Page 13 of Broken Melody
“Sing the other one,” Jace instructs.
“Okay,” Sailor says and she tells the band the name of the song once more and they nod knowing the tune. Rocco starts the short drum intro before Sailor starts singing. I wouldn’t exactly call the song a ballad, but the tempo is a bit slower than the first and it definitely shows off her vocal range once again. How she’s not already singing with her own band, or has her own solo career with a ton of hits, is beyond me. She’s that good. And I feel both perturbed by this fact and pleased.
Despite my desire to feel otherwise, I’m transfixed watching her. She moves from side to side and it’s clear she can’t help but move when she sings – the music clearly speaks to her – wants her to dance with it. Her face has character, she doesn’t just sing the notes, she performs them. I think that’s what was missing from the other women we watched tonight. It was almost as if they were going through the motions. No doubt they were nervous, and they all had great voices too, but with Sailor, it seems everything else falls away and it’s just her and the music. There’s no room for doubt – she’s completely taken over- she’spassionate. Something within me aches at the sight, remembering how it was to feel that way myself. It’s been buried underneath the emotions of all this other shit, but watching her, feeling moved by her voice, I almost have hope of finding it again.
When the song ends, the room is silent once more, but this time, I don’t remain quiet. “Do you know any of our songs?” I ask her. Let’s see how well she’s done her homework. Also, everyone knows that most voices – even good ones - are generally not able to fit with more than one or two music styles. So, she sang those tunes, doesn’t mean she could do ours.
“Yes,” she replies simply.
“How about our song, ‘Pray’. Do you know that one?”
“I do,” she says.
“Great,” I say and move toward the guys and grab my guitar. When I do so, Henley exchanges his guitar for the bass and swings the strap over his body. “Let’s sing it. You start and I’ll pick a place to join in.” She nods, and I do the count in. She starts right where she’s supposed to and she’s not lying, she knows each note and every word. When she hits the chorus, I harmonize with her blending our voices together. The guys sing back up in the appropriate places. We sound good together, really fucking good. Damn it! I guess I’m surprised – and not too happy – well mostly. Many soloists just can’t help taking over when placed in a group. And often, their voice, the vibrato, the tone, is just not meant to part of a group. But not hers. It’s then I realize that Jace is looking in my direction, requesting non-verbal feedback. Looking over at Jace, I give him a nod while simultaneously frowning, letting him know that while I approve of her sound, I’m not sold that she’s my choice. He nods back and says something to Rick who is already nodding his head clearly liking the way we sound together as well. Despite having agreed to this, I was silently hoping the auditions would prove Rick wrong and that he’d come to his senses. That was almost accomplished – until Sailor. Unfortunately, I think this could work and I know by the look on their faces that Rick, Jace and the guys think so too. I have no intent to change my position, as I’m still not thrilled about any of it. Yet. If we have to do it, we may as well make sure we get the best singer and make the most of it. I have no doubt we could get some good songs out of making the best of this situation.
When the song ends, Nixon suggests another one of ours and when Sailor knows that one too, we go right into it. I find that I’m enjoying myself the longer we sing, but desperately try to hide it. Truth is, the sound does feel new, fresh, and despite my resistance, there’s a feeling of excitement rolling in my belly again. This time when the song ends, we don’t suggest another one. Sailor puts the microphone back in the stand and moves next to her friend, who excitedly puts her arm through Sailor’s and says something in her ear making Sailor smile. God, that smile again.
Clearing my throat I put my guitar in the stand and look at the guys. Their decision is clear on their face. Bastards – they’ve given in so easily. Luckily, I know we’ll talk this out as a group and I have at least one more chance to plead my case. Rick can’t finalize anything before we have a chance to talk. Plus, it will take some time to get our contract revised and ironed out so I still have a chance to turn all of this around.
Immediately my brain is telling me that there isn’t a chance in hell of that happening. Not now that she’s auditioned and after the way we sounded together. As I wrestle with this likely reality, that feeling in my gut erupts yet again. I stifle that, trying to process the many ways I could cause her distress so she wouldn’t last long if she receives this opportunity. I’m not giving up quite as easy as they all may think.
“Sailor, thank you so much for coming in,” Rick says walking to her and taking her hands in his. “You are wonderful.”
