Jim Smith

WHEN aging musician Jim Smith saunters into addiction meetings wielding his trusty guitar, puzzled faces are an all-too-common reaction.

But after beating his own drink and drug problems more than three decades ago, the 62-year-old Beckenham resident is confident the music which saved his life can help other sufferers too.

Jim recently returned from a tour of America funded by the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, and hopes to use what he learned in New York and Nashville to aid his own rehab project.

“At first people look at you and think ‘who’s this old guy with his guitar?’,” said Jim. “I’m sure many of them think I want them to sing Kumbayah with me, but I usually manage to win them round.

“I was a confident guitarist when I was a teenager and had a promising music career ahead of me, but my addiction problems stopped all that. Since I’ve been sober I’ve picked up where I left off and have spent the last 10 years travelling around rehab groups and telling my story through music.

“I think music touches us at a deeper level than a lot of other things, and it’s something that’s given my life purpose because I use it to help others.”

Jim, who is also a qualified social worker, says his addiction problems started almost as soon as he first started drinking as a 15-year-old. The former Sevenoaks resident also suffered from anxiety as a youngster, which led to him becoming hooked on valium prescribed by his doctor.

“My life went downhill very quickly,” he said. “My drinking got me into a lot of trouble and by the age of 21 I’d already spent a week in Brixton prison and been on probation.

“I was unemployable and ended up in hospital many times. But on one of these occasions I woke up in bed after coming out of intensive care, and for the first time in my life I thought ‘I don’t want to do this any more’. It was a rare moment of clarity for me, and it was amazing.”

Applicants who receive funding from the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship must first prove that their reason for going abroad is to help people back in the UK.

While in America, Jim visited New York and discovered that professional musicians in recovery were also using music to help guide young people with their problems.

He also met a lady in Nashville who has collated a huge library of performers in recovery, and performed at the Betty Ford Center for drug and alcohol addiction in California.

“They are about 20 years ahead in America with this sort of thing,” said Jim. “I was inspired by how many places I visited were using music in some shape or form.

“It’s given me more encouragement and determination to carry on with what I’m doing.”