Billy Strings Says He Wouldn’t Have Recorded “California Sober” Without Willie Nelson: “Would Be Like Ripping Off A Willie Song”

Wouldn’t do it without Willie.

Billy Strings, like many other artists, has moved away from booze. It seems like country music is going sober these days, or semi-sober, with many artists having reevaluated their relationship with alcohol. Billy Strings, along with Marcus King, Ashley McBryde, Cody Jinks, Jon Pardi, and many, many more have cut out alcohol from their lives.

Billy Strings has been sober for a little over nine years, vividly recalling what made him make a change on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast.

His last drink was on June 16, 2016. After a wild show and a mountain of merch sales, he celebrated at the bar like any rock star would. But the next morning was so brutal on the van ride to their next show that he vowed to himself he would never pick up a drink again after that.

“I remember throwing up every 10 minutes… it made a five-hour drive take seven. We missed soundcheck, had to set up in front of the audience. It was embarrassing… I was like, ‘I’m never doing this again.’ And I haven’t.”

But Billy Strings, along with folks like Marcus King, has not cut out all their vices; they have just identified that alcohol is not a vice that serves them. Strings has now followed in the footsteps of  Willie Nelson, utilizing herbal medicine. Over the last few years, the term “California sober” has become very popular, signifying to the sober community that you are sober from alcohol. However, you still like to use cannabis products.

In a recent interview with The Australian, journalist Andrew McMillen brought up the term, asking Strings to define it, as the phrase is not commonly used Down Under. Strings defined it as using marijuana but not drinking, and how he and Willie Nelson bonded while touring together over stories of not handling their booze.

After getting off the road with Willie, he was inspired to write a tune about the lifestyle they live: “California Sober”

“When I wrote that song, I had just came off tour with Willie. I was sitting around my burn pile out back, and I had ripped off a piece of cardboard. I had a melody in my head, and I started writing ‘California Sober.’

It was such a Willie song to me that I was like, ‘I can’t record this song if Willie won’t do it with me.’ It would be like ripping off a Willie song. I was surrounded by Willie Nelson’s music for a week straight, and I went home and I wrote a Willie song, you know? And I was like, ‘He’s got to do it with us.’

So I hit him up and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it with you.”

Billy Strings thankfully didn’t have to think about the tune sitting and collecting up dust, given that Willie Nelson was game as soon as he was asked. Billy Strings admitted that since having his song, “River,” he’s even cut back on his California sober lifestyle, and while he still loves it, he acknowledges that he has a clearer head now that he’s reduced his smoking.

“I’ll always be a fan of cannabis, even if I stop smoking. I like it.” 

Fire up “California Sober” before you go.

The post Billy Strings Says He Wouldn’t Have Recorded “California Sober” Without Willie Nelson: “Would Be Like Ripping Off A Willie Song” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.