guitarist Mark Morton has revealed how a conversation with legend helped him on his road to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Speaking in his new memoir , out now via Hachette Books, Morton explains that during one particular stint of sobriety, he ended up getting some sage advice from the GnR' man, who has been sober since 2006. "Awkward and uncomfortable results came with my new attempt at sobriety," he writes.
"One of the most frightening was a strained and confused relationship with music. I was suddenly terrified to pick up a guitar. It had been many years since I created music sober.
Drinking and drugging had been an ingrained part of my creative process, freeing me from the barriers of self-doubt and inhibition. Could I even do it without being fucked up on something? I tried picking up a guitar and riffing around, but everything felt empty and lame. What had once been a natural, free-flowing relationship between my instrument and me now felt stiff and unfamiliar.
I asked around for some insight and help, as I had been advised to do in rehab. "A mutual friend put me in touch with Slash from Guns N’ Roses, who had gotten clean some years earlier. Slash graciously called me one afternoon and patiently listened to my tale of creative insecurity and fear.
'You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,' he told me sympathetically. 'It’s unrealistic for you to think that you can tap right back into your creative element so soon after the shock of getting clean..