“You never said where you happened to find her?” Henley asks and I look at Rick curious myself.
Jace smiles and laughs, “A friend of mine has been talking about this place I needed to check out for a while, The Hook. He told me it’s a great place for drinks and that they do karaoke on the weekends. He said it’s a fun atmosphere with a great bartender and an even better singer. He said a girl was creating quite the stir there with her voice and I needed to go check her out because she was blowing people away with her pipes. I didn’t realize the bartender and the singer, were one and the same.”
I look at Sailor in disbelief. A bar? They found her at a bar? Clearly she has no professional experience. I could crack her. Singing at some karaoke night does not qualify her for this gig. Regardless of her voice, I’m disappointed that Jace would think otherwise. And Rick. I mean what’s the chance that someone found in that situation would be up for a professional life?
“Anyway, Rick and I went and checked it out. Figured we had nothing to lose. We asked Sailor that night to get in touch with us about auditioning.”
“I can see why,” Rocco says. “Amazing someone else hasn’t swept her up already.”
I want to throw a muzzle over Rocco’s mouth.
“My thoughts exactly,” Rick says and I can just see the wheels turning in his head. Sailor has no clue, but if Rick has his way he’ll figure out a way to sign her and try to make some money from her talent if he can – no matter what we decide. Perhaps that’s the solution. Lucky for her, he’s legit and a good guy. She’s lucky he is the one that discovered her first.
“We need to talk some things over Sailor, but we will be in touch with you and let you know what we decide either way. Does that sound okay?” Rick asks.
“Yes, thank you very much for the opportunity,” she says kindly. Jace and Rick shake her hand and she turns around to us waves and says, “Bye.” All of the guys respond and then she’s out the door. I stay silent.
Turning to the guys, I raise my brows, “Let’s not jump to a decision. I think there’s a few items to discuss and more to learn before we just pick someone who appeared out of the blue. I mean she doesn’t have any experience. She’s not a professional. It sounds like she can’t bring us more listeners. Her only fan base is a group of drunks at a bar.” Everyone looks at me as if my head just spun all the way around on my shoulders and I spewed vomit all over the walls. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but I get the message loud and clear. “Ok, so she had a good voice. I admit that. She also knew a couple of our tunes.”
“And she blended with us in an amazing way – the sound seems to be exactly what we’d want in adding a female voice to the mix,” Rocco states matter-of-factly.
Everyone nods in agreement.
I see this isn’t going to be easy.
“She’s not the right one…if you’re stupid,” Nixon says adding a deep sigh to punctuate his comment. “I’m pretty sure the rest of us are all on the Sailor train.”
“Yea, she’s great,” Rocco says reemphasizing his previous opinion. “Her range is insane, her sound is crystal clear and bold. Her voice blended well with ours, she has the right look, I mean, why would you have a question?”
“Well I can tell you I’m not letting a talent like that walk away,” Rick says making it clear my thoughts earlier were on target. “So if you boys decide you want to keep looking, then we can, but there may be a chance for a collaboration down the line assuming I can get her to sign with me. She’s amazing.”
“She is,” Jace agrees to my chagrin. I throw him a quick grimace, a reminder that his job is to represent our opinion and decisions. “You guys sounded great together,” he continues, ignoring my silent message. “Really. I’m not just saying that because I want to be done with this search and get on with all of this either. Although the sooner we find someone the sooner we can get started on new material and finish up tour plans.”
“I have to admit, I didn’t think you would be easy to convince,” Rick says to me and thankfully while I know the other guys agree with him they stay quiet. “It’s imperative you are in agreement – the decision and future is far too important. So, while I know this isn’t what you would prefer – likely any of you – she certainly was our best candidate tonight.” Rick pauses and takes a moment to look at all of us in the eye before continuing. “I’m just going to say it, hopefully clearer this time, I’m making an executive decision - one that’s right for the company and everyone else that’s involved with making Graffiti a success. We will add a female to the group. It’s going to happen. Or you will not continue with this label. What’s been going on… it’s not fair to any party and so things are going to change. You’re better than this, and all I want is your continued success. Furthermore, because I want to make sure you’re aware of what’s being said within the industry, should you choose to leave here, I can’t be sure that other labels are eager to pick you up. Understand?”
