Many country music stars have waged battles with the bottle. They have for the most part been very honest about their life-changing challenges with alcohol and how they dealt with them. For singer Zach Bryan, it sounds like the epiphany that reset his connection with drinking came in the form of a humble gas-station beer. There is a story behind that observation, and Bryan generously shared it recently.
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Bryan Opens up in His New EP and Book
Both creative efforts have the same title - Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs. Perhaps prompted by these dual new releases, the singer is talking about his trek to sobriety. It was not an easy journey for him. Still, Bryan feels it was well worth it. During a recent discussion on On the Porch with actor Matthew McConaughey, Zach Bryan elaborated on this complex and highly emotional topic.
He Made a Coast-to-Coast Motorcycle Trip
Bryan said candidly during the chat, "I'll never forget this as long as I live. I went into this gas station and I grabbed a Budweiser, and I'm sitting on the curb with my motorcycle in front of me, and I'm drinking it, and I'm thinking, 'What the hell was all that worth? Why did I do any of that? I feel emptier than when I left.'"
He added, "That's when I said, 'Why am I drinking right now? What am I celebrating?' That's when I kind of looked in the mirror."
Bryan Thought Hard About His Drinking
The singer confided that at that juncture, he stopped and thought very carefully about his drinking habit. Bryan reconsidered what being sober meant to him. He was having a radical and much-needed change of heart.
Zach Bryan mentioned, "I'm not the sober type either bro, I hate that stuff. I always thought sobriety was a joke because it's people that couldn't control themselves celebrating not being able to control themselves. When I was drinking a lot, I always thought, 'Why can't you control yourself?' I never realized I had a problem."
"There Was a Point Again"
He went on, "When I was sobering up and I started drinking fake beers and stuff, I was like, 'Man this s***s. This is not what [Ernest] Hemingway or [Jack] Kerouac would have done.' But then as more time went on, I started to realize what that was."
Bryan was at a major crossroads. "Then I stopped having these parking lot 40s and these moments where I was like, 'What the [expletive] is the point?' I started feeling like there was a point again. And I realized that I was happier that way."
