Addiction Recovery, Family Addiction, and Second Chances: Scott Frazier’s Story
This is Scott Frazier. What’s the name of Frazier Music?
SPEAKER_00 0:07
I’m sorry, Frazier Music Group.
SPEAKER_01 0:09
Frazier Music Group. Right. That was on your email the other day. So Scott, you have uh discovered, I guess is the right word, a number of artists in your career.
SPEAKER_00 0:18
Is that a manager or yeah? So um the title is a manager. Um I’ll get to that in a second, but but what I have had the good fortune of doing is I’ve actually have discovered a lot of artists. I had a I had a dream as a young man that I wanted to get my brother a record deal. He was just such a talented musician. And so literally from like middle school all the way through high school, I was always like, I’m gonna get you a record deal someday, man, and be your manager. I had no clue what any of that meant. But but yeah, I’ve had the good fortune of discovering uh a lot of artists. I’ve discovered a band from from Louisville called Flaw. Uh signed that band to Universal Records back in the day. And then uh uh crazy enough, six months after that, I got my brother signed to Atlantic Records and uh kind of kind of did exactly what I said I was gonna do, telling my teachers I’m gonna do this, my dad, you know, all that. So yeah, I’ve uh been doing that. It’s been a 27-year career.
SPEAKER_01 1:12
That’s amazing. So I did read about that a little bit because you and I met through my wife, correct. And then we’ll get to that too about second chance strategies and your message because addiction recovery has touched your life directly. It showed up on your doorstep, yeah. And we’ll get into some of that. I did want to ask though. So I know you, but I don’t know you yet. So I did a little research and it said uh ask him about the Pizza Hut story. You got your start trying to help your brother’s band. Was that a pizza?
SPEAKER_00 1:37
So actually, no, it wasn’t uh my brother. So uh interesting. So I was um um, I guess I’ll back up a little bit. So not knowing anything about the music business, um my senior year of high school, I thought that it would be a brilliant idea to um to join the Marine Corps um because I thought that being a Marine would uh give me that that title, you know, that elite title of being a Marine, which it is. Um and I thought that that would help help me um and my journey through anything professional, music, whatever, if people knew that I was a Marine, they would be like, oh, this guy’s a Marine, I need to pay attention what this guy has to say. But fast forward, you know, I was uh I got out of the Marine Corps, I was trying to get my brother signed, um, and all these record labels just kept shooting me down, shooting me down, shoot me down. And then um uh I had this epiphany one day, and I was like, well, maybe these record labels will take me serious if I find a um if I find another band and I’ll have a roster. Um I’ll look cooler or be bigger in their eyes. So I f uh I found uh flaw and the crazy story how I found them, um I had read about a band called Days of the New that had gotten signed uh in in Louisville, and uh I I’ve looked in the newspaper and it said which label was Geffen Records and signed them, and so I started like you know, scouring, figuring out a way how do I get a hold of Geffen Records. So I did, and I started talking about my brother and this and that, just shot down. Found found flaw through an article that was written in I think it was uh I forget the name um Louisville Music News. Um, and it was like next band besides Days of the News, this band flaw. And then like a year later, I never heard anything else about them. So I reached out to John Timmons that ran Ear Ecstasy back in the day, and uh I asked John uh, because they had consignment back then, like local bands would put their CDs on the rack and and whatnot. And uh I said, Man, what’s I said, what’s the story with flaw? Whatever happened with them. And he’s like, Man, I think that band’s getting ready to disband. There’s been some in inside turmoil or whatever. So I get their demo, flipped out, fell in love with them. There was a number on the little jacket, and it was a s it was a pager number. So I dialed this pager number, and uh the guitar player um ended up reaching out to me, and uh I met him at a pizza hut over off of Dixie Highway or something like that, and he gave me that demo. Um, and then my wife and I, well, we were dating at the time, but we were on our way to to uh West Virginia to go whitewater rafting. So that entire trip I’m just listening to their to their CD, and uh it was kind of rap metal kind of stuff, limp biscuit-y kind of stuff. But there was this one song where it was like uh melody and actual screaming and melody too, so he was actually singing. So I uh um I stole my dad’s credit card and I put this band in the studio and made a six-song EP uh and then started shopping that that CD around, sending it out to all the record labels like the old days. You’d you know, write a Sharpie and send out a nice press kit and all that. And um I ended up getting a flaw, uh flaw sign to um to Universal Records. Crazy story, I don’t want to get too deep into it, but I had never been to New York City. So I had this thing that like maybe if I just go to them, they’ll pay attention. So I called all these record labels up and I said, Hey, listen, I said, I’m trying to get through to you clearly, it’s not working. So I’m just gonna come to you and we’re gonna do a show at CBGBs. And I didn’t know anything about anything in New York, but I remember reading about world-famous CBGBs, a lot of the greats that played there. So I made up some BS story that I had all these other executives coming out for a showcase, and I needed a 30-minute window, and they gave it to me. So I took my dad’s credit card again and rented an RV and a trailer, drove to New York, played that gig, and the CEO of Republic Universal Records was in the show, and um they asked us to stay overnight in the city, and uh they offered us a record deal the next day, and uh I called my own wife, who was we were dating at the time, and I said, Man, I’m reputable now. I’m I’m in the game. And and then six months later, I got my brother signed to Atlantic Records, and I quit my corporate job. Um, I was doing sales and marketing, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve been doing it for all those years since. That was since 2001.
