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<\/p>\nWhen Robert Reynolds lost, he lost big, and hit the bottom of a well so deep and dry he thought he\u2019d probably never scratch his way out.<\/p>\n
As a founding member of the progressive country band the Mavericks, Reynolds was living the good life \u2013 gold and platinum records, cross-country tours, big money and lots of music industry back-patting, gladhanding and perks. He was married to superstar Trisha Yearwood for five years.<\/p>\n
It was 2014 when his bandmates unceremoniously fired him because of his escalating dependence on opiates. They did it in public, too. \u201cThis is the worst thing I\u2019ve ever seen as far as addiction,\u201d the band\u2019s big-voiced lead singer Raul Malo told Rolling Stone. \u201cHe\u2019s far gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The water under that particular bridge has been swift and muddy. The Mavericks carried on with a new guy, but Malo, after a brave fight, died of intestinal cancer last December.<\/p>\n
Drummer Paul Deakin, the last remaining co-founder, rallied the band to honor Malo and his legacy with The Mavericks and Friends tour, which visits Clearwater\u2019s Ruth Eckerd Hall Saturday (Sept. 12).<\/p>\n
Vocalists James Otto and Emily West will take turns singing Malo\u2019s best-known songs.<\/p>\n
And right up there onstage, for every show on the tour, will be clean and sober Robert Reynolds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Early days: Pail Deakin, left Raul Malo, Robert Reynolds and David Lee Holt. MCA Records publicity photo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t begrudge how they were feeling,\u201d Reynolds says, \u201cbecause it\u2019s not their job to ensure that I take the right path. They did make every effort to see that I would, but if I couldn\u2019t find it myself there was nothing that anybody could do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and his second wife moved to a small town in Indiana, and Robert helped restore an old house, started painting as a hobby and didn\u2019t take his guitar out its case. Reynolds says he discovered \u201ca manageable life.\u201d For 10 years, he didn\u2019t talk to Malo or Deakin.<\/p>\n
Once he got clean, he says, his muse returned, and new songs began to flow. He started a little local band and played a dozen shows a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAddiction becomes a fulltime job, if you are truly down that dark path as deep as I was,\u201d Reynolds muses. \u201cA lot of my heroes either died or survived, and I guess I wanted to be on the survivors list. I had a lot to live for. I had already lost a lot, so it was time to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then something happened that no one expected. \u201cPaul and I got close again. Paul and I were best friends, and had been before the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
It started with a text of condolence from Deakin, after Reynolds\u2019 brother Christopher died. They soon met for lunch, and \u201cit was just like picking up where we left off. It was fantastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in the year since Paul and I had reunited, Raul\u2019s health was precarious and getting markedly worse. Paul would keep me up to speed, and he knew I wanted to see Rally \u2013 that\u2019s my nickname for him, since we were young guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
A reunion, at Malo\u2019s home in Nashville, was brokered by drummer Deakin. \u201cPaul called and said \u2018I talked to Raul, and he would really like to see you, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It was 2024. \u201cI got down there while Raul was still really, really sharp,\u201d Reynolds recalls. \u201cHe was dealing with a lot of physical changes, some paralysis in his speech and face \u2026 but we had great times together.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it made me feel really, really restored personally. To bring us back together was to fix a lot of old hurts and such.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time, it would seem, really does heal all wounds. \u201cI know Raul had given up on me for some of that time, but not entirely. He said \u2018Bob, you know I just worried about you. It\u2019s so good to see you well again, and whole again. That\u2019s all I ever wanted for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n