Today we’d like to introduce you to Jam Alker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jam. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In high school, I made the decision that I was going to be a rock star, and when I finally moved to the city from the suburbs, I pursued music as a career. I played a lot of the large clubs, did some touring, and also did a lot of the things on the road you’d imagine a young musician in their 20s would do—including a lot of drug use. I also opened a recording studio, started a record label, and had made quite a bit of money—and along the way became a heroin addict.
When my addiction took hold, I put down my music and went into a dark hole for a long period of time—over a decade. In 2014, I finally surrendered and checked myself into a treatment facility. Even though I hadn’t really touched it in all this time, I took my guitar with me, probably thinking I might need something to pass the time.
What happened instead was that writing songs became a way for me to process what had happened in my life that led to my addiction. Since I wasn’t going to be able to get high anymore, I was going to have to deal with all the difficult emotions—the anger and pain—I had avoided in my addiction, and quite honestly, prior to my actual active addiction.
So it was as a form of therapy that I picked up my guitar and started to write again. And I began to process all the difficult emotions I had buried so long inside myself. I was able to use music to heal a lot of the pain I’d been running from, and ultimate connect to a spiritual source.
In group therapy sessions at treatment, I shared my music with my peers in the treatment facility and was able to forge connections with them and discover that we all went through very similar things. Through that I learned that music is something that I can use not only to help myself, but also others who’ve shared the struggle of addiction.
Once I got out of treatment, I continued to write, and soon I had enough songs for an album. I went into the studio and a few months later, I released my first full-length solo album _Sophrosyne_.
While I am a touring musician and I play rock shows around the country that is only part of what I do. I also created a therapeutic music group curriculum with a colleague who is a clinical social worker and addiction specialist, and I lead that group in treatment centers whenever I can. I speak and perform at treatment centers, schools, and community events. I share my message, weaving my music in with my story.
I am also a national recovery advocate for Soundpath Recovery, a program at Transformations Treatment Center in Florida. Soundpath Recovery is a music-based program for people struggling with addiction, so I spend a great deal of time helping others who are fighting their own addictions.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I have had a tremendous amount of struggles and I am incredibly grateful for all of them. I’ve learned that the most difficult obstacles I’ve faced have been the most important and impactful part of my life; something that at the time seemed to be insurmountable, I was able to overcome.
It’s been a difficult road in the sense that I’ve had to completely rebuild myself and my life, but this is my path and my purpose. I know that this is what I am here for.
Without the struggle, I wouldn’t have much to write about. I wouldn’t have the amazing things that I have in my life right now. I wouldn’t be able to have the connection I have with others. I wouldn’t be able to help others the way I do. The struggle, the obstacles have brought me to my purpose and brought me clarity.
Life is struggle. What’s important is how you face it. Because I identify myself as an addict, when I go into certain emotional states that are uncomfortable, I don’t have a lot of inherent coping skills. When I went to treatment, I started to learn how to cope with difficulties without turning to drugs.
I practice meditation. I stay in shape physically. I connect with friends and reach out for help when I need help. I listen to the experience of others who have been through what I’ve been through. I stay in contact with the mentors I’ve found in this new life. I talk to my therapist. These are some of the tools I use to cope with life’s difficulties today.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jam Alker story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a nationally touring musician and speaker. I also am a national recovery advocate for Soundpath Recovery at Transformations Treatment Center, and I have an album out right now available at JamAlker.com.
But I am always first and foremost a person in long-term recovery. That’s what is most important, that is the thing that I have to keep at the forefront of my identity. If I don’t, I know I will lose everything else I’ve achieved.
What I am most proud of is that through all of this, I have been given a platform to be able to truly help others, to influence other people’s recovery, and to give other people hope and inspiration.
What sets me apart? What sets me apart now from what I was before is that I’m able to live an authentic life so I can be of maximum service to others. When I tried to do this—my art, my music—as a way to impress others, it never worked out. Once I started to do it to share my stories and be in service to others, the dreams I had when I was 20-something years old started to become a reality but in a much more grounded and authentic way. I am constantly blown away by the gifts of my recovery.
But if you’re asking me what sets me apart from others, I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t want to be set apart, I want to be a part _of_. My music has enabled me to reach so many people, but there are so many others I know who have been given the gift of recovery and who work so hard to carry the message, and don’t ever get the recognition I do. I may have a talent that allows me to reach people in a more public way, but I’m not doing anything special compared to so many others who are also fighting this fight.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
It seems to me that the more I am in line with this new purpose, the more that I continue do things for the right reasons, I only continue to get “luckier.”
Contact Info:
- Website: jamalker.com
- Email: jamalkermusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thejamagram
- Facebook: facebook.com/jamalkermusic
- Other: facebook.com/jamalkerIII
Image Credit:
Except for the performance photo, they were all taken by Christina Lee Wilkof
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