Irish country music star on how he nearly lost everything before getting sober
‘I’m totally up for talking and being open about my struggles with alcohol if it can help to inspire somebody else.’
Ryan Turner
Ryan with the Gene Watson band at the Grand Ole Opry
Ryan's son Luke after riding a winner for his boss Willie Mullins
Ryan with T Graham Brown, who had a big hit with Wine Into Water
Ryan appreciates how supportive his wife Michelle and five children have been
Irish country musician Ryan Turner looks back on his life a decade ago and admits: “I had €50 in my pocket and I was a mess.”
The dad-of-five reveals that he was in the grip of alcohol addiction and at risk of losing everything he cherished, having been told to leave the family home several times.
As he celebrates 10 years of sobriety, Turner, who has played keyboards in bands with everyone from Margo O’Donnell to Patrick Feeney and Louise Morrissey, says he’s speaking out in the hope that his story will inspire others.
Ryan with the Gene Watson band at the Grand Ole Opry
“I’m not ashamed of it because I have come out the other side,” Ryan tells Magazine+. “I’m totally up for talking and being open about it if I can inspire somebody else.”
Now enjoying success with his own group, The Ryan Turner Band, the Donegal man from Carndonagh admits that he started drinking at the age of 17.
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“He says: “I was playing music from a very young age and that’s one thing about the music industry — you’re around alcohol all the time.
“People think they’re doing you a favour buying you a drink… one leads to another and time goes by…weeks, months and years…and eventually for me after a period of time I felt I was tied up in it.
“Even though I tried to not let it affect my work and I was trying to be professional, as a musician working in bands I did treat Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as my weekend.
Ryan's son Luke after riding a winner for his boss Willie Mullins
“My work was at weekends, so I thought it was normal to go to the pub those weekdays as I regarded it as my Friday, Saturday and Sunday, even though when I was working I was still having a few pints over the weekend.”
Ryan, whose children are aged 24 to 15, admits that he neglected his family during his booze-fuelled days.
Paying tribute to his partner, Michelle, the mother of his children, he says: “I’m not going to lie about it, Michelle had a huge task because she was raising five kids by herself up to the point that I quit drinking.
“I was just gone all the time, so she did most of that on her own. If I wasn’t working I still wasn’t at home… I was gone and I was drinking and I was partying.”
How did Michelle put up with that? “I don’t know, she’s a saint,” Ryan responds.
Ryan appreciates how supportive his wife Michelle and five children have been
Did she not throw you out? “Oh I was thrown out several times. Nobody would put up with that,” he admits.
Despite the turmoil in his personal life, Turner couldn’t quit the cycle of boozing.
“A very close friend of mine since childhood, another Donegal man, songwriter and musician
“Shunie Crampsey, would talk to me,” Ryan says. “He knew the pubs where he’d find me and he would talk to me. Ultimately that was a big part of my reason for quitting… he talked to me and inspired me.
“I was completely in denial that I had a problem and he pleaded with me to try one year off the drink.
“I remember clearly him sitting and saying to me, ‘Please just try one year, a week is no good, a month is no good, you have to do a year… and you have to do a first of everything, a first Christmas, a first birthday.”
Ryan with T Graham Brown, who had a big hit with Wine Into Water
“He said, ‘Once you do that year, if you don’t feel any better I’ll personally take you back to the pub. The drink will always be there to go back to.
“So I did the year with help from Shunie and another singer, Hugo McLoughlin. Both those guys were so, so good to me and supportive of me and checked in on me on a daily basis for the first few months. The first year was tough, there’s no doubt about it, but I got over those hurdles. When I got the first year over Shunie rang me and he said, ‘Well, I know you have your year done, how do you feel?’
“I said, ‘I think I’ll do another year.’ That’s 10 years past on the 21st of June. I attended about three meetings of AA in that time and I found it helpful to see that I wasn’t alone in it. There were so many other people struggling with the same addiction and I learnt there that it wasn’t something to be embarrassed about, that it was a disease, and I learnt that there was help.”
Turner is particularly grateful that today his relationship with Michelle and their family has never been better. He talks about a son who is a successful jockey with top trainer Willie Mullins, while his youngest son is a musician and they perform together.
“Everything is great now and I’m delighted that after it all I have a life,” he adds.
