Story Behind the Song: Love and Theft, ‘Whiskey on My Breath’

Love and Theft, the duo made up of Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson, recorded the compelling song "Whiskey on My Breath" as the title track of their self-released third studio album. The song was first released as a single in 2014, prior to the album's release in February of 2015, but when Barker Liles and Gunderson signed with Curb Records in early 2016, the track received a reissue. Below, Love and Theft tell The Boot about the day they wrote "Whiskey on My Breath" and the powerful (and painful) story behind the song.

Stephen Barker Liles: It’s a song about addiction that we wrote with some of our friends, at my family’s cabin.

[Addiction] is such a heavy topic, especially in the music industry. It’s so easy to get caught up in addictions, whether it’s alcohol or other addictions. My grandfather was an alcoholic, and he drank himself to death. The last five years of his life, he would wake up, drink a bottle of Crown each day, and that’s how he died. So he actually did meet Jesus, Lord willing, with whiskey on his breath. Eric has a history of alcoholism. Eric is sober today, so that’s good. And in this business, it’s even harder, so I admire him for that.

Eric Gunderson: When I was still drinking and we started singing it, I would make myself feel guilty in a way. So, for me, I think it’s part of what helped me get sober: I decided to stop and go to AA meetings and try that way.

Luckily, it’s been successful for me. A lot of people go, and they fall off the wagon, and they need something residential, like Cumberland Heights or another recovery program. I think it’s a different path for everybody, and you have to find what works for you.

Our drummer is a recovering alcoholic also, so being in recovery and having support is huge. Being able to sing this song now and being a year sober is cool for me.

Barker Liles: It’s cool to put out a song that really means something. We’ve had people come up to us in tears almost every night after a show, telling us how the song affected them in a positive way; it was a healing thing. We had one rehab facility in Ohio, someone drove a couple hours just to meet us because it’s one of their main songs for the rehab facility for the addicts there, who are staying there.

So for us to put out a song like that, that’s having a real impact, that will stand the test of time long after we’re gone -- there’s a million drinking songs, but not songs with a positive message that will change your life.