continued from page 25
my hands look fine (laughing). It’s just
when you take a break that your body
punishes you (laughing).
IE: When did you first meet Susan, and
was it hard to keep in touch while you
both had your own bands and schedules?
DT: I think we’d bumped into each other
along the way, but the first time we really
met, she was opening for the Allman
Brothers for a whole tour around the time I
joined the band, so 1999. I think we met at
the Singer Theater in New Orleans, and
then we were on the road together for a
few months, so that’s when we really got
to know each other. And then we’ve kind
of been with each other since. (The couple
married in 2001). I mean, we’ve both
toured a lot, but it wasn’t that hard to stay
in touch. You can always hop on a plane if
you want to meet up with somebody
(laughs). And then we've got a home, and
two kids, and a band. We’re about twenty
years in now!
IE: If your kids need help with home-
work, which subject do they come to you
with, and when do they go to Susan for
help?
DT: I’m probably more of a math brain, but
the
JAB
continued from page 20
Face the Music Foundation, which was cre-
ated by Recovery Unplugged, a charity
organization for which Alker works. He
developed and implements a therapeutic
music curriculum for recovering addicts.
In one such session, he met Byrne, whom
he would later recruit for the band.
“[Byrne’s] journey is another testament
to what music can do in recovery,” Alker
said. “I have seen it time and time again in
the last four and a half years since I’ve
been on this path of evangelizing the heal-
ing power of music in treatment and recov-
ery and using music as a way to show peo-
ple how to connect and how to heal.
Addiction is isolation, and recovery is a
community,” he said.
Richard Patrick, frontman for alt-rock
band Filter and himself a recovering
addict, joined The JAB onstage at The
Riviera Theatre to sing Filter’s “Take A
Picture.” To be embraced by such celebrity
was a big moment for the band. “We have
a ridiculously loyal fan base of people who
are rock fans and are in recovery who are
just our army out there, constantly sharing
everything on social media, coming to the
shows,” Alker said.
During the summer of 2018, the band
played shows in Baltimore, Ohio, and
Detroit, among other locales. “[The recov-
ery community] is a beautiful community,”
said drummer Stukel, who has taken a
leave of absence from his suburban high
our son’s probably blown past what I
remember at this point. He’s applying for
college; he’s super sharp, he’s kind of a sta-
tistics guy, that’s where he excels. Yeah, so
the last six months or so, I’ve been like,
“It’s been a long time since I did this.” But
I love that part of parenting; getting back
into the weeds with them. But Sue is kind
of super-mom with that stuff. She can han-
dle any of that stuff.
IE: Right on. Are your kids playing
instruments?
DT: A little bit, they dabble. They have
good taste in music, but they’re fully into
other things. Yeah, it’s fun listening to
music with them.
IE: Do they listen to more of today’s pop
music?
D: No, not so much. Maybe it’s just around
me that they play the stuff they know we’ll
connect with, but my daughter will put on
Donny Womack or Bobby Hathaway. The
last year or so, she was on a Cream kick
and a lot of music from that era. The Doors
- I was never a big Doors fan, but she’s full-
on. And even some of the ‘80s rock stuff
that I never was a fan of, she’s fully into.
But you know, it could be worse (laughs).
A Tribute to RUSH
FRI JAN 10
Impact
Fuel Room
SAT JAN 18
FRI FEB 7
FRI FEB 21
Shank Cheers Live
The
Hall Music Venue Room
481 Peterson Rd 1434 N Farwell Ave
Libertyville, IL
Milwaukee, WI
60048
53202
4660 147th St
Midlothian, IL
60445
8355 Indianapolis
Highland, IN
46322
IE: Well, you’re going to kill it in Chicago,
you always do.
DT: Well, you know the [Chicago] theater
and the crowd, they’re hard to beat. It’s a
highlight every year. It’s one of our homes;
it feels right there. And Chicago is just a
hell of a lot of fun to spend a few days in.
We’re excited for that!
Appearing 1/17, 1/18, 1/24, 1/25 at Chicago
Theatre, Chicago
www.atributetorush.com
Animation - A Tribute to Rush
school teaching job to devote himself full-
time to The JAB. “I go to Detroit, and I
meet the same people that I saw in
Baltimore.”
But Alker said there is a bigger picture
beyond focusing on drugs. “This isn’t just
about drug addiction,” he said. “Addiction
is the end result of that underlying trauma
or inability. This is relevant for all types of
numbing behaviors. If you don’t work
through your emotions, it’s going to come
up. That shit doesn’t stay down. It could be
insomnia; it could be depression, it could
be anxiety, overeating, gambling, numbing
yourself in front of the TV...
“I’ve seen it help people who are not
just identified as addicts or alcoholics.
Anyone can use music as their own form of
therapy. There’s nothing else out there that
can more quickly take you out of your
head and take you into your heart and soul
where true healing takes place than music.
There’s nothing else out there that can do
that in the same way.”
Coincidentally and perhaps ironically,
Alker is insistent that The JAB not be
pigeonholed as a recovery rock band. He
wants them to be known as a hard-rocking
band first. The other members agree. ”It’s
not recovery music, whatever that may
be,” said Byrne, who marked one year
sober on June 1, 2019, at the band’s concert
in L.A. “When I am putting music out
there, I am writing it for everyone. I know
not everyone is going to vibe with it, but it
is meant [for everyone]. This could very
well be a song I started writing about
struggles that happened to me that pertain
to alcoholism, but at the end of the day the
song is going to be a song about struggle,
and about overcoming adversity, which is
Continuted
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january
2020
illinoisentertainer.com
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