SPEAKER_01 6:11
That’s amazing. Yeah, crazy story you wanted to do, and you just started flipping over rocks until you just did, you know. It’s funny you bring up Ear Ecstasy. So uh back in those days, young lady that I was interested in said, Hey, do you want to go out and see this uh record signing tonight? And it was flaw at Ear Ecstasy. I didn’t know much about them. Oh, yeah, I was there, right? So that’s what I’m getting at. It’s like we were in the same room. So we’re driving down into the highlands, and I see this big billboard that says flaw and it’s right next to Ear Ecstasy, right? We through the eyes on it. Yeah. And we we got out, we stood in line, we went through the whole thing, and of course, uh, those guys were in there all dressed the way they dress this and that. And I look over, and there’s a guy in flaw that is their drummer, is Chris Pallinger. So I was a drummer, and Chris and I started playing drums at roughly the same time when we both worked at a car wash for five dollars an hour, right? So here I am standing over here trying to bring this girl to get a record sign, and I looked up and it was the guy from the car wash with the drummer of flaw. And I I just remembered that night. I was like, dude, he made it. He did. I was there that day for that.
SPEAKER_00 7:15
That was a that was a big deal. But if you remember, it was whenever there was a new artist or a new band or whatever, they would always have the big man. I miss those days, you know, when you could go into a record store and do a release and stuff. They just don’t do that anymore. And I miss those days. Yeah, it was cool.
SPEAKER_01 7:29
And there was a big line out there where you had to wait for, but it was it was a fun line to wait in.
SPEAKER_00 7:33
So I was a funny story to that. So if you remember there, they had those big, like corrugated, those big giant corrugated uh promotional things that were they were really big, and it said flaw through the eyes on it. I still have those. I took them down from that day they were hanging in the stores from little chains, and I kept those. They don’t do those anymore, and I have them in my office to this day.
SPEAKER_01 7:58
Yeah, it’s pretty cool. You’re gonna have to you’re gonna have to bring that back alive again. I know you’re gonna have to start having a lot of things. That’s what I said like that. So, what is that? So I understand you went, you just wanted to do something for your brother. That’s what started all this.
SPEAKER_00 8:09
Yeah, I wanted to get him discovered. He was such a musical genius. I mean, he’s still a musical genius, but I I just identified that, you know, and I was like, man, my brother’s got this God-given gift of like I mean, he was a savant. Um, and so yeah, I set out on this crazy journey. Um some of that journey was created by I don’t I don’t want to say necessity, but kind of like I I grew up in a kind of a, even though I grew up a preacher’s kid, which we didn’t even talk about, but my my my childhood was kind of crazy. My my mom was not the the how do I say this, not the kindest. And I had a rough childhood and um to the point where it was like you you know, you’re not gonna be anything, you’re not gonna amount to nothing in your life. And so a part of that was like this fuel of like, oh yeah, I’m not just gonna do something good in my life, I’m gonna do something so outlandish that’s like you know, manage bands, sure you are. So that was really it was like it wasn’t just the desire to get him discovered, it was like I had this need to prove something. Um I don’t like that anymore. I don’t need to prove anything, but you know what I’m saying? It was like there you need everybody’s got a fuel that gets them there, and that was kind of my my fuel. It’s like, oh, I’m gonna do, oh, I’m gonna make something of myself, and it’s gonna be so so outlandish that there’s no question that it was divine.
SPEAKER_01 9:28
Yeah, yeah. You mentioned Days of the New. Um, I was actually just talking to Todd Whitener the other day. Uh yeah, he’s great. He’s actually gonna be coming here maybe around November or sometime like that, and then Cody, uh Jelly Rolls drummer. Yeah, uh he’s from Washington, yeah. So uh he’s gonna be swinging by in November too. Maybe we have to get you back out and hang and hang out a little bit. We should do that.
SPEAKER_00 9:48
Uh uh Cody and I are cool, man. I love uh he’s a he’s an awesome dude, man. Right.
SPEAKER_01 9:52
I’ll have to send him a photo after this. You will should have to, yeah. Yeah. So what the uh aside from you wanted to do something big in your life, you know, you had that fuel from when you were growing up, and then you found this purpose, right? The purpose was I’m gonna do this for my brother because of his talent. What does that look like for you? How do you find talent?
