Under the Lights (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) (5 page)

“
I
’
m just wondering. Plus, if that
were you up there, alone, you wouldn
’
t
need any help. You wouldn
’
t
need backup singers.
”

“
I
’
m not doing this,
”
Tanner said.
“
I have a show to prepare for.
”

“
A
show. Right. Tell me, Tanner, why did you agree to backup singers? Why did you
pick the women you picked? Was it because they were bedroom material? Or was it
because of real talent?
”

“
I
’
m not answering that.
”

“
Because
you weren
’
t involved,
”
Richie said.
“
Damn, Tanner, I knew it. I
’
ve seen this before. Bring in
backup singers. Then an eight piece band. Hell, hire the best songwriters in
the country to make your next album. Then change your image. Do you know how to
fake an accent? A lifestyle? Or better yet, you
’
re
just a guitarist. You can just wade in the background. Oh, wait, that
’
s right. It would be forever.
Because when Ryan and the powers above decide that all they need is Ryan and
his image for his band, you
’
ll
all be out of a job. Why pay you twenty percent of album sales when they hire
some guitarist and pay him a flat fee to play the notes on paper?
”

“
Fuck
off,
”
Tanner growled. He
finished his beer and pushed away from the bar.
“
Get
out of here, Richie.
”

“
I
’
m scouting for talent,
”
Richie said.
“
And I wanted to check on you.
The opportunity in front of you won
’
t
be here forever. I
’
m
pushing for you, Tanner. I
’
m
holding out. Because I know what it can be. I understand what you built as a
band, that
’
s great. But it
’
s time to look forward. The
future is now. Don
’
t let it
slip by.
”

“
The
only thing I want to see slip by, Richie, is you. Show yourself to the door and
find another club to go scouting for talent. Got it?
”

Richie put his hands up.
“
Hey, the last thing I
’
d want to do is make the talent
unhappy. That
’
s you,
Tanner. You
’
re the talent.
I hope you can remember that.
”

“
Yeah,
I
’
ll remember,
”
Tanner said.

He walked away and pushed his way
through the crowd, head down. He had a show to play and nothing else mattered
but that. No matter what Richie said, even if it did unfortunately make sense.

Once backstage, Tanner felt less
crowded. The guys were all talking to Sam. Tanner made it two steps before
something caught his attention. To his right he saw the woman from the bar,
standing with a bottle of water. Gently pacing back and forth, holding a piece
of paper. Probably reading lyrics. The other two women were holding up small
mirrors and fixing their makeup.

The woman looked up from the her
paper and stopped dead in her tracks. She smiled at Tanner.

He nodded and looked away.

Too damn beautiful. Take it
easy, Tanner.

(6)

Tanner was ready with his guitar.
Asher stood next to him, holding his own guitar. Gabe and Blake were side by
side. Ryan in the middle of them all. The lights had gone out in the club,
bringing cheers from everyone in attendance. The place was going wild for the
band. The music and the fans made all the background disappear. Seeing their
faces. Hearing their screams. Their ability to sing every damn word to every
damn song Gone by Autumn had written. That was what made them famous, rich, and
what gave them all the power they had.

“
I
don
’
t feel like waiting
anymore,
”
Tanner said.
“
Let
’
s just go out there and rock out. Who cares what
happens?
”

“
What
about the set list? The singers?
”
Ryan asked.

“
I
don
’
t care,
”
Tanner said.
“
We
’
re
Gone by Autumn. We
’
re
playing to a hometown crowd. Like jamming in front of friends.
”

“
Let
’
s get out there,
”
Blake said.

He pushed by everyone and charged onto
the stage.

The crowd got louder.

Tanner followed second, and then
came the rest of the band.

They took the stage to a screaming
fan base. Blake got behind his kit and wasted no time as he started to hit his
bass drum. It got the crowd jumping and clapping.

Tanner hit an open chord, the
electric beauty of rock n
’
roll pouring through every speaker in The Jack. Then Gabe and Asher hit the
same note. They all started to clap along with the crowd.

Ryan grabbed the mic.

“
Hey!
”
he screamed.

The crowd screamed back
Hey!
.

