There was plenty of recovery music at the Rally for Recovery in Miami, as part of National Recovery Month. Saturday 12, 2009 marked the first annual Intherooms.com South Florida Rally for Recovery.

The event featured a 5-mile walk for the sake of raising money for charitable recovery scholarships, as well as tons of great food, guest speakers covering a slew of recovery topics, family activities, and really great musical performances.

Although many recovery music acts performed at the Rally for Recovery, and all were excellent, the show’s highlight performances featured Richie Supa (former Aerosmith member) and Eric Burdon and the Animals.

Richie really rocked the house. He played all his best stuff, including Pink. Supa also played his In the Rooms Song, which was recognized by the prism awards for outstanding Recovery Music. The set had some amazing acoustic moments, the crowd was totally into it, and Richie’s voice was as good as ever.

As for Eric Burdon and the Animals, they were awesome. They also played all there best hits for the Rally for Recovery crowd and showed their support for recovery music and the recovery community as a whole.

Today, September 1, kicks off the month-long series of awareness and prevention events that mark the 2009 National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month. All month long, various charity walks, open air concert, guest speakers, and festivities will celebrate the value of recovery and rally to spread the message that help is available today for those who suffer from the illness of addiction.

One such rally is the “South Florida Rally for Recovery,” which takes place September 12, 2009, in Downtown Miami, Fl. The rally is a day-long event, sponsored by the recovery social-networking site: intherooms.com, and includes food, charity, sharing, and most of all, the spirit of addiction recovery.

Right now, the South Florida Rally for Recovery is asking for the help of the recovery community to support the event. The idea is to raise money for recovery scholarships that would equal the distance of the charity walk, 5 miles, if quarters were laid down end to end to complete the route.

The event envisions thousands making the cause possible and asks that people in recovery, along with their friends and family members, spread the word about the event. Currently, the charitable walk asks for a donation of $9.00 to participate, which includes entrance to the day long scheduled festivities and speakers, and also includes entrance to the evening concert featuring Eric Burdon and the Animals (House of the Rising Sun).

Regardless of whether you can make the event or not, the South Florida Rally for Recovery encourages people that want to take part of National Recovery Month to donate anything they possibly can, be it a penny or a million dollars; every little bit helps fund the recovery scholarships awarded as part of National Recovery Month, which provide addicts the life-changing treatment they require.

Every day, Holistic Health Magazine.com’s John Hollis hosts the two-hour “Holistic Lifestyles Radio Show.” The show covers a slew of topics but regularly highlights addiction recovery.

Just yesterday, August 20, 2009, the radio show had guests Ron Tannenbaum and Ken Pomerance, who are the founders of one of the biggest social-networking websites for people in recovery called IntheRooms.com.

One of the things mentioned, to give an example, was how much the tone and discussion about recovery has changed in the last 25 years since Ron and Ken began the process.

They mentioned how people in those days were very discreet, and how many people thought of addicts as people who lived under bridges in the “BAD” part of town.

They went on to say how much the general attitude has changed, and how the internet has made it much easier for people to have sincere conversations about their addiction comfortably.

They summed it up by saying that the face of addiction is much more realistic and open now. The addict is no longer seen as the guy under the bridge, but rather, as everyday people from a neighbor, to a family member, a co-worker, or a best friend.

The show went on to discuss how social-networking sites specifically geared towards people in recovery, such as intherooms.com, has brought people together across fellowship lines (AA, NA, GA, OA, MA, etc) and given them a place where they can get together between fellowship meetings and discuss their worries, fears, insecurities, accomplishments, health, feelings, mental state, etc.

For anyone interested in hearing more about Holistic Health Magazine.com’s “Holistic Lifestyles Radio Show,” check out the following link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/HolisticHealthTalk

The radio show’s daily schedule is as follows: Monday – Friday (2 p.m. to 3 p.m.);
Saturday (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.); and Sunday (9 p.m. to 11 p.m.).

