Anders Osborne and Oskar Blues Brewery’s Can’d Aid Foundation will team up to launch Send Me A Friend, a national network of temporary sponsors—“sober friends”—who can assist touring musicians with their addiction recovery.
A description on the program’s website reads:
In his first year of sobriety Anders, like so many other musicians who have struggled to stay sober, had to quickly get back on the road and start performing again. He was thrown back into bar rooms, music halls and working at festivals day in and night out — testing anyone’s resolve to stay clean. So, Send Me A Friend is what Anders wished he had at the time – a national network of “sober friends” that are on call to come to a show and offer a helping hand and source of support for struggling musicians. Our mission is to support newly-sober musicians who are on the road to a new way of life by helping get them back to work again.
Send Me A Friend is still in the preliminary stages, and the network is actively looking for volunteers with over one year of continuous sobriety. “Friends” will be able to help out on their own terms, offering their services as frequently as their time allows.
“When I first got clean, it was suggested that I should take time off from playing music and do something else while I focused on my recovery,” Osborne told Live for Live Music. “But playing music was what I knew how to do…and it’s how I support my family—so I made the decision to get back on the road and start performing again.”
Osborne, whose career has improved dramatically since he began his own addiction recovery eight years ago, will launch the new organization with an intimate acoustic show at John Bukaty’s Gallery in New Orleans (841 Carondelet St) on Thursday, December 15. All proceeds from the event will go to Send Me A Friend.
The launch party will take place one night before the annual Anders Osborne Holiday Spectacular, which is slated to take over Tipitina’s on December 16 and 17. Special guests for those shows include Rich Robinson, Nicki Bluhm, Robert Randolph and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band horns.
