The O-Zone Ep.2 "Sobriety Songs" with singer / songwriter Mary Lyn B.The O-Zone Ep.2 "Sobriety Songs" with singer / songwriter Mary Lyn B.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Singer–songwriter Mary Lyn talks with host Omar “O” Pinto about her 12-step inspired album, companion workbook, and the relapse and surrender that shaped her recovery. The conversation blends her creative process with honest reflections on family, faith and putting sobriety first.
1:01:03•15 Apr 2016
Sobriety Songs and Second Chances with Mary Lyn on The O‑Zone
Episode Overview
- Music can make 12-step ideas easier to grasp and remember, turning slogans and principles into relatable hooks.
- Creative projects in recovery often grow from small, consistent efforts rather than overnight success.
- Relapse can follow complacency, ego and dishonesty; returning to basics and surrendering fully is crucial.
- Daily spiritual practices, meetings and honest sharing help keep long-term sobriety steady and grounded.
- Putting recovery first, before ambitions and busy schedules, allows the rest of life to fall into place.
“Just put recovery first and everything else will fall into place.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and turn it into art? This episode of The O-Zone follows singer–songwriter Mary Lyn as she shares how sobriety reshaped her music, her family life, and her sense of purpose. Mary Lyn talks about her album *12 Songs*, a country/Nashville-flavoured record where each track is inspired by one of the 12 steps.
She explains how music helped her make sense of recovery language that once felt strange and overwhelming, and how turning slogans like “90 meetings in 90 days” into catchy hooks helped the ideas stick. As she puts it, songwriting became “a great tool for me to use to help other people see where I was and vice versa.” Hosted by recovery coach Omar “O” Pinto, the chat mixes practical detail with plenty of humour.
You’ll hear how Mary Lyn slowly funded and produced the CD while being a stay-at-home mum, taking side jobs and “grinding it out” one small step at a time. She later created a companion workbook in a single manic weekend, now used in treatment groups to spark deeper conversations about the principles behind each step.
The episode also moves into her personal story: early drinking in the 70s, blackout binges, a first stint in AA, the relapse after five years sober, and that final moment in the mirror with “black mascara all over my face” when she knew she had to surrender. From there, she describes rebuilding her marriage, raising two daughters, and finding joy in sponsoring newcomers and playing recovery music in rehabs.
If you like the idea of recovery that’s serious about growth but still fun, singable and a bit cheeky, this one’s for you. Could turning your own story into something creative be the next step on your sober path?
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