Brantley Gilbert on Sobriety: ‘I Enjoy Being Around People That Drink’

Brantley Gilbert has been sober for over seven years – winning a battle he fought for a long time, which included arrests and rehab along the way. While refusing to drink has not always been easy for Gilbert, he is grateful that he managed to embrace sobriety.

“It’s just one of those things where I’ve decided it wasn’t for me,” Gilbert told PopCulture.com. “It’s just a thing that’s just not a part of my life any more. It’s around everything I do, and my career is around it. I enjoy being in the environment, I enjoy being around people that drink.”

Even Gilbert’s own wife, Amber, will occasionally drink around her husband, but Gilbert has learned how important it is for him to abstain.

“[Amber] loves a glass of wine, when she’s not pregnant. I don’t mind being around it at all I can enjoy it,” Gilbert said, adding with a laugh, “I’m allergic to alcohol. I break out into handcuffs.”

The 34-year-old was helped in his sobriety by fellow former addict, Keith Urban, who convinced Gilbert he could still be an artist and a songwriter without the use of alcohol. For that reason, Gilbert doesn’t mind speaking to others about his own hard-won victory, but admits he is unsure how he will explain some of his decisions to his 1-year-old son, Barrett, and his upcoming baby girl.

“It’s one thing now for me and my career,” Gilbert acknowledged. “It’s another thing when these little ones get old enough to hear stories. They’re gonna know I’m not a super-hero like most kids do. We’ll cross those bridges when we get to them.”

Gilbert and Amber, who have been married almost four years, will have to squeeze in all the date time they can before they welcome their new addition.

“I got a beautiful little baby boy that God blessed me with and a beautiful wife that God blessed me with,” Gilbert told PopCulture.com. “She doesn’t take no crap off of me. We have a happy home life and we still go on dates and stuff. We just now got to the point – we’re pretty excited, [because] he’s not nursing now, so mom and dad can actually go out, and go on dates. Dad gets some attention.”

Gilbert is back at radio with “What Happens in a Small Town,” a duet with Lindsay Ell. The song is from Gilbert’s upcoming, still-untitled next album. Download the song on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez