He was an apt pupil, no less quick to learn than his brother, and was playing the guitar with striking virtuosity by the time he was fourteen. In 1971, he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin the following year. Soon afterward, he began playing gigs on the nightclub circuit, earning a spot in Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers, and later with Denny Freeman in the Cobras, with whom he continued to work through late 1977. He then formed his own group, Double Trouble, before performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in mid-July 1982 and being discovered by John Hammond, who in turn interested Epic Records with signing them to a recording contract. Within a year, they achieved international fame after the release of their debut album "Texas Flood", and in 1984 their second album, "Couldn't Stand the Weather", along with the supporting tour, brought them to further commercial and critical success; the album quickly outpaced the sales of "Texas Flood". After the addition of keyboardist Reese Wynans in 1985, the band released "Soul to Soul" and toured in support of the album, which was their first as a quartet. However, Vaughan's drug and alcohol habits continued to escalate. In September 1986, the band traveled to Denmark to begin a European leg of the Soul to Soul Tour. By this time, Vaughan had reached the peak of his substance abuse. He would consume a quart (0.95 L) of whiskey and an ounce (7 g) of cocaine each day. According to biographer Craig Hopkins, his lifestyle of substance abuse was "probably better characterized as the bottom of a deep chasm." During the late night hours of September 28, Vaughan became ill after a performance in Germany. He was taken by an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he received medical treatment for near-death dehydration as a result of his long-term drug and alcohol addictions. He then checked into the London Clinic under the care of Dr. Victor Bloom, who warned Vaughan that if his destructive lifestyle continued, he would be dead within a month. Resuming the tour, the band reached Zurich on September 29. Vaughan was ill, but gave a concert with Double Trouble in the town, which took place at Volkshaus, and was well enough to perform at the Hammersmith Palais, in London, on October 2. After staying in London for more than a week, Vaughan returned to the United States and began a substance abuse treatment program at a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta, Georgia; bassist Tommy Shannon followed suit by checking into rehab in Austin, Texas.