Too many musicians we know struggle with addiction. This is especially true in the upper midwest where alcoholism is more widely normalized. It is common to play shows drunk, load your gear drunk, drive home drunk, and wake up with debilitating hangovers. For many musicians, this is the lifestyle they've glorified. The lifestyle is shared across genres and demographics.

Alcohol's influence on music pervades completely. It is nearly an impossibility to be a successful commercial artist without subsidizing and condoning the sale of alcohol. What was the last dry show you attended? Was it advertised as such? The true business of the average rock club is to sell alcohol to your audience.

This isn't a surprise, but when something is completely normalized, it often goes unexamined. Statistically, one should be absolutely terrified of getting into any car. Medically, no amount of alcohol is safe for human consumption. Not one drop. And yet, most of us drive. Most of us drink alcohol. According to MADD, 2 out of 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving accident in their lifetime. The average drunk driver drives over 80 times before being caught. Every 45 minutes someone is killed in a drunk driving crash.

The Joy We Found is about addiction and substance abuse getting in the way of the things we love. When the music is good, entire communities form around it. Rooms fill to see it, to share it, to celebrate it. We spend a chunk of our savings trying to capture it. We build apps to create the next song.

I've seen too many of my friends let shit get in the way of the joy we found. This one's for them.

We took this song to our friend Erik Koskinen down near Mankato who has a wonderfully organic space. We recorded 5 songs with him that were all mostly live, recorded with lots of warts and minimal editing. He mixed the song and helped produce a bit. Justin Perkins did the final mastering.

And now for the final song:

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