Holistic Health Magazine was founded 25 years ago by Keith McManus, Founder and CEO. Originally the magazine could only be found in print, and its circulation was limited to South Florida.

In the years since, Holistic Health Magazine is still going strong, in-print, with national circulation to more than 182 book sellers but has also expanded to an online version, HolisticHealthMagazine.com, which has received much success since its inception.

The Magazine’s philosophy can be summed up perfectly by the words of its founder Keith McManus who said:

“There is nothing that matters more to me than making a positive difference to uplift the lives of others in any way possible…Holistic Health Practices…lead me to spearhead a magazine…that connects incredible people from all over the globe…making a true difference in people’s lives…”

To raise funds for the 2009 South Florida Rally for Recovery, world famous tattoo artist and clothes designer, Ed Hardy, has committed to creating and donating custom T-shirts to InTheRooms.com. Hardy is best known, as of late, for adapting a Japanese-style, tattoo art that he often incorporates into his T-shirt designs.

Although there are few details currently about what the t-shirts will look like, or how much they will sell for, Intherooms has confirmed the donation/fund raising project.

For those unfamiliar with Intherooms.com, it is a social networking site specifically designed to help connect people in the recovery community world-wide. Currently, intherooms has more than 40K members with a combined recovery time of 120,000+ years. Additionally, Intherooms.com is the official host of the 2009 South Florida Rally for Recovery, which takes place Sep. 12th in Miami, FL.

For more information on the event, please click the following link, 2009 Rally for Recovery.

IntheRooms recently announced that their concert, as part of the day-long National Recovery Month event, will be headlined by “Rock N Roll Hall of Famers” Eric Burdon & the Animals.  For those who may not be familiar with the performers, Eric Burdon & the Animals, they are best known for their 60’s super hits, “The House of the Rising Sun” and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”

As it stands, the event is scheduled to begin at 8:30am with a 6K walk for charity that will circle the Macarthur Causeway of South Beach.  After that, all participants will return to home base at Bicentennial Park (Downtown Miami) for some early afternoon speakers, children’s activities and food.  Finally, the evening will be capped off with a headlining performance by Eric Burdon & the Animals.

For those interested, the South Florida Rally for Recovery will take place on September 12, 2009.  Participation to the event will cost $9.00 and will include entrance to the concert.  All proceeds raised by the event will go to the Intherooms, not-for-profit, recovery foundation, which raises community awareness on addiction recovery, helps fund treatment programs, and also awards treatment scholarships.

On May 1st, the non-profit organization, Road Recovery, will be presenting an event at the Nokia Theatre (Time Square) that will include performances by: Iggy Pop, Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), and many more. The show will be hosted by Matt Pinfield and will honor Wayne Kramer. Plenty of affordable tickets are still available, as General Admission is only $25.00.

Road Recovery was officially established in 1998 by Gene Bowen and co-founder, Jack Bookbinder, along with the support of Sony Music Entertainment, Dreamworks Records, and several mental health/substance abuse specialists. According to the website’s mission statement, “Road Recovery is dedicated to helping young people battle addiction and other adversities by harnessing the influence of entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar crises and now wish to share their experience and knowledge.”

Throughout the years, Road Recovery has worked alongside the music industry to raise money for peer counseling programs and prevention education for youths. One such event to place in 2008 to celebrate Road Recovery’s 10 Anniversary and included performances from Slash (Guns n Roses), comedian Denis Leary, Jakob Dylan, Sen Dog, Joseph Arthur, Ours, The Miggs, and many others.

Thus far, Road Recovery has been able to extend itself into the community to encompass its vision by working closely with local support groups, treatment centers, youth centers, schools, teachers, and parents, in order to help teens with hands-on apprenticeships, educational workshops, peer-support networking, and collaborative efforts to plan and present live concerts and other events.

Last night (April 23), the winners of the 2009 Prism Awards were officially announced at 13th annual ceremony, which was presented by The Entertainment Industry Council and took place at the Beverly Hill Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Winners included Anne Hathaway for her performance in “Rachel Getting Married,” Benjamin Bratt for his role in “The Cleaner,” and A & E’s “Intervention.”

