New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After a close call with the law, singer-songwriter Topher Hall kicked his drug habit and began work on a new collection of pop tunes.
When it comes to wake-up calls, few speak louder than regaining consciousness in a hospital and finding yourself under arrest.
That's what happened to Topher Hall in December 2010. Hooked on cocaine and booze, the aspiring singer-songwriter had arranged to meet his dealer in a Cheesecake Factory in Leesburg, Va. While waiting, Hall knocked back several vodkas and, realizing his dealer wasn't showing up, got in his car and tried to make the 10-mile journey home.
He almost made it, but ended up crashing into a parked government vehicle just yards from his driveway. His head hit the windshield — thankfully, no one else was hurt.
"While I was in the hospital, I talked to myself, I talked to God," Hall tells The Post. "I knew the next time, I'd be dead."
Since then, he's kept his drug intake to just nicotine and black coffee, and his new, upbeat mindset is reflected in the alternative-pop of his new solo EP "Starting Now" (out Friday), which Hall is releasing under the name Idalee (after Ida Lee Park in Leesburg.)).
It's the second shot at success the 30-year-old thought he would never get, after his first attempt disappeared in a cycle of drug abuse. During the mid-aughts, his first band, Nothing Special, was recording demos in LA for Geffen Records. But just as a breakthrough was looming, Hall's addictions got in the way.
"I remember one time being up for five days on cocaine and crystal meth, hallucinating," he says. "Those were the bottom-of-the-barrel days."
During these benders, bottles of Naked Juice were the only form of nutrition Hall and his circle of fellow drug users would take.
Friends — like Hollywood character actor
Leslie Jordan (famous for his role in "Will & Grace") — tried to turn Hall around, encouraging him to go to rehab. But to no avail; Hall moved back to Virginia, with no intention of kicking his habit.
Hall narrowly avoided jail following the accident (a 60-day sentence was commuted) and eventually kicked his habits with the help of a 12-week outpatient rehab program.
After his brush with the law, Hall began volunteering with the Prison Fellowship program, which helps prisoners get retrained with skills to help them adapt more easily to life on the outside. He works on the program's video productions, documenting felons who are hoping for another chance to live a normal life — like the one Hall was lucky enough to get.
"I live in
Phoenix now, and the attitude is very much 'lock them up, and throw away the key,' " he says. "The stat that really strikes me is that around 95 percent of prisoners return home to our communities. So the stuff that happens behind the walls matters."
But with the music industry now regrouping around his songwriting talents, Hall is hopeful he can launch his career for real.
"I've got tons of songs ready to go. I'd love to share the stage with the Taylor Swifts and Ed Sheerans of the world, but I'm realistic. Just living off music would be great."
Visit https://idalee.com
HEAL VIDEO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R8qoeRZnyA
STARTING NOW VIDEO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuDJhdCrM24
HUFFINGTON POST - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ascap-theater-workshop-childhelp- beyond-conversations_us_56bc95bfe4b03e2639d26db2?cx8hncdi
ELMORE - https://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/02/music- news/listen-to-starting-now-title-track-off-idalees-upcoming-ep
AXS/EXAMINER - https://www.axs.com/exclusive-q-a-idalee-s-music-has-the-power- to-heal-76521
The song "Heal" is available right now for free as part of A partnership with Prison Fellowship on the "Heal" music video/documentary. Just go to idalee.com/heal to get it for free
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