“
That
’
s not good enough,
”
Ryan yelled. He turned and
waved for the band to stop playing. The music fell silent and Ryan took to the
mic again.
“
I want to
fucking feel it this time! Are you ready?
”

The crowd cheered.

“
I
said
…
HEY!
”

A second later, the crowd erupted
louder than Tanner ever heard from a crowd at The Jack before.

Ryan jumped up in the air and
cheered.

When his feet hit the stage, Tanner
and Asher hit the same open chord. They didn
’
t
need to communicate it to make it happen. They just knew what to do and when to
do it. That was the magic that existed in a good band.

“
Now,
before we get into this thing,
”
Ryan said.
“
We have a
little surprise for everyone. We decided to make our shows a little more fun
and interesting. Are you good with that?
”

Of course the crowd cheered. They
would cheer for anything. They wanted to hear a freaking song. Tanner
’
s hands were aching to play
something. He looked back at Blake and gave a nod. Blake started playing a
drumbeat. After a few measures, Tanner came in with a guitar riff. The crowd
responded to that louder than Ryan talking. Asher and Gabe came in next and the
song was came to life.

The band played the same riff over
and over, Ryan standing at the mic.

“
I
want to introduce to you some friends of the band,
”
Ryan said.
“
They
’
re going to be helping us sing
tonight. Cheer them on.
”
Ryan waved his hands.
“
Come
on out, ladies. Let
’
s do
this thing.
”

Tanner watched as the three women
stepped out onto the stage. The first two went right by him, but the third one
caught his attention. Just like she had done at the bar.

“
We
have
…
the beautiful
Marilyn, the sexy Dani, and the wild Jules.
”

The second Ryan said her name, it
resonated with Tanner.

Jules.

He kept playing guitar but he was
doing so in auto mode as he watched Jules walk to her microphone. They were set
up in the corner, next to Blake.

“
Now,
let
’
s properly bring them
into this,
”
Ryan said.
“
They
’
re going to sing the chorus for us and get this
show started. Is everyone okay with that?
”

The crowd cheered again and again.

Ryan pointed at Tanner. Tanner
nodded and finished up the riff one more time and then switched to the pre
chorus. The band moved effortlessly. And now all the attention was on the three
women standing on stage with no practice with the band until now.

Tanner couldn
’
t keep his eyes off Jules.

When the band went into the chorus,
the three of them started to sing.

They were good. Really good
actually. Tanner had no idea what a Gone by Autumn song would sound like with
women adding their harmonies to it, but it sounded fuller, louder, and added an
interesting twist.

They sang the chorus twice and then
Ryan came in on the third time. That
’
s
when it all finally made sense. Right or wrong, petty grudges aside, this wasn
’
t the worse idea in the world.
The song sounded great, and the eye candy was even better.

Ryan waved his hands again and the
song stopped. Tanner gave a thumbs up to Jules. The other women waved to Tanner,
but he shook his head and pointed right to Jules. She pointed to herself and
Tanner nodded.

The look on her pretty face was
priceless.

Tanner then turned and faced the
crowd. The fans. He was about to put on a show for everyone in attendance -
including the woman behind him that he could feel was staring him down.

“
Now
let
’
s play something for
real here,
”
Ryan said.
“
Blake
…
give me something good.
”

Blake hit his sticks together four
times and that was the official start of the Gone by Autumn show. The band
rocked from one song to another, the backup singers knowing just when to come
in and when to stay silent. The three of them together had the ability to carry
notes longer than Ryan could ever imagine doing. And what it did was allow Ryan
to sing over their long notes. It was even more effective on the slower songs.
The band switched to acoustic guitars and Ryan brought the Marilyn, Dani, and
Jules up to the front of the stage. Tanner was standing elbow to elbow with
Jules. She still looked nervous as hell, staring out to the crowd wide eyed.

“
This
crowd is nothing, darling,
”
Tanner said into her ear.
“
Wait
until the big shows.
”

Ryan started to sing the next song.
Tanner held his hand over the neck of the guitar, blocking the strings. It gave
a
chunking
kind of sound but worked to create a rhythm for the song. As
Ryan sang the first verse of a new song, he looked to his left and right,
nodding, preparing everyone to come in on the chorus.