SPEAKER_00 10:11
So, so uh, so yeah, so so after Flaw, um it’s kind of funny. When I when I did though that those two record deals that year, I thought, and I had this misconception that, you know, once you got a record deal, it’s like, oh man, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, we’re gonna be rich, we’re gonna make all the money. And and I did good then, but you realize very quickly that after the after the initial money, it’s like now the real work begins, and it’s like, oh, that money that I made from such and such deal, now I gotta live on that for until this band becomes something. So um, but as far as finding talent, um, I really wasn’t looking for a lot of talent in in those days because I was a young green manager and I didn’t want to overload myself with you know a gazillion clients. So I really wanted to hone in on them. Um this is a kind of a good tie-in to the part of the reason why we’re chatting today, but my brother um ended up losing his record deal um on Atlantic Records due to uh addiction. Okay and um and I was able to, you know, not only be his brother, but you know, I I just have this relentless uh pursuit of like I’m not gonna let you fall. I’m gonna be there to to get you, man, and I’m your brother. And so I chased him down and uh did you know did all the things that I uh that I done for my daughter, which I guess we can get to later too, but um I he lost everything and um but he didn’t lose me. And I I kept uh I ke I kept staying persistent and uh he lost that and uh i i it it was really d it really um disheartening for me because I always thought that you know we were gonna do this together as brothers, like man, we’re gonna go out here and we’re gonna conquer the music business together, it’s gonna be a blast, and and then so I I kind of was not resentful, but uh it hurt me because it’s like man, not only did my brother is he lost and struggling, but now I gotta go do this crazy business by myself. And um you know, and and uh I was fortunate with Flaw and I didn’t really act to your your question, I didn’t really look for any more talent. Um and then um and then one day I was um just scouring around MySpace, um I think it was maybe like 2006, 7, something like that, six. Uh I was scouring around on MySpace because MySpace was like the hot thing, and I ended up finding a band called Saving Abel and um the rest is history with that. That big band, you know, broke bac broke through really big, uh, had a really big song with them. I got them signed to um to Virgin, uh Virgin Records, and uh and uh we dropped that first album and that song addicted went straight to number one. And um it was the rock song of the year, which is crazy, and um that that was really the b the big, big first I mean, all the other projects were great and Flaw was great, um and whatnot, but the saving able thing really opened the doors for for what would become the rest of my my career.
Addiction does not stay contained to the person using substances. It can affect parents, siblings, children, careers, relationships, and entire families. Sometimes, the people closest to addiction find themselves facing situations they never imagined, trying to save someone they love while navigating fear, heartbreak, and the reality that they cannot make the choices for them.
Scott Frazier knows that reality personally.
With a 27-year career in the music industry, Frazier has spent decades discovering and managing artists, helping musicians build careers, and recognizing potential in people before the rest of the world sees it. But behind the professional success is a deeply personal connection to addiction and recovery.
His family has experienced the devastating consequences of substance use, including the loss of a record deal, repeated relapses, homelessness, and the desperate lengths a family member may go to when trying to find someone they love.
Those experiences have also helped shape a different kind of work: creating opportunities for people in recovery to rebuild their lives.
When Addiction Changes Everything
Frazier’s connection to the music industry began when he was young. He originally wanted to help his brother get signed to a record label, eventually building a career as an artist manager and scouting and managing a number of notable acts.
But addiction eventually entered his family’s story.
His brother had an Atlantic Records contract, an enormous professional opportunity for an artist trying to establish a career. Substance abuse ultimately cost him that contract.
For families, moments like this can be incredibly painful. Addiction can take away opportunities, strain relationships, and change the trajectory of someone’s life. And while family members may desperately want to prevent those consequences, addiction is not something another person can simply control.
Understanding that distinction is one of the most difficult parts of loving someone who struggles with addiction.
You can care deeply. You can offer support. You can encourage treatment. You can show up.
But you cannot make someone choose recovery.
The Reality of Relapse
Frazier’s experiences with his daughter, Abigail, brought the realities of addiction even closer to home.
He shares the story of searching for his daughter during severe relapses, including finding and retrieving her from a trap house and later from a homeless camp.
These experiences reveal something that can be difficult for people outside of addiction to understand: addiction can take a person into places and circumstances that seem completely unimaginable from the outside.
For a parent, finding a child in those circumstances can bring overwhelming emotions. Fear, anger, guilt, desperation, and helplessness can all exist at the same time.
There can also be an incredibly strong instinct to rescue.
When someone you love is in danger, the natural response is often to do whatever you can to get them somewhere safe. But long-term recovery requires more than removing someone from one dangerous situation. It requires addressing the underlying substance use disorder and helping the individual develop the tools, support, and accountability necessary to build a different life.
