a business. I'm an artist. I'm a, you know, like I do all of these, you know, I have a child, I have a wife.

I have like, there's all these people that are pulling me in all these directions. You know, like I, there's tons of things to do, but it's like there's, the bottom line is like it is, your life is so worth it, you know, to be able to get it fixed. And, you know, and it's not going to be what it looks like it's going probably be better and so i always encourage people to and i hope this song drinking hand encourages people to find that to find that place in their own life you know and i'm i'm always willing to talk talk a and talk shop with anybody so anybody that reaches out to me and is in that in that place of just now getting sober like reach out like i i i mean i have no problem talking to people about it it's such a gift that i have now and i only get to keep it if i give it away

Yeah, well, beautiful, man. Thank you. And yeah, I mean, just to hit on there, too, you mentioned there earlier, too. Other times you tried, it was the white knuckling thing, you know, and I think that's the one of the biggest things. We got to get out of our own way in that sense. Let other people help us out that have been there, you know. They've got the map. Like, we got to let people help us. Yeah, we do. We have to do. And we're not, we're not going to be able to do it alone. If there's anything that I learned in my life and I'm still alive to say it's that because there's no way I would have been able to do this on my there's no way there's just there you think there's a way there isn't I'm telling you there's no way

you got to let other people in so man I yeah this has been so fun man I'm I'm so happy to talk to you today so any anything for closing or are you good there I think I'm good I think I feel like I've said it all stream stream man there you go yeah stream drinking head so elieze can have shoes and clothes and all that fun stuff so yeah well if you ever come to like southern ontario area man i'll be on the lookout for a show i'll make it absolutely well there it is another incredible episode here on the podcast huge shout out to aaron be sure if you could connect with anything or just want to send him a thank you i'll drop his instagram down on the show notes below aaron goodvin and i hope everybody's doing well the end of july summer's going quick for those of us

that aren't living in Arizona or Florida or somewhere else. Thank you guys, as always, for listening to the podcast. If you haven't left a review yet, jump over to Apple or Spotify. Drop a five-star, leave a written review on Apple. It would mean the world. And I'll see you on the next one.