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“THANK YOU FOR YOUR time. We’ll let you know,” Haley said. The scruffy singer nodded, shook out his lean arms and legs and left without a word. His look was all wrong for a country band, with his classic rock tattoos covering his arms and neck, and his long hair and patchy beard. But his voice was the worst of the problems. She could imagine it singing Aerosmith or Led Zeppelin, but not modern country.
They sat on tall barstools in a row in Robbie’s parents’ garage; Haley, Blake, Jake and Robbie. The judging panel. Haley had advertised the auditions and scheduled them all over a few days’ time. Today was the third day and their options were getting scarcer. How hard could it be to find a male singer in the Myrtle Beach area who had a strong, clear voice, a clean-cut look and charisma enough to front a band? There must be hundreds of them.
As they were finding out, it was hard. Way too hard.
Robbie let out a deep sigh after the singer had exited the garage and threw the scoresheet Haley had created up in the air. She watched as it drifted to the floor.
“Do you even want to share scores on this one?” she ventured.
“No.”
“Nope.”
Blake shook his head.
Haley slouched on her seat.
“How many are left?”
She glanced at the schedule. “Two more.” They groaned. “But don’t worry. We can find more. In fact, we could go to some local colleges and post the audition notice in their music departments. We haven’t tried that yet.”
“We’re running out of time, Haley.” Jake’s bleak statement put all their fears into words. Blake’s rehearsals with Frontier Fire were about wrapped up. He was leaving in less than a week. If they didn’t find a new singer soon, they’d surely have to cancel some of their performances. And none of them wanted to do that. In addition to the lost revenue, it would most likely result in lost opportunity. Backing out at the last minute on a bar that schedules their entertainment months in advance would leave them with a black eye, at least with that particular venue.
“Well, maybe there will be a gem in the next two,” Haley said with as much cheerfulness she could force. As if on cue, the three musicians glanced over at her with doubtful expressions but held back their comments.
About twenty minutes later, another singer arrived. At the sight of his cowboy boots, jeans and tight t-shirt, Haley was heartened. But the cowboy hat gave her true hope. As did the guitar case he held in his right hand. At least this guy was country. Now, could he sing?
“Howdy,” he said as he strode into the garage. “This the right place for the audition?”
Haley slid to her feet and held out her hand to greet him. “Yes, it sure is. This is where Ace in the Hole does their rehearsing.”
The singer looked around, eyebrows up, nodding. “Very nice.”
“I’m Haley, the band manager.” She made quick introductions of the band members. “We’re looking for a temporary lead singer to replace Blake.” She turned and pointed to him. “Blake’s coming back, but he’s got an exciting gig as lead singer for Frontier Fire for their summer tour.”
“Really? Way to go, man.” The singer pounded Blake on the shoulder. “I read about Josh Lakely getting injured. Pretty cool that a local talent gets to replace him. That’s big time. I’m Sam Newton, by the way.”
The guys murmured their greetings to Sam.
“So how long is this gig for?”
“Roughly five months. The band is Ace in the Hole, which is a modern country cover band. We have scheduled gigs, about three to four every week.”
“Sweet.”
“So, tell us about your experience singing country music, Sam,” Haley said, emphasizing the word country.
“Sure. I started playing guitar in the sixth grade. As I was learning that, I realized I could sing. Surprise! By the time I was in high school I was doing some acoustic solo gigs at church, at parties, open mic nights.”
Haley took notes on her scoresheet.
“I got my big break when I auditioned for a talent show in Nashville. Not a huge one, but big enough that they flew me there, all expenses paid for a month. It was sort of like American Idol, but it was local TV, not national. But for country artists, you can’t do any better than Nashville. Anyway, I won the competition.”
“Wow!” Haley exclaimed.
“That was about five years ago. It’s opened up some opportunities for me. I even got a record deal. But nothing is a silver bullet. Right now, I’m married with a toddler and my wife got transferred to Charleston with her job. Since she pays most of the bills and provides our healthcare, I came too.” He laughed. “This gig would be great timing for me because I have some solo bookings in Charleston starting in November.”
Haley beamed at Blake. Now they were talking. This guy was a big step up from all the other singers they’d auditioned. He was a professional. He’d be good for the band. Of course, she was getting ahead of herself. They hadn’t even heard him sing. But she had a good feeling about him.
“Well, we’re glad you’re here and we can’t wait to hear you sing. Any time you’re ready.”
Sam pulled his guitar out, tuned it quickly and strummed a few chords. Then he launched into a popular Radley Ray song. Shivers went down Haley’s arms at the sound of his voice. It had depth, it had personality and it had perfect pitch. Not to mention, with the guitar in his hands and his mouth held close to the mic, Sam was in his element. He embodied the part of a country singer.
Blake leaned close to her ear and murmured, “I’m glad the Frontier Fire guys didn’t audition him. He’d have gotten it ahead of me.”
Haley smiled and smacked his arm.
Sam modulated straight into a Jason Dean tune and they heard a new side of him, a slow ballad crooning about broken hearts and dreams. Sam nailed it.
They’d found their temporary singer. Now, Haley just needed to secure him.
