He continued, smiling. “My job is pretty easy, I’ll watch from the wings and let her take the spotlight. We’ll learn the other songs when we’re back in L.A. We’ll have a few days to rehearse plus the soundcheck before the show. Ok, so I’ll start pushing her single in my radio interviews and in Tuesday night’s show. Good? Can Diamond get us the singles for merch by then?”
Spencer grinned. He had forgotten how brilliant and hands on Sully could be when it came to the success of the band and now the success of Kit’s new single.
He quickly recalled it was one of the things he had always admired about him. “Sull, don’t worry about that. Like I said, let G take care of it. She’s your lead. She’s got this. If you want updates, work with her on that. I’m jumping on a conference call with her and Pete in five minutes.”
He nodded. “Ok, gotcha. Thanks, Spence.”
Spencer twirled a pen in his hand, as a thought came across his mind. A thought he wasn’t particularly fond of. “Hey Sully, be straight with me. Are you doing this to try to win back my sister?”
Sully sighed. It was a fair question. He felt saddened that Spencer was asking it, yet he understood why. His behavior was causing everyone to question his motives and he didn’t blame them.
He shook his head. “No, Spence. As much as I want Kit back, that’s not my motive here. I told you my motive earlier in this conversation. She’s given us our career. Now it’s time for us to give back to her. I’m not doing this to get an angle with her. I don’t even know what will happen the nights she’s here to perform her single. She’s not speaking to me right now and she may not be speaking to me in soundcheck or those nights. That’s her prerogative. I assure you, Spence, my motives are for her success here. I haven’t talked to the band about this yet, but I can bet money this is something we’ll all agree on for a change. She’s done more for us on a professional level than we could ever ask for.”
Spencer rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t deny that this was the version of his brother-in-law that he always liked. The problem was, he couldn’t let go of the past and what had been happening over the last year. As much as he wanted to get back into the brother from another mother space that they were once in, too much had happened for him to let his guard down just yet.
He wanted so badly for Sully to step up, clean up his act and be consistent. He sighed softly and realized that maybe more time was needed for the personal side of their relationship to be mended. He was open to it, yet didn’t want to let Sully know just yet. He wanted to remain an objective observer and see what unfolded.
Realizing he had left Sully hanging on the line, he jumped back into the conversation. “Ok. Good. Thanks for thinking of this, Sully. I gotta run, I have another call.”
He didn’t want to end the call, but knew Spencer was due on the conference call that would put the entire plan into motion. “Yeah, you’re welcome. It was great talking to you, Spence.”
“You too, Sully. Bye.”
The call ended and Sully held the receiver in his hand, letting out a long sigh as he replaced it into the cradle. He wanted to continue the conversation with Spencer, hoping to mend fences, but the opportunity wasn’t there. He hoped that maybe now a door had been opened to restore his friendship with Spencer. He wasn’t holding his breath though.
He picked up the phone again and dialed Sean. He answered immediately. “Hey Sean, can you get all the guys into your room for a meeting? It’s important.”
CHAPTER 17
A-Dub sat in the control room, his attention fixed on Kit as she sang her heart out. The two backup singers filled in and he winced. Bryan was sitting on the sofa and grimaced. He didn’t want to interfere with A-Dub’s process knowing he was one of the most respected pop producers in the industry, but he couldn’t remain silent.
Bryan got up to approach A-Dub, when he stopped the track and spoke into the microphone. “Kit, take five. Barbara and Ivy, hang back. Let’s try the chorus again.”
As Barbara and Ivy gave it another attempt, Kit passed through the control room unfazed and headed out to use the ladies’ room. She didn’t want anything to interrupt her zone.
Barbara and Ivy kept going and once again, at a specific point in the song, the vocal blend sounded off. A-Dub shook his head and muttered “fuck” under his breath. He then asked them to go again, separately. As he listened intently, he learned the weak link was Barbara. He asked her to try again in a different key.
Bryan leaned forward, hovering over the boards as he interjected. “She’s flat. Like really flat and changing the key isn’t helping. You gotta cut her, she’ll fuck up the mix.”
A-Dub looked over and met Bryan’s eyes. “I know, man. I know. I need two girls backing Kit on this song and for a handful of songs on the album. We don’t have time to audition another backup vocalist. Not on this timeline. My go to gal is doing another project right now. Ivy, I’ve worked with before. She’s great. She’s reliable and she can carry it if I need to double-track her—I just wanted another voice in there to get a specific blend.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Bryan nodded, understanding perfectly. “I know someone. Want me to call her?”
A-Dub’s eyes lit up. “Is
