美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Send Me A Friend': Anders Osborne Helps Musicians Stay Sober On Tour

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Recovering alcoholics¹ tend to avoid the bar. But what happens when the bar is your office? New Orleans bluesman Anders Osborne figured out how to get back to work despite the temptations. Now he's starting a program to help sober musicians who have to work where everyone else is partying. NPR's Debbie Elliott has more.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE²: Drugs and alcohol nearly destroyed Anders Osborne's career and his family. The guitarist and singer-songwriter was showing up for tour dates unable to perform. At his worst, he was spending nights on a park bench. He got into recovery and was putting his life back together when he remembers counselors³ telling him to take a year or two off.

ANDERS OSBORNE: You can try some different until you get on - I'm like, I don't understand, guys. I'm in bankruptcy⁴ and foreclosure. I mean, I'm in a bad situation. I'm going to take a minimum wage job at McDon (ph) - what am I supposed to do? So that frustration⁵ led to me thinking - well, there should be a support system for this.

ELLIOTT: Specifically for people in the music industry. This is what typically greets a musician showing up for a gig in New Orleans.

(SOUNDBITE OF COCKTAIL⁶ SHAKER SHAKING)

ELLIOTT: The bartender is shaking a cocktail at Chickie Wah Wah, a popular music venue⁷, where you have to walk past the bar to get to the stage. Osborne says that's tough for an addict⁸. These days, he comes with a game plan.

OSBORNE: Here's how long I'm going to spend at the bar. I'm not going to show up an hour and a half before. I'm going to show up 10 minutes before the show. That's all. And you have to really stick to that. I've designed the whole situation according to my comfort because I'm here to work. I'm not partying.

OSBORNE: The once-notorious partier, now 50, has been sober for about eight years. He's working with the nonprofit CAN'd Aid Foundation to help musicians navigate⁹ that fraught¹⁰ setting. The program is called Send Me a Friend, taken from an Anders Osborne song title.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEND ME A FRIEND")

OSBORNE: (Singing) Send me - hey, send me - won't you send me a friend, oh, yeah? Come on now.

ELLIOTT: The idea is to pair volunteers with musicians trying to stay sober on the road. A network of friends with more than a year of continuous sobriety is available to come to performances and act as a buffer¹¹, for instance, when fans want to buy you a drink. Osborne says Send Me a Friend is different from Alcoholics Anonymous¹² or other recovery programs.

ELLIOTT: It's all about going back to work. It's not about getting anybody sober. That's not my job. It's just - if you have chosen to not drink or drug anymore but you want to stay in the music industry, you want to go back to work - well, we're going to provide one small little service, which is we're going to send somebody out to sit there with you.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: So you just send in your dates, and they send you friends (laughter). It's pretty awesome¹³.

ELLIOTT: This Boston singer says she has relapsed once when a friend was backstage at her concerts. We're not using her name because the program guarantees anonymity¹⁴.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: For me, this couldn't have come at a better time because it just got to a point where I didn't know what else to do. I thought I was going to have to stop. And I don't know what's worse, to be honest with you, you know, having my life spiral out of control but being able to play music or being steady and stable and not getting to play music. I know that sounds very extreme, but that's what music is for me.

ELLIOTT: Anders Osborne says this is not just for the rock star who hits rock bottom but anyone who's there for the gig - dancers, sound techs, roadies...

OSBORNE: You can just be a piano player down on Bourbon Street. I mean, you have four or five sets you're playing, small breaks. There's no backstage. There's no tour manager that keeps people away. There's just - you just sit there in the bar waiting for the next set. And that's - wow, that's difficult.

ELLIOTT: Osborne says this is about treating the music industry as a legitimate¹⁵ business, not some hobby you have to give up just because you're sober. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, New Orleans.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING DOWN")

OSBORNE: (Singing) This ain't no relapse. It's more like a bounce way up in heaven and back to the ground. Keep your arms wide open, baby. Yeah, I'm coming down. I've got the mind of an army and a single man's heart. I might look like a wild one, but I would never, never, never, stray far from you. So keep your arms wide open, baby. I'm coming down. Yeah, you know I talk too much...

1 Alcoholics   

n.嗜酒者，酒鬼( alcoholic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many alcoholics go on drinking sprees that continue for days at a time. 许多酒鬼一次要狂饮好几天。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Do you have a copy of the Alcoholics Anonymous book? 你手上有戒酒匿名会的书吗？ 来自互联网

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

4 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

7 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

8 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

9 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

10 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

11 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

12 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

13 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

14 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。