When Sam finished the song, Haley turned her head to look at each of the band members, eyebrows up in question. “Would you like to hear anything else?”
“I’m good.”
“Me, too.”
“Sam, we like you. We need to make a decision pretty quickly here. If we come to an agreement on terms, would you be able to start next week?”
“Yep.” He dug into his jeans pocket and handed her a business card. “This is my agent. He’ll handle all the communications about the terms. I stay out of that.” He gave her a ‘good ole boy’ smile.
“I’ll call him right away,” said Haley as she took the card. “Thank you for coming, and I think we’re all hoping we can work this out. I don’t mind telling you, you’re our top candidate.”
Sam tipped his hat brim. “Glad to hear it. Nice to meet y’all.” He offered handshakes to the line. “And congratulations to you, man.” He nodded at Blake. “Good night and hope to hear from you soon.”
They all watched him stride out into the night.
TWO NIGHTS LATER, BLAKE got a call from Haley, requesting that he gather the band and meet her at the practice garage. She didn’t sound happy. His stomach clenched.
Forty minutes later, the four of them met. They moved their barstools in a circle and sat facing each other.
Haley began, “I’ve reached out to Sam’s agent and I’ve been talking with him for two days.” She paused and sighed. “It’s not great news.”
The guys looked at each other and back at her. “He’s not available?”
“No, he’s available. But he’s expensive.”
“Tell us,” Blake said, and took her hand. He appreciated her work in trying to get a replacement for him. He wanted her to know he supported her efforts, no matter what.
“When I first quoted a payment per gig to his agent, he laughed at me.” She lifted her shoulders and let them fall. “Like, literally laughed. Then he gave me a number, except that number was double what I’d offered. We negotiated, and we finally got to somewhere in the middle.” She sniffed and looked at all of them, one by one. “Not equally in the middle. Closer to where he started than where I started.”
“But still lower than his original price,” Robbie clarified.
Haley nodded. “I guess price negotiation is not one of my talents. I’m sorry, guys.”
Blake rubbed her hand in both of his. “Don’t be ridiculous. We know you did your best and we know it’s 100% better than any of us could’ve done. Right, guys?”
They all murmured their agreement.
“So where did we end up?”
Haley shook her head. “We can’t afford him.”
Jake asked, “Even with the new rates we’re getting?”
She shrugged. “The new rates are getting us closer. But my plan was to pay you and Robbie more than him, since he’s new. And a stand-in for Blake.”
Robbie said, “That’s nice of you, but not necessary. We’re already getting a raise due to the new venues on our schedule and more gigs. What if we split the pay equally among the musicians?”
Haley stared at him a moment, then slid to her feet, got her folder out of her bag and studied it. She pulled up her phone calculator and tapped into it. Then she shook her head. “No. I mean, by the time we pay for band expenses – gas, rooms on occasion – then I’ve still written in payment for me and Blake ...”
“Take me out of it,” Blake said. “I’ll be getting money from Frontier Fire. I don’t need Ace in the Hole’s money.”
She looked at him, then looked back at the calculations and tapped a little bit more. “Me neither. Since I’ll be accompanying you on tour, Blake, I’m on Frontier Fire’s payroll, too.” She used her pen to circle a number. She looked up. “Closer. But not quite there.”
Robbie swore and came to his feet. He walked around the garage. “He’d do a great job. And he was by far the best one we auditioned. No one else came close.”
Jake added, “And we have a gig in nine days. And he’s available.”
Blake said, “I’d hate money to be the stopping point if we’re close.” He glanced at her scribblings. “How close are we?”
Haley ran a palm over her forehead.
Blake had an idea. “Hey, I’ll contribute part of my summer earnings back to Ace in the Hole.”
Haley stared at him, motionless. “Seriously?”
“Of course. I’m still a band member and I want Ace in the Hole to succeed while I’m gone. I’m willing to pay to make that happen.” He smiled and patted her on the back. “Work it up.”
Haley went back to her figures and worked another half hour. At the end, everyone gave up a little. Blake and Haley gave up their portion of the band’s profits. Blake donated a chunk of his Frontier Fire earnings. And Jake and Robbie agreed to earn less than one third of the band’s earnings. Making Sam the highest paid member of Ace in the Hole, at least for the next five months.
It was a lesson in compromise and sacrifice, but they got to where Sam’s agent wanted them to be.
When she realized she could make it work, Haley’s eyes went wide. “You guys are amazing. I can’t believe you’re willing to pay Sam more than you’re going to make.”
“Hey Haley,” Jake said, “we’re used to being broke. It’s only because of you that we’re where we are today.”
Blake added, “Who knows? Maybe with Sam in the lead, and me coming back with my Frontier Fire experience, Ace in the Hole will shoot to the big time later this year. Then, the sacrifice will be worth it.”
Haley wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, while his bandmates whooped and hollered. “I’ll call him and offer him the deal,” Haley said with a beautiful smile, and marched out of the garage.
They watched her leave. “I have a good feeling about this,” said Robbie. Blake nodded. He had a good feeling about all of it, and not just the band.