Zach Bryan details decision to get sober in porch talk with Matthew McConaughey

Zach Bryan says quitting drinking has him enjoying writing again for the first time since he was 17.

The country singer spoke about his sobriety and his relationship with alcohol in a two-hour conversation with actor Matthew McConaughey. The video was uploaded to Bryan's YouTube channel on Friday, Oct. 16, and is titled 'On The Porch (With Matthew McConaughey)' YouTube.

The pair sat down on a porch in the hills of Appalachia for the talk. It was billed as Bryan's first public interview in years YouTube.

Bryan said he used to dismiss sobriety outright. He told McConaughey he always thought it was a joke, in his words people who could not control themselves celebrating not being able to control themselves Billboard.

He said that attitude stayed with him while he was drinking heavily. At the time, he said, he would ask why other people could not control themselves and never realised he had a problem himself.

The turning point, he said, came on the road. Bryan had planned a month-long motorcycle trip from New York City to Los Angeles with friends. When they could not make it, he decided to go alone.

He spent much of that trip stopping at bars and drinking himself to sleep. Then came a night at a Pilot truck stop outside Seattle. He sat on the curb with a 40-ounce Budweiser and felt emptier than when he left.

Bryan said he felt he had wasted 30 days chasing a defining moment. That realisation pushed him to confront his drinking habits.

Quitting, he said, has been really great. He told McConaughey he enjoys writing again and has not felt like this since he was 17.

What makes this stand out is how plainly he tells it. No speech. Just a long ride, a curb outside Seattle, and a decision.

The conversation arrived on the same day as new music. Bryan released the eight-song EP — a short record with fewer tracks than a full album — Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs on Oct. 16 through Warner Records Billboard.