TORRINGTON — “You can be sober and still rock and roll.”

That’s the philosophy of veteran musician and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd after celebrating 28 years of sobriety.

Byrd, who became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee as one of Joan Jett’s original Blackhearts, has taken a personal mission of reaching out to addicts and individuals pursuing sobriety through music and established a nonprofit that will help raise funds for recovery and addiction service agencies across the nation.

In an exclusive interview with The Newtown Bee, Byrd said he plans to do this by tapping into his vast network of musical colleagues, calling them in for planned one-off showcase concerts in or near communities where they live, whether it’s New York, Austin, Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles, or somewhere in between.

And he is launching the very first of these planned all-star jam sessions and sobriety celebrations in Torrington at The Nancy Marine Studio Theater on Friday, September 19, at 8 pm.

Byrd said he discovered the Torrington venue, adjacent to the historic Warner Theater on Main Street, after playing a small acoustic session earlier this year at another venue, this one across the street from the Warner.

“Some of the people who were at that show were in recovery,” Byrd told The Bee. “So at the same time I was doing these twice-weekly shows at several detox centers in New Jersey, I was doing these songs that I’ve written specifically about recovery.”

Byrd plans to perform a few of those special numbers during his September 19 show, but he is also using the opportunity to introduce audience members to the beneficiary for the event: the Connecticut-based McCall Foundation.

The McCall Foundation is a private, nonprofit, behavioral health care agency providing state residents with a full range of alcohol and other drug prevention and treatment services that include intervention programs, intensive and traditional outpatient treatment, and intensive and intermediate residential care.

The foundation operates a number of outreach programs, as well as a 14-bed intermediate treatment facility for men and women in central Litchfield County. 

The good news for music lovers is the rush of renowned artists who answered the call to back Byrd at his Clean Getaway launch party.

The showcase boasts Rock & Roll, Blues and Soul legend Bonnie Bramlett (of Delaney and Bonnie), Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Christine Ohlman (lead vocalist of the Saturday Night Live band), Kenny Aaronson (Bob Dylan, George Harrison), Andy Burton (John Mayer, Robert Plant, Ian Hunter), and Bobby T Torello (Johnny Winter, Black Oak Arkansas).

Connecticut’s own recording artists Lucinda and Michael will open the show, and guest speaker Michael DeLeon, creator and director of the documentary An American Epidemic, will also take the stage.

A limited number of tickets are now available for a preshow VIP, which includes meet and greet with Byrd and the rest of the all-star lineup and a Clean Getaway goodie bag.

In his chat with The Bee, Byrd talked about putting his Clean Getaway band together, and why it's so important for him to employ music as a means to support and inspire individuals of any age who are in recovery.

Newtown Bee: Of all the theaters, what made you select the Marine Theater in Torrington as the venue for this important fund and awareness building event for The McCall Foundation?

Ricky Byrd: It kind of came together like a domino effect. I was playing an acoustic show at a little performance center on Main Street in Torrington, and I noticed this cool old theater across the street. And this was at the same time as I had this idea to do these shows to raise money for nonprofit treatment centers all over the country that don't turn people away. And it looked like a great place — and we made a few phone calls and here we are.

Newtown Bee: Was Clean Getaway in its formation stages at that point?

Ricky Byrd: Yes. I was doing these music groups twice a week at this place called Sunrise, which has several detox units in New Jersey and elsewhere in the country. I'm playing these songs I've written during my 28 years in recovery. And I started noticing a reaction from these patients, so we started using these sessions as a part of their treatment. I mean, I'm not a doctor or a counselor — I'm just a guy almost 28 years in recovery, and I think the combination of the music and my story was working for them. We found I'm getting to their hearts. These folks are coming off the street, trying to get off heroin, Oxycontin, alcohol, and in playing these songs, I'm breaking down the first wall, which helped the counselors get through to them more easily. In the end, I tell these patients that nobody else is responsible for this — the only one that can make them use is them. They have to make a personal choice, and my job is to show them that I was as bad as they were, and I'm sober. There are so many people in rock and roll that are sober it's great. You can be sober and still rock and roll.

Newtown Bee: What made you decide to support The McCall Foundation?

Ricky Byrd: When we contacted the theater, we asked for help finding a worthy treatment center. There are loads of centers across the country that take insurance, but not so many that take anyone asking for help regardless of their ability to pay. The McCall Foundation is wonderful -- they have angelic people there. They really care, and I even did a music session up there for them last week, just to check it out. So this benefit will be the first one, and if it's feasible, I want to do one of these shows somewhere across the country every other month.

Newtown Bee: How has your induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame changed your life?

Ricky Byrd:Interestingly enough, I've been getting a lot of speaking gigs. I guess people like my story, and I'm a Bronx kid -- I like to talk. And it's given me access to people that I didn't have before to help Ricky Byrd's Clean Getaway. And I put a record out a couple of years ago called Lifer, that is getting some attention — Little Steven (Van Zandt) of Springsteen's band is playing it on his radio show Underground Garage.

Newtown Bee: I heard a few tracks, and I'm glad you brought it up because I wanted to ask you, was the track 'Wide Open' as painful to write as it is to listen to?

Ricky Byrd: I wrote that probably 18 years ago. I was really hurting. And it wasn't about a girl, it was about a guy who was leaving my band. I guess it would be cooler to say it was about a woman, right?

Newtown Bee: You'll be sharing the stage in Torrington with a who's who of great supporting musical stars; how did you end up putting this lineup together?

Ricky Byrd: These are my famous friends in rock and roll who are either in recovery like me, or support the recovery lifestyle. At this point, unfortunately, it’s hard to find somebody who hasn’t been hit, or had a loved one hit, by addiction. There are a lot of variables that make this the worst time for drug addiction — I mean it makes the 60s and 70s look like the clean decades. So we've got Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie, who is going to be doing a bunch of her songs. Liberty DeVitto from Billy Joel's band, Christine Ohlman who led the Saturday Night Live band, Kenny Aaronson who played with Bob Dylan and George Harrison, Andy Burton who's played with John Mayer, Robert Plant, and Ian Hunter, and my buddy, Bobby T — Bobby Torello who's been with Johnny Winter and Black Oak Arkansas. We mat still add a friend or two, but they will be coming in at the last minute as special guests.

Newtown Bee: What kind of material will you be performing?

Ricky Byrd: We're going to have a friend of mine who has a documentary called American Epidemic who will give a little speech. We'll have a group from Connecticut opening, and then I'll come out and do a bunch of my original material acoustic. Then we'll bring the band on. We'll be playing rock and soul music. It's gonna be a little bit educational and a lot of rock and roll. And we'll just build on this one. We'll do some Delaney and Bonnie tunes, whatever we feel like doing. And if folks are not in the area, and they want to help, buy a pair of tickets and donate them to The McCall Foundation so some of their clients can come to see what rocking sober is all about.

Check out an audio sample of RickyByrd's recovery ballad "Broken Is A Place"

Ricky Byrd rips out some rockin' guitar in this video clip from 2012

Ricky Byrd visited the GingerNewYork TV Show in 2013 and performed his ballad "Turnstile '01"

VIP tickets for the Clean Getaway benefit for The McCall Foundation are $75, and general seating is $30. For more information and tickets, visit www.clean-getaway.com.