The first thing I said to Sabyn Mayfield when he popped up on my screen: “Dude, your new song is a bop.”
His answer: “It’s a banger, right?”
Correct. And I would know, because I am the kind of person who will play a song 800 times in a row, and “WORTHY” is currently doing numbers in my own personal rotation that would embarrass a lesser woman.
Sabyn was one of my favorite conversations from Season 1 of The Sober Curator Podcast, so when he told me the origin story of this song, I hit record.
The Song Started with Silence. Actual Silence.
Here’s the part that got me. Sabyn didn’t write “WORTHY” in a studio surrounded by energy drinks and ring lights. He wrote it after three days at a silent monastery retreat in Kentucky, the same monastery where Thomas Merton did much of his writing.
His sponsor had always wanted to go. So the two of them went. Three days. No talking inside the walls, just the monks doing their chants and rituals while you observe, and long walks outside where he and his sponsor could actually talk.
“It was cool to just unplug and be present,” he told me. Which sounds simple until you remember most of us can’t unplug for the length of a red light.
And here’s the context that makes it land: Sabyn put out a record in December and was creatively done. Tapped. No inspiration, no desire to write. Then came the silence, then came a beat from a producer whose keys grabbed him and wouldn’t let go, and then came “WORTHY.”
Sobriety wisdom disguised as a music story: sometimes the well refills when you finally stop yelling into it.
Enter Callie
The feature almost didn’t happen. Sabyn had a string of collaborators say yes and then evaporate. “I’m sorry, I got so busy” is apparently the “let’s circle back” of the music industry.
Then came Callie, a country artist who shares management with a certain rhinestoned legend whose satellite label Sabyn records on. (If you know, you know. We stan.) Callie was traveling when the track came her way. Her response: as soon as I get to my laptop, I’ll do it. She recorded her part on that laptop and sent it back. Lights out. Great pipes, zero drama, no flaking.
In recovery we call that being a person of your word. In music they call it rare.
The Video: Black and White On Purpose
The “WORTHY” video is understated, black and white, and completely lets the lyrics take center stage. That’s not an accident. The song feels airy, light, and colorful, so Sabyn wanted the visual contrast.
His reference materials? “FourFiveSeconds,” the Kanye, Paul McCartney, and Rihanna collab, plus, and this is where my Gen X heart grew three sizes, Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl.” Classic black-and-white performance footage cut with behind-the-scenes B-roll.
The label thought they were doing an album cover shoot that day. Sabyn said no, we’re shooting a video, right here, right now. The couple who shot it (both musicians who also do video work) understood the assignment so completely that the first edit needed zero notes. Anyone who has ever given feedback on anything knows that’s basically a miracle.
Making Art Without Keeping Score
My favorite part of this whole conversation wasn’t about the song. It was about what Sabyn does after he releases one.
Nothing. He lets it go.
“I enjoy it more without expectations,” he said. “People are like, how’s it doing? I’m like, I don’t know, man. You just put it out in the world to see what happens. I’m still gonna get up in the morning and go get coffee and go to work no matter what.”
That’s not indifference. That’s freedom. It’s the same energy I bring to content: I publish, I move on, maybe my mom reads it. Maybe. The work is the point.
And when the work does blow up, like when his Soft White Underbelly episode racked up 30,000 views in under 24 hours, he learned the oldest internet lesson the hard way: never read the comments. What actually mattered wasn’t the haters firing shots from afar. It was the guy who called The Bridge, the recovery program Sabyn runs on 120 quiet acres, because he heard something in Sabyn’s story that he wanted for himself. “You have something that I want. What did you do?” That’s the whole ballgame.
Put It On Repeat (Literally)
Here’s your easter egg. If you’ve been following along, you know we’re deep in analog summer: The Sober Curator mini-zine is dropping inside a cassette tape, seven miniature magazines, only 100 in existence, with a digital code that unlocks all the links, including the “WORTHY” video embedded right on the page.
And in the back zine, the one where I tell you exactly what to put on repeat? Sabyn’s right there. He earned it. “WORTHY” is the song of my summer and I will not be taking questions.
#ADDTOCART: Six Years In, We Made You a Mixtape | The Sober Curator Celebrates Six Year Anniversary
The Takeaway
Sabyn Mayfield went into a monastery empty and came out with a song about being worthy. He handed it to a collaborator who kept her word, filmed it in one honest take of an idea, and released it into the world with open hands.
Twenty years of sobriety has taught me this: the good stuff shows up when you get quiet enough to hear it.
So here’s my mic drop question: when’s the last time you were silent long enough to hear what you’re supposed to make next?
The Sober Curator Podcast is available across all major platforms
👉Watch or listen to the show on Spotify
👉Listen to the show on Apple Podcasts
SOBER CURATOR PODCAST: From Wounds to Wisdom – Healing, Sobriety, and Reinvention with Sabyn Mayfield
Recovery isn’t the end of the story.
Recovery has been framed as survival. Staying sober as maintenance.
We’re interested in something else.
Not just getting through life — but actually engaging with it.
Identity.
Culture.
Celebration.
Taste.
Expansion.
This is the room where the conversation finally aligns with who you’ve become — and where you’re going next. LEARN MORE AND JOIN TODAY →
SOBERSCRIBE NOW!
Resources Are Available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.
Follow The Sober Curator on TikTok
Who is Sabyn Mayfield?
Sabyn Mayfield is a musician and filmmaker in long-term recovery who runs a residential recovery program on 120 acres outside Nashville. He first appeared on The Sober Curator Podcast in Season 1, and his story also reached a wider audience through his Soft White Underbelly interview. His new single is “WORTHY” featuring Callie.
What is the song “WORTHY” about?
“WORTHY” grew out of a three-day silent retreat Sabyn took with his sponsor at a monastery in Kentucky. He went in creatively empty after releasing a record in December, then came home, heard a beat whose keys wouldn’t let him go, and wrote the song. The title says the rest: it’s about believing you’re worthy, something recovery makes you earn the honest way.
Who sings on “WORTHY” with Sabyn Mayfield?
The featured vocalist is Callie, a country artist who shares management with the legend whose satellite label Sabyn records on. She recorded her vocals on a laptop while traveling and delivered without a single flake. Great pipes, zero drama.
Where can I watch the “WORTHY” music video?
The black-and-white video is embedded right in this post, and you can also find it linked in the show notes of the podcast episode. It was intentionally shot understated, inspired by “FourFiveSeconds” and Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl,” so the lyrics take center stage.
What is The Sober Curator mini-zine cassette?
It’s our sixth anniversary project for analog summer: seven miniature magazines tucked inside a cassette tape case, with a digital code that unlocks every link, including the “WORTHY” video. Only 100 exist. They’re free for Backstage members (just cover shipping) and available to everyone else with a Backstage subscription at shopthesobercurator.com.