A few seconds later Tanner was not
just standing next to Jules, but he was singing with her. And being this close,
he could actually hear her voice this time.

It
’
s goddamn beautiful. She shouldn
’
t be a backup singer. She
should be
doing her own show.

They sang the first chorus and when
it came time for the second verse, the instruments were played. When the drums
and bass hit, the crowd went wild yet again. Ryan sang his heart out on the
verse and when the chorus came, he pointed to the women and then held the mic
to the crowd. This time it was the backup singers and the crowd singing
together. They carried the chorus so easily.

Then it was time to solo.

Tanner put his right leg up on a
monitor and balanced his acoustic guitar straight up and down. He playing the
solo as though it were the last time he
’
d
ever touch a guitar. He was just suddenly overwhelmed by the music and the show
and he played his heart out.

When he was done with his solo, he
jumped back and kept playing the song.

They song finished and the backup
singers went to their original place on the stage. Gone by Autumn played three
more songs, ending with their most popular song. They ran through the final
chorus at least ten times, making damn sure that everyone in The Jack was
jumping and singing.

The show came to a end and Ryan
left it hanging with,
“
Now
go order a damn beer and keep the night alive!
”

The crowd cheered the band as they
threw their picks and sticks into the crowd and then left the stage. There was,
however, one guitar pick that Tanner wasn
’
t
just going to toss away. He tucked it into his pocket for a good reason.

Backstage, the band got together to
celebrate with a cold beer. They gave each other a cheers and drank. Sam was
there a second later to discuss business, and Maya pushed her way in to give
her opinion about the backup singers.

“
Thoughts?
”
Ryan asked.

Tanner looked over his shoulder and
saw Jules looking lost and confused.

“
Should
we do this in front of them?
”
Tanner asked.

“
Good
point,
”
Asher said.
“
Send them to my room. All three.
”

“
Ew,
”
Maya said.
“
You
’
re a pig.
”

“
Want
to make it four?
”
Asher
teased.

“
Hey,
”
Blake said.
“
Knock it off, man.
”

“
I
’
ll take care of it,
”
Sam said.

He said something to the three
backup singers and they all went back out front. Tanner made fists, hating to
see Jules slip away like that. He wanted to say something, do something, but he
didn
’
t. This was about the
band and the music right now. The last thing Tanner needed to do was get
involved like Ryan had with Raine.

A relationship? Seriously? I
’
m a
fucking
rockstar. There
are
no relationships. Just
good nights,
every night, when he wants it.
.

“
What
did you say?
”
Tanner asked
as Sam rejoined the guys.

“
Told
them to have a drink on us,
”
Sam said.

“
What
about the show?
”
Ryan
asked.
“
Thoughts?
”

“
I
thought it was cool,
”
Maya
said.
“
Honestly. They were
really good. Their voices are strong. They weren
’
t
pushy either, you know? Not like they were trying to outdo each other.
”

“
I
’
m good with it,
”
Gabe said.
“
The harmonies work. It
’
s a good idea.
”

“
Tanner?
”
Ryan asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Tanner said.
“
It does work. I wouldn
’
t use them on every song all the
time, but the slower stuff sounded more powerful with the extra voices.
”

“
What
about the studio?
”
Asher
asked.
“
Should we record an
acoustic song like that using the singers?"

“
That
’
s a commitment,
”
Sam said.
“
But we could arrange something.
Bottom line, this worked tonight. So let
’
s
get some dates secured and bring them along.
”

“
On
the road?
”
Tanner asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Sam said.
“
I
’
ll
deal with the contracts and legal stuff. You five just
…
just keep your cool.
”

“
Meaning
what?
”
Asher asked.

“
You
know exactly what I mean,
”
Sam said.

“
No
sleeping with them,
”
Maya
said.

Gabe put an arm around Asher and
pulled him close.
“
Don
’
t screw the backup singers.
”

“
Sounds
like his life story,
”
Ryan
said.
“
A life of
temptation.
”

“
A
life lived awesomely,
”
Asher said.

“
Just
don
’
t mess around with
them,
”
Sam warned.
“
There
’
s plenty of women out there.
”

“
But
backup singers...
”
Asher
said.

“
He
’
s got a point,
”
Ryan said.