In the category for “Music Recording,” Richie Supa took the award for his single, “In the Rooms,” which was especially written for the new social networking website, www.intherooms.com, which is dedicated to connecting those in the addiction recovery community throughout the globe using cutting edge technology. In actuality, both Richie and Selfish Steam received Prism Awards in what was considered a tie for the category. Supa performed the “In the Rooms” song, live last night before those in attendance at the 2009 Prism awards.

Richie Supa has written and recorded music for nearly 30 years now and has collaborated in the past with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and was even an official member of Areosmith in the late 70’s. Since its inception earlier this year, Richie Supa, as an admitted recovering attic, has openly endorsed and advocated for In the Rooms.

Folk singer and songwriter, Mary Gauthier, admittedly struggled with addiction for years, and in a recent interview with canoe.ca, said thanks to her recovery process, she was able to pursue her real love in life, “Folk Music.” Mary Gauthier was born an orphan in New Orleans, went through adoption homes, and by 15 had spent most of her time between rehab centers, friend’s homes and brief stays in jail, including the night of her 18th birthday.

Still, she some how managed to make it out of the negative environment and move to Boston, where she studied at a cooking school and eventually opened her own successful Cajun restaurant. Unfortunately, her addiction had also followed her and was choking her dream of music over the entire 11 years she was in Boston.

However, Mary Gauthier was able to begin her recovery from her addiction and finally begin to seriously pursue her art. Gauthier said the canoe.ca interview that although some people think drugs aid in the artistic process, for her it was only after she was able to “get my head on straight first” that she was able to shine.

Since, she has recorded several albums including her 1997 debut album, Dixie Kitchen, inspired by those many hard years she left behind. Her latest album, Between Daylight and Dark explores the concept of home and is about being homesick. Mary Gauthier’s accomplishments as a musician have awarded her the praise of critics who compare her to Bob Dylan. Aside from playing music, Gauthier’s style of storytelling through her folk lyrics have led her to the literary venture of publishing short-fiction stories in an anthology called Amplified, which comes out in May.

On Friday, May 8, Club Nokia in Los Angeles will be hosting the 5th annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert, which will be honoring Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, with the prestigious Stevie Ray Vaughan Award for aiding fellow recovering addicts in their recovery process. In the past, Anthony Kiedis fought hard to overcome his heroin addiction. Unfortunately, fellow band mate and original guitarist Hillel Slovak wasn’t as lucky as Kiedis and died of a heroin overdose in 1988.

Comedian Greg Behrendt will be hosting this year’s event. Scheduled performances are to include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mars Volta, Iggy Pop and DJ AM. All funds raised by the charity dinner-event will go the MusiCares MAP Fund, which amongst other things, provides addiction treatment to musicians no matter there financial status. The foundation was established in 1989 by The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, who is host to the annual GRAMMY awards in Los Angles.

Recovery Music: A Couple Songs from the U.K.

Hey all, Ernesto here. Recovery Arts is proud to announce our first “Recovery Music” contribution. The submission was sent by David from the UK, who has over six years in recovery. Thanks a lot for sharing, David; this is a true inspiration to any and all artists out there, struggling in recovery, to keep pushing on. Please find the two “Recovery Music Songs” below, along with David’s thoughts on his recovery experiences and how they relate to his art:

“As an ol’ timer in these parts put it, ‘If you had problems before you picked up the drugs, you’ll probably find they haven’t gone away when you put them down’.

Some of us may in some part used to cover these problems and repressed them to such an extent that they are still difficult if not impossible to become vulnerable and intimate with. This is where I believe the arts can play a really important role. What we have in our unconscious no one can say – words can’t express it. Art can! The interpretation remains the domain of the artist themselves.”

Love and HUGS from Ye Olde Merrie England

Click here for Recovery Music Song #1

Click here for Recovery Music Song #2