Dallas musician comes clean and gets dark on new album exploring addiction
It’s the party season, when friends, family and coworkers gather to celebrate the holidays, so often with a stiff drink in hand. And it’s no coincidence that Dallas musician Ward Richmond chose to release his new album reflecting on sobriety right in the middle of it.
“Big Addict Energy,” which comes out Nov. 21 on Dallas-based Idol Records, comprises 11 songs that plumb the depths of Richmond’s well-documented history of alcoholism and drug abuse over many of his years in the Dallas music scene playing in bands like Boys Named Sue and Slick 57 — bands known for their beer- and whiskey-soaked live shows.
The Nov. 21 release date is significant because it’s the date Richmond finally decided to get sober 10 years ago, fearing what would happen if he went through another Christmas and New Year’s Eve with his drinking unchecked. That’s where the album’s connection to the holidays ends, though. While the songs are oftentimes lighthearted, there is nothing festive about them, no sugar plums or snow, unless you count Richmond’s talking about cocaine use.
On “Good Hearted Drug Dealin’ Guy” Richmond expresses a sort of appreciation for a former drug dealer thoughtful enough to test his product for fentanyl before selling it to him. On “The Non-Alcoholic Beer Drinkin’ Man” Richmond talks of dreaming about getting drunk with Anthony Bourdain. “High School” is about the toll of alcohol-fueled youthful indiscretion. All tracks are autobiographical, told from the point of view of a man who for so long was known and adored as Dallas music’s boozy good-time guy.
“It feels dark to me,” Richmond said when asked about the album’s tone, despite the songs coming across initially as upbeat.
Those familiar with Richmond’s previous work in Boys Named Sue and Slick 57 will recognize the cowpunk feel to these new songs. But Richmond’s solo work reflects his pop-rock sensibility too, and his humor and storyteller’s delivery are reminiscent of the late country-folk iconoclast Todd Snider’s.
Big Addict Energy was produced by John Pedigo, another Dallas music stalwart and Richmond’s childhood friend and former bandmate. It was actually the first record recorded and mixed beginning to end in Pedigo’s new Barnito Studio behind his East Dallas home.
Both Richmond and Pedigo said their longstanding relationship made it easy to go into the studio together and hone the album’s confessional songs, in which Richmond talks about experiences that most shy away from.
“Ward and I do a trip to Tulum (Mexico) every year, or at least somewhere like Tulum, where it’s kind of a spiritual retreat,” Pedigo said. “We talk a lot about this and that, and we do a podcast and discuss our innermost feelings. I think we’re kind of used to being that open around each other.”
Richmond agreed. He said the pair didn’t have many deep conversations in their 20s, and he and Pedigo both said they drifted apart for a time when Richmond was consumed by his additions. But now he said they had no trouble talking about anything, which, Richmond said, has aided him in his sobriety.
“That’s been a really helpful tool that I didn’t recognize would be until it happened,” said Richmond. “Once you talk about something out loud enough times, the shame goes away, I’ve found. And when you’re not talking about it, the shame grows exponentially.”
That, in a nutshell, is the ethos behind “Big Addict Energy.” It’s a man sharing his story in the hopes it resonates with, or even helps, others. And the fact that you can nod your head or tap your foot to these tales of woe and debauchery make them all the better.