Stick with Us [Season 11, Episode 7]Stick with Us [Season 11, Episode 7]
AA Grapevine's Podcast
David B. shares how he went from Venice Beach drunk to long-sober musician, focusing on Step Nine, shame, amends and humility. Don, Sam, Vicki and Kenneth add humour, AA culture and practical reflections on sponsorship, ego and creative life in recovery.
34:40•17 Aug 2026
From Shy Drunk to Sober Rocker: David B.’s Story on AA Grapevine
Episode Overview
- Step Nine amends, including long-delayed financial amends, can bring a deep sense of freedom and reduce lingering shame.
- Saying “I’m an alcoholic” out loud in a meeting can feel like a heavy burden lifting and mark a real turning point.
- Relying on a sponsor and going to regular meetings helps replace isolation and fear with safety and connection.
- Letting go of the need to be ‘special’ and embracing being a ‘garden variety drunk’ keeps ego in check and supports ongoing recovery.
- Creativity in music and art can return stronger in sobriety, once alcohol is no longer tied to inspiration or identity.
“When I said, “I’m David, I’m an alcoholic,” the weight of the world came off my shoulders.”
You’ll hear how alcohol turned him from a tongue-tied teenager into the guy who’d sidle up to women and say, “Hey, baby, can I sing you a Bob Dylan song?” and how that same booze soon had him drunk twice a day, “pass out and wake up hungover — and repeat.” A blunt warning from his doctor and a heartbreaking but firm response from his mum push him towards a moment of truth in his kitchen, where he finally knows he’s “done”.
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This episode of AA Grapevine’s Half-Hour Variety Hour follows David B. from Venice, California, as he goes from shy, red-haired beach kid to sober rock guitarist with decades of sobriety behind him.
David shares what it was like to white-knuckle nearly a month sober before getting back to AA, and the relief he felt when he first said, “I’m David, I’m an alcoholic,” and “the weight of the world came off my shoulders.” His story focuses heavily on Step Nine: long-delayed financial amends, emotional amends to family and an ex, and even reading a letter in a random graveyard to his late father.
Through that work, he says he didn’t need to put himself on his amends list; self-forgiveness came through making things right with others. Don and Sam keep things light with circus-ringmaster banter, chatting about the plain language Big Book and what it’s like to reread AA’s core text in everyday language. Vicki pops in to share why she loves Grapevine, and Kenneth adds a groan-worthy well joke to close things out.
It’s an easy listen for anyone curious about AA’s Ninth Step, ego and humility in recovery, or how creativity and music can actually grow stronger without alcohol. Ready to hear how “adequate” can be more than enough?
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