Musician Andrew Georgieff wanted to get clean from substance use, but things like 12-step programs weren’t working.

“I just felt out of place and couldn’t connect with it,” he says, adding that he wanted more than just a meeting, but something with people who understood him. “I had no idea how to find it. I just knew I needed to get clean and sober, but I didn’t know anyone in my world that was doing that.”

Georgieff, who makes music under the name TORTURETWINN, is one of many creatives in Richmond’s music scene struggling with substance abuse and addiction who found help through Riffs and Recovery, a support group focused on members of the music community.

“It was everything that I could have hoped for,” he says. “It was centered around people like me—creatives, musicians, artists—and it was just like a conversation with people who got me, and I’ve been going ever since.”

Riffs and Recovery provides weekly discussion-based group meetings for music lovers interested in sobriety to connect, as well as substance-free group activities such as potluck dinners to foster community. Founders Aspen DeRosa and Matt Wild, both in the music scene themselves, wanted to create a safe space for people to discuss the strengths and difficulties that come with the sober lifestyle.

“We want to be a support for people in the music industry, whether you work in it, play in a band, go to shows, whatever,” DeRosa explains. “We have people at all levels of their sobriety journey and everyone’s process is different, but the common thread is that we were doing something that was killing us and we wanted to stop.”

DeRosa had been involved with Ben’s Friends, an addiction support group for the restaurant industry, and saw similar challenges within the music scene. Music venues, regularly bars and breweries, often focus on alcohol sales; for some attendees, drinking can be as big a draw as the show itself [which is partly why some musicians choose non-traditional venues to play. Others, like Washington, DC musician Ian MacKaye, strongly believe that music should be presented anywhere, not just bars and clubs].

For sober musicians, it can be challenging to go to shows while trying to avoid drinking.

“I’ve been playing music around town since 2007, and alcohol was around me all the time,” Wild says. “My bandmates and I were always partying during and after shows and it was just a normal part of our lives to always have booze involved.”

“It’s just so frequent in music circles, especially if you’re up late doing a 3 a.m. load out and alcohol and drugs are going around,” DeRosa explains. “Even when I go to a show to shoot photos, the venue will give me drink tickets because it’s so ingrained in the scene.”

Focusing on connecting and supporting people who are in the same community, Riffs and Recovery strives to create a fellowship of people who can easily relate to each other’s struggles. The response to the organization has been rewarding, with nearly 50 people attending a single meeting.

“We’ve had a lot of people tell us the group really helped them feel like they are able to exist in the music scene as a sober person,” DeRosa says. “There have been so many times where I’ll be at a show and someone from the group will come up to me thankful that I’m there because they felt like they were alone.”

Riffs and Recovery will be marking its one-year anniversary in July with a month-long celebration at Gallery5, including a gallery exhibition called “In Bloom” featuring works celebrating growth, renewal, and transformation through the lens of sobriety. The group will also be taking over the venue’s First Friday on July 4 with spoken word, dance, and other performances along with two music showcases—a one-year birthday party on July 11 and a closeout spectacular on July 24.

“The thing I like about this group so much is that we can talk about the dirty, gritty stuff that you can’t just bring up with friends,” Wild says. “It’s not therapy because we’re not licensed therapists, but it does bring that healing to the table. Those who need it can access the group for free if they can just find the strength to check it out.”

As for Georgieff, he recently celebrated his one year of sobriety at a Riffs and Recovery meeting. He still regularly attends as his recovery continues but also knows that his story can motivate others just beginning their sobriety journey.

“The reason I initially went was because I was focused on me. But then I started realizing it’s more than just my needs now,” he recalls. “There are a lot of other people in there at different points in their sobriety journey, and I’m helping them and now a part of something bigger.”

Riffs and Recovery weekly meetings take place at Gallery5 every Monday from 1-2 p.m. More information is on Instagram at @riffsandrecovery