Addiction is lawless.

It does not play by the rules.

Enter Outlaw Grace.

Outlaw Grace is the creation of Nashville recording artist Mike Sartain. Known onstage as SARTAIN, he has been sharing his powerful story of his journey of sobriety from 28 years of addiction to drugs and alcohol across stages since October 2023. As he wrote and performed songs about his recovery and nearly losing his life to attain it, he experienced countless positive interactions with audience members, venue staff, and fellow musicians. It was these interactions which inspired Mike to found Outlaw Grace. His story has been featured in SPIN Magazine Fall Print Edition, 2024, he hosts sober writers rounds and events in Nashville and is an active part of the sober community in Nashville and Atlanta, where he jointly resides.

The Outlaw Grace presentation is a curated set of Mike’s most meaningful songs about his recovery, he explains where he was in the journey during the writing of the song, what he learned from the experience, and how its content fits in his life currently. Subjects like doubt, anxiety, marriage/partnerships, healing and self compassion are some of the many areas covered. After the music, Mike opens the floor for a Q&A styled in a way clients in recovery will find familiar. In these Q&A’s he is unflinchingly honest-no subject is out of bounds, and sets the tone for meaningful discussion.

“I learned pretty quickly that my role is simply to exist as evidence that life in sobriety can be incredible”, he says. “That’s what happened to me-my world exploded in a beautiful way when I got sober. And that happened not in spite of my sobriety but BECAUSE of it. When you’re in treatment in the early days of sobriety it can feel like there’s a lot coming at you. I’m someone who can relate to that, and it was helpful for me to talk to people whose sobriety had normalized.”

Outlaw Grace is not a program. Nor is it a motivational speech. It is pain and victory formed into art, administered with experience and empathy.