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Neil Finn and Jimmy Barnes feature on the CD

CAUTION : LIFE AHEAD.

The Buttery CD
for purchasing the double CD package visit: http://www.cautionlifeahead.com.au

The Buttery is very excited to announce that SonyBMG has now released our fundraising CD Caution Life Ahead- . This is a double CD package which represents an extraordinary and historic anthology of top Australian recording artists who have donated their tracks for recovery.
Artists include Neil Finn, Jimmy Barnes, Keith Urban and Midnight Oil to name a few of the donated tracks which are rare or unreleased .
Check out the marketing flyer for details below. Great idea for Xmas presents. The person responsible for getting this CD together is bass guitarist for the Hoodoo Gurus Rick Grossman- following is his story of why he wanted to give something special back to help us raise money to build The new Buttery:

RICK GROSSMAN talks about Caution: Life Ahead
Certainly no one, when they start out in life, plans to end up in a rehab. My plan, or dream, was to be able to play music and travel. I was (and still am) obsessive about music. It became my life. It was everything. There was no room for anything else when I began. Drugs and alcohol were just a part of life and, even though I enjoyed them, my passion for music was totally satisfying and the need to medicate oneself was not present. Then this slowly and insidiously changed over the years.

Jump forward 10 years and I am sitting in a hotel in New York City on tour with Divinyls. My dream had come true in one sense but I had been a heroin addict for 6 years. We were on a long tour through the US and by rights I should have been on top of the world, but addiction had removed all the joy in my life. In that hotel room, I was actually in tears because here were all the things I had wanted so badly, a great band, touring the world, making records and it was like it was happening to someone else – I was dead inside. I could see it all but could not experience it.

Fear seemed to be the one emotion that was getting more and more prevalent in my life. Addiction is a disease of the spirit and mine was virtually nonexistent. Back home I was on that horrible treadmill of promising myself and people close to me that I would stop. But I was in the grip of something bigger than myself. Things were starting to get pretty black and I felt my life hurtling toward some horrible conclusion. I would go back time and time again to the thing that was killing me against my will.

One day a friend saved my life as I’d overdosed. The next day I went back for more. I realised that nothing stops you. I blamed many things on my condition (mainly the band) and I would go away when we were off the road, get physically well, but feel emotionally and spiritually empty. I used to think that “If this is being straight, well you can have it".

Hopefully for many drug addicts and alcoholics there comes a moment when you are revealed to yourself - it is called a Moment of Clarity and I was lucky to have one that changed my path. I had been very sick for a few days due to lack of drugs and had organised for some to be brought to me in Brisbane. Divinyls were near the end of an Australian tour and when this "package' was given to me, the elation I felt was indescribable. Using needles is not a social thing so I ran around this huge suburban pub we were playing at until I found a bathroom where I would be left alone. After the previous few days of sickness, the drug had such an amazing effect. I felt 10 feet tall and bullet proof. Onstage, the band sounded great, a big crowd, exciting. I then saw a trickle of blood come from my arm, no one else saw it but I certainly did. The effect it had on me was profound. I saw myself with clarity for the first time and the realisation that I had to stick a needle in my arm just to exist was overwhelming. It was not about being stoned anymore, it was about survival and to be confronted with the fact that I had to do that to myself to play music, the thing I had loved more than anything, was shattering.

Two days later, I started telling some close family and friends the extent of the problem. I was honest for the first time. Before I knew it I was in a detox unit in Sydney.

In 1987 detox methods were very different to now. It was confrontational and hard line. The information I received made sense but I couldn’t put the things the told me into practise to stay clean. It was suggested I look at a rehab on the North Coast called The Buttery. I had no idea what went on in rehab but I could not deny that all of my best ideas had gotten me into a real mess and that maybe some new information may be good. I arrived at The Buttery wondering things like "will I get assaulted in the shower" or "am I gonna be completely humiliated". And, of course, it was totally the opposite of what I imagined.

After I’d been there 4 days, a phone call came telling me that Divinyls had found someone to replace me and they sent their love and were leaving for the US. I was absolutely crushed. I thought I had ruined my life; blown it completely. One of the counselors sat me down and told me that if I took the time to look at new attitudes and new ideas and be open, then I may be given my life back better than I could imagine. It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but it turned out to be true.

I spent 5 months at The Buttery. Its a gentle process that enables one to look at and take responsibility for one's actions and behavior and to look at the true nature of addiction. It saved my life and more than that, I WAS GIVEN MY LIFE BACK.

Since then I have raised a family and been a member of Hoodoo Gurus for 20 years. I have had amazing highs and lows in that time but I have been able to get through what life throws at me without sticking a needle in my arm or drinking a bottle of spirits. As I have kept in contact with The Buttery all these years, various fundraising ideas have come up. A few years ago, I was told The Buttery was starting a big project and that was to build a new Buttery on some land they already owned, and treat twice as many people. A great idea as the waiting list is sometimes 5 months long.

I have known 3 people over the years who have died while on the waiting list. I thought a fundraising album would be good and started to put some ideas together with Dee Tipping. This project struck a chord with Tony Glover from Sony/BMG who gave us the green light and so began a search for songs. It was decided that it would be great to make this album something special for people to buy instead of just the usual compilation so I began asking for unreleased songs or rare tracks and, coincidentally, quite a few of the songs came with lyrics referencing addiction or recovery. The first person to come on board was Neil Finn and the beautiful song he gave us has been the catalyst to get this whole project moving. As addiction touches pretty much everyone, either directly or indirectly, this project has struck a chord (ha ha) within the music industry and the support has been overwhelming with pretty much everyone I asked coming up with something special.

The reason behind all of this is that hopefully someone who is seeking a way out of addiction has the option to get to The Buttery and to be given a second chance at life. It should be available to everyone who needs it.

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