“Do you have anything written for the new record?”
“One and a few bits and pieces. Want to hear it?”
Lucy nodded, always keen to hear her brother play.
“Not sure I know all the lyrics yet but I’ll do my best,” said Jake, settling his beloved acoustic guitar on his knee. “I found the lyrics on Rich’s computer.”
Before Lucy could reply, he began to pick the intro to the song then, as he saw her toe begin to tap, he sang the first verse, keeping his voice in a more countrified tone than normal. He sang the chorus then played through the piece he had been working up into the solo.
“That’s beautiful,” sighed Lucy when he was finished. “Fragile but so full of love.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Does it have a title?”
“A working one for now,” he said. “Shattered Hearts.”
“You should finish it in time for the memorial show,” suggested Lucy impulsively. “The fans would love to hear something new. Something so personal.”
“Maybe,” nodded Jake. “Need to finish it first.”
When Jake walked into the music room first thing on Monday morning, he was pleasantly surprised to find all of his students already working in their pairs.
“Do I have five songs ready to be recorded?” he enquired as he laid his book bag on the desk and set his guitar case down on the floor.
“Yes, sir,” said Dorrian proudly. “We met up at Landon’s on Saturday and Sunday to finish them.”
“Impressive,” nodded Jake, inwardly feeling really proud that the students were so enthusiastic about their songs. “OK, let me hear them. Landon and Cole, you can go first.”
As the first duo prepared to play, Jake spotted Nicole out in the hallway and signalled to her to join them. Carrying her coffee, she slipped into the room and sat on a table at the side to listen. Without any hint of nerves, each of the pairings performed their song in front of the two teachers. Riley and Dorrian were the last duo to perform and Jake smiled as he saw Nicole screw up her face at their heavy metal riff. Since he’d last heard the song, they had worked hard and Riley’s vocals just oozed evil as she sang the closing verse.
“Awesome!” declared Jake as they took a bow. “Don’t think Miss Tonriverdi is a metal fan though.”
The class giggled.
“Not my genre of choice,” conceded the head of the music department. “But you guys were all fantastic. Great work, kids, Really impressive.”
“Very impressive,” echoed Jake. “Now, I said I was going to set you a challenge. You have one hour from now to learn,” he paused, gazing round at each of them. “Depths.”
“That’s a killer,” exclaimed Dorrian.
“No, it’s a challenge,” countered Jake. “I’ll leave the CD with you to help those of you who don’t know it.”
“Mr Power,” began Nicole with a glint of mischief in her green eyes. “I think you should play it for these talented young people.”
“Me?” replied Jake, trying not to smile. “Challenge accepted.”
Much to the class’ surprise, he picked up an acoustic guitar, tweaked the tuning then expertly played a slowed down, haunting acoustic version of the hard and heavy Silver Lake classic. From her position at the side of the room, Nicole Tonriverdi too struggled to hide her surprise at the performance.
“Wow!” she gasped as Jake finished the song. “That was incredible.”
“Thank you,” he said, taking a long mouthful of water from the bottle he’d brought into class. “Kids, remember a song isn’t always what it first seems. A well-written song can be flexible. It can be heavy as….” he stopped himself then continued, “Or more mellow.”
Screwing the lid back on the water bottle, Jake said, “You have one hour. Work together. Interpret the music. Work out the song. We’ll be back to listen to your versions before we break for lunch. Have fun with it.”
Chivalrously, he allowed Nicole to leave the room ahead of him then they both headed down the hallway to the teaching base. A thought had struck Jake as Riley had sung their song and, while Nicole made some coffee, he excused himself saying he had a call to make. Praying that they were still in the States and on the east coast, Jake called Ellen Lloyd from After Life. If anyone could offer appropriate vocal coaching to Riley, it was Ellen. After exchanging initial pleasantries, he cut to the chase.
“Are you guys in the area this week? I was hoping to get some help out at JJL.”
“We’re not too far away on Thursday,” replied Ellen, trying to visualise the band’s schedule. “We play Wilmington on Thursday night then Raleigh on Friday.”
“Where are you on Wednesday?”
“Travelling,” she replied. “I was going straight to Wilmington with the boys but I could detour with Scott and have a night in Rehoboth. As long as I’m in Wilmington for soundcheck, we can be flexible.”
“So, you could perhaps spare me a couple of hours on Thursday morning?”
“That should be ok. I’ll need to clear it with Rocky first.”
“Perfect,” said Jake, relieved that she was able to help. “If you’re down here early enough on Wednesday, I’ll buy you dinner. Otherwise, I’ll see you out at JJL about nine-thirty on Thursday morning.” He paused then added, “Bring Scott and his cameras. I have a mission for him too.”
“Sounds intriguing. See you then.”
Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, Jake returned to the teacher’s base.
“Sorry about that,” he apologised as he entered the room. “Was sorting out some vocal coaching for Riley for Thursday. Called in a favour.”
“Are your cell contacts a who’s who of the music industry?” teased Nicole, passing him a mug of coffee.
“Kind of,” acknowledged Jake a little awkwardly. “My family are in there too. My