Relapse can also be part of the recovery journey. It does not mean someone is incapable of recovery, but it does demonstrate how complex addiction can be and why ongoing support matters.
Addiction Affects the Whole Family
Stories like Frazier’s also reinforce why addiction is often described as a family disease.
The person using substances is experiencing the addiction, but the people around them are experiencing its consequences.
Families may begin organizing their lives around addiction. They may constantly worry about where their loved one is, whether they are safe, whether they are using, or whether the next phone call will bring another crisis.
Over time, family members can become exhausted from living in survival mode.
They may begin rescuing, enabling, controlling, or trying to manage situations that ultimately are outside their control.
Family recovery means recognizing these patterns and beginning to address them.
That does not mean abandoning someone struggling with addiction. It means learning how to support recovery without losing yourself in the process.
A Personal Understanding of Recovery
The conversation also includes the host’s own journey with addiction and recovery.
Before co-founding Impact Wellness Network, he was working as a chef and creating recovery videos based on his own experiences. Those videos became part of a larger mission to help people understand addiction and recovery in a different way.
That personal experience became part of the foundation for Impact Wellness Network.
The organization grew from the belief that people struggling with addiction deserve access to meaningful treatment, support, and opportunities to build lives beyond substance use.
Recovery is not simply about stopping drugs or alcohol.
It is about learning how to live differently.
That can mean rebuilding relationships, developing healthy coping skills, finding purpose, gaining employment, and discovering who you are outside of addiction.
And for many people, employment is an important part of that process.
Creating Second Chances Through Employment
One of the most important ideas discussed is Second Chance Strategies, an initiative focused on creating real career opportunities and gainful employment for people in recovery who may also have criminal records.
A criminal record can create another barrier long after someone has stopped using substances.
Someone may have completed treatment. They may be maintaining their recovery. They may be ready to work and build a stable life. Yet when they apply for a job, their past can continue to follow them.
That can make rebuilding incredibly difficult.
Second Chance Strategies takes a different approach by focusing on what someone can become rather than defining them entirely by what happened in their past.
Employment can provide much more than a paycheck.
A meaningful career can create structure, responsibility, confidence, financial stability, social connection, and a sense of purpose. Those things can be powerful parts of a person’s recovery.
Giving someone a second chance does not mean ignoring their past. It means recognizing that their past does not have to determine their future.
Bringing Recovery Support Into the Music Industry
Frazier’s experience in the music industry also creates an opportunity to bring addiction and mental health resources into spaces where large numbers of people gather.
The discussion highlights partnerships with major music festivals, including Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond, with the goal of incorporating wellness and sober areas into these events.
Music festivals can be exciting, high-energy environments, but they can also present challenges for people in recovery or those struggling with mental health.
Having designated spaces where people can access wellness resources, support, and information creates another opportunity to meet people where they are.
Not everyone who needs help will walk into a treatment center.
Sometimes the first step is simply seeing a resource, talking to someone, or realizing that they are not alone.
Bringing recovery resources into everyday environments can help make conversations about addiction and mental health more visible and less stigmatized.
Recovery Is About More Than Addiction
One of the most powerful ideas throughout these experiences is that people are more than their addiction.
They are parents, children, siblings, musicians, chefs, employees, friends, and community members. They have talents, dreams, relationships, and futures.
Addiction may become a significant part of someone’s story, but it does not have to be the end of it.
That is especially important when considering people who have faced multiple barriers, including relapse, homelessness, criminal records, damaged relationships, or lost careers.
Recovery creates the possibility of rebuilding.
Sometimes rebuilding means repairing a relationship. Sometimes it means finding employment. Sometimes it means learning how to live without substances for the first time in years.
And sometimes it means having someone believe there is still something worth building.
Finding Hope in Second Chances
Scott Frazier’s story brings together two worlds that might not immediately seem connected: the music industry and addiction recovery.
His career has been built around recognizing talent and potential in artists. His personal experiences have shown him what can happen when addiction takes hold of someone’s life and affects an entire family.
Those experiences have helped lead him toward work focused on something bigger than simply identifying problems.
They are about finding solutions.
Whether that means helping families understand addiction, connecting people with recovery resources, creating employment opportunities, or bringing wellness support into large community events, the goal is ultimately the same: helping people see that another future is possible.
Addiction can take a tremendous amount from a person and their family. But recovery can create opportunities to rebuild what was lost and discover what comes next.
And sometimes, a second chance begins when someone is willing to look beyond a person’s past and see their potential.
If addiction has affected your family or you are looking for support during recovery, you do not have to navigate it alone. Impact Wellness Network provides treatment, family support, and recovery resources designed to help individuals and families move toward healthier, more hopeful futures. Reach out to learn more about available programs and how our team can help you take the next step.