JubileeCast sat down with Joseph Habedank just days after he celebrated 13 years of sobriety, fresh from the GMA Dove Fan Awards weekend. We talked about legacy, family, healing, and the strange grace of becoming who you were always meant to be.
The Great Adventure · Stephen Curtis Chapman Tribute
JubileeCast: The Great Adventure reimagines songs that shaped your faith, and Stephen himself joins you on "For the Sake of the Call." What did that project mean to you - and what was it like sharing a song with someone whose music helped form who you are?
Joseph: It was a dream come true. It started with a Facebook Live comment from Brent Milligan - Stephen's bass player and producer - and I thought, is that really the Brent Milligan? So I reached out and said, were you serious? He was. But the only way I would do this record is if we got Stephen's blessing. That took months. I think even as close as they are, Stephen felt like it might come across as self-serving. But eventually he said, "I'd be honored." And then - he didn't have to do this - he actually played guitar and sang on "For the Sake of the Call." That was just unbelievable to me.
JubileeCast: Stephen is a personal hero for many of us too. In what ways did his music shape you growing up?
Joseph: I grew up in a very conservative Baptist home - mostly hymns and Southern gospel. But my dad introduced me to Stephen's For the Sake of the Call album when I was a little boy, and it just changed how I viewed music. How I viewed singers and songwriters in Christian music. Now when I sing "Dive" or "Great Adventure" on tour, I watch people come to life because it was part of their childhood too. It's nostalgic and sentimental all at once. I'm really grateful I got to do this.
Little Me · Autobiography · A Letter to Mom
JubileeCast: That interlude of six-year-old you singing really stayed with me. What was it like revisiting that recording - and how does that thread of family and gratitude run all the way through to your new single "A Letter to Mom"?
Joseph: I remembered that old family recording from around 1992 and thought - it would be so cool to put that in the middle of the record as an interlude. It's an old song called "God Has Been So Good to Me," and it just fit perfectly with the whole theme of Autobiography. If I could say anything to that little boy, I think the biggest thing would be: everything's going to be okay. As hard as life gets sometimes - it's going to be okay.
JubileeCast: And "A Letter to Mom" - that came from a very real and scary moment with your mother.
Joseph: My mom suffered a cardiac arrest in an airport back in November. One of the paramedics told me her heart was stopped for twenty minutes. She was revived - and she actually texted me right before this interview, so she's doing well and we're so grateful. But when I walked through that, I felt like I had to write about it. My co-writer Michael Farren asked me, "If you could say anything to your mom, what would it be?" And I said, probably just - thank you. So that's the song. Go listen to it. Go play it for your mom.
Recovery · The Everyday Version
JubileeCast: You just celebrated 13 years of sobriety on May 25th. What does an ordinary day of walking in recovery look like - and how has it shaped the way you write and worship?
Joseph: I remember a time when I couldn't go thirteen hours. So thirteen years is just amazing to me. Every night before I sleep, I pray the same prayer: God, thank you for one more day of sobriety. Give me just one more day today. That's it. I don't ask for a year. Just today. And I've been doing it one day at a time for thirteen years - and it works.
JubileeCast: And what has God done with that brokenness?
Joseph: When I lost everything, I thought no one would ever want a drug addict on their stage or in their church. Now the reason churches call me is my story. Only God can do that. He restored me, my marriage - my wife Lindsay stuck with me when we'd only been married three years - and He restored my ministry and made it bigger than it's ever been. He takes our mess and turns it into our message. He takes our brokenness and turns it into a blessing. That's just what He does.
A Word for the Ones Still in It
JubileeCast: So many young artists are quietly wrestling with addiction or struggles that feel bigger than life itself. If one of them were sitting across from you right now, what would you say?
Joseph: I think artists are uniquely vulnerable because of what we feel on stage. It's not just adrenaline - it's pouring your heart out in front of thousands of people and having them respond with love and acceptance. And then the show ends. The bus is quiet. And you start trying to recreate that feeling. When something like a drug or alcohol gives you a similar euphoria, you're drawn to it - because you're already used to experiencing something like it on stage.
JubileeCast: So what's the way out?
Joseph: Say it out loud. In rehab they put us in a blindfolded rope maze, and the only way out was to ask for help - and actually say the word. "Help" is a four-letter word. We don't want to say it. We're too prideful. But the moment you say to someone you trust - your mom, your pastor, a friend - "Hey, I think I've got a problem. I need help" - in that moment, you've brought it out of the darkness and into the light. And it loses its power. That's really the beginning of a road to freedom.
"A Letter to Mom" by Joseph Habedank is out now. His Autobiography album and The Great Adventure: A Tribute to Steven Curtis Chapman are available on all streaming platforms.
