Who Is Not Leaving Sober? The Story Behind Their Journey to Country Music

The Beginning:

Today we shine our spotlight on a local country-rock band that everyone should pay attention to! Country Swag caught up with Nico Araco and James P Long of the band Not Leaving Sober to chat about their band, their story, and of course, their debut album, Almost Sober.

The New Jersey natives had music in their blood from an early age. Despite not forming a friendship until after college, the two crossed paths often during high-school and college, while on the same music circuit. “Me and Jimmy pretty much met at karaoke. I used to host karaoke, Jimmy used to come out to it,” began Nico of Not Leaving Sober. “He and I had been in and out of different bands in high-school that almost always crossed paths. I had seen him at some local shows, when we were in our high-school bands, and then we finally came together and wanted to do something.”

While in high-school, both lead vocalists dabbled in different types of music, drawing inspiration from artists across genres, including country greats like Johny Cash, Keith Whitley, and The Allman Brothers. “I definitely always loved music. No matter whatever else I was doing in my life, music was always a part of it. I’ve been writing music since I was a little kid. I was in a punk band in high-school. […] Before this, I was part of a hip-hop group, so a lot of that influence came into what we do now,” shared Nico.

“Since I was younger, always doing it. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t really get to a guitar until I was about twelve, thirteen, but I guess I’m a little late to that party, but once I got a hold of a guitar, and started realizing what I was doing, it was always there. And I’ve been singing my entire life, and you put one and two together, and “I’m like that’s a lot of fun.” I was in a grunge band in high-school, and in college, I had another band that was a rock group and I was in a jazz fusion band before this happened believe it or not,” shared Jimmy.

The Turning Point:

Eventually the two connected and decided to make music together. “We did some songs together, and I realized how immaculate this gentleman’s harmonies were, and I said we should do something together. […] We started playing as an acoustic duo. Then we ended up hosting karaoke together for years, and sort of, it became this special thing, he became my best friend and my music partner pretty much.”

A few years in, the rising artists decided to turn their duo into a legitimate bad, forming Not Leaving Sober officially. “We had a bunch of really talented friends and asked them if they’d be interested, and that’s kinda what led into to what it is today,” shared the singers, adding, “We call ourselves country-rock. It’s mostly southern rock. We’re very proud to be carving a niche if you will. It’s got more bite. It’s not true country, it’s something good.”

However, when 2020 hit and the world shut down, Not Leaving Sober was faced with some unforeseen challenges, but eventually rose to the occasion. “During COVID, the lockdown, there was this moment where we were like we’re not going to sit here and be stagnant and rot. There were probably more bad things than good, but we tried to turn it into a positive, and said let’s take all this downtime and write a lot of music and record a lot of music and when life opens back up again, we’re going to be in a lot better of position. We really buckled down during COVID and had everything figured out, and I think that really helped us when the world opened back up.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, some of the songs Nico and Jimmy had written during he pandemic turned out to be on their debut album Almost Sober. The record features sixteen songs in total, with five new songs making the cut and eleven previously released fan-favorite singles

“Obviously we just released five new songs that we haven’t put out as singles before, but a lot of those songs came really easy at least to me. The last five just came easy, came right out of our head, and we were able to add some depth to the album. The other ones, they had been singles, and they had been obviously a thing,” shared the singers, who highlighted songs like “Chasin’ Tequila,” a FaceTime babies as one of their favorites.

The record as a whole boasts songs that truly speak to the diversity that is Not Leaving Sober. Although cohesive, the record has depth, relatability, and unique influences that flow through each and every song off the project.

“Once the album came together, we started to realize that we do have our own sound. Like you said before, there’s influences from so many different genres. We really kind of put together five very different musicians that give us our own flavor. And being from the Jersey shore and the tristate area really, a lot of people have this stigma that country music can’t exist, and I think it’s really cool that we got to kind of put our mark on this, and we consider ourselves a country-rock band, but there’s this whole other side to this that feels unique.”

Not Leaving Sober is ready for the world to know their name and their music. Be on the look-out for a show near you! “We’re going to showcase the hell out of all this new stuff.”

Connect:

To keep up with Not Leaving Sober, follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Not Leaving Sober’ music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.