Meant to Marry Me
Making the Band

Zelda wrapped her arms around Trent the moment she saw him, leaving Bree laughing. "There he is! The man who inspired the song that has inspired so many love birds! It's lovely to meet you in person!"

"Thank you," Trent said, his face a little pink from the attention. "It's nice to meet you, too. I've heard so many nice things about you."

Zelda looked at Bree and smiled. "That's good to hear. Bree is one of my favorites." She wrapped her arm around Bree and pulled her close.

As soon as Zelda let her go, the manager was back to business. "Come with me," she said, waving her arm and leading Bree and Trent back toward one of the studio rooms. "I've got some folks assembled I'd like for you to meet. We have auditions scheduled for the next few hours. We'll have the prospective candidates come in, play for a few minutes in the studio so we can talk without them hearing, and then we'll arrange call backs for anyone we'd like to hear play together. While it's important that the individual musicians sound good, we need them to sound cohesive as well, as I'm sure you know."

"That sounds perfect," Bree noted. "When are call-backs?"

"Next Monday," Zelda said. She pulled open the studio door and gestured for them to go through ahead of her.

Two men and a woman Bree had never met before sat behind the panel in the small recording space. They all stood as they came in, and Zelda stepped up to introduce them. "Bree, Trent, this is Alvin Cook, one of the chief music engineers here at Sonic Music. This is Sally Henderson, executive in charge of new musicians, and Jordan Right, chief sound engineer."

Bree and Trent shook all of their hands, and they all exchanged pleasantries. She was glad Zelda had introduced him because she wasn't sure if she should use the term boyfriend or not, but Zelda just said he was the inspiration for Bree's most famous song, "Meant to Marry Me."

Once they were all settled into chairs facing the currently empty recording stage, Jordan said, "I really love the soulfulness of your music. It definitely comes across in your recordings, and it's even better live."

Bree could feel her face pinking at the compliment. "Thank you," she said, smiling. "I really appreciate that." She was shocked someone of his caliber had gone to hear her live.

"What are you working on now?" Sally asked.

"I have several songs that I'm ready to record. Of course, with a band, we might make some changes, but I've got six I'm completely happy with." "Excellent," the executive said. "Any hits?"

"All of them--I hope," Bree said, which got a laugh out of everyone.

"This first guitarist has worked with several other recording artists on albums but hasn't been in a band for a few years. I think you'll like him."

"Great," Bree said, picking up the clipboard they'd set in front of her. It had information about each of the musicians they'd hear. They'd certainly worked a lot into the schedule. In the two hours they had available, they had forty musicians to listen to.

The door to the studio opened, and a man who appeared to be in his late twenties, possibly his early thirties, walked in. He gave a wave and then stepped over to one of the microphones. "Hi. Kell Spinks." He was carrying a guitar case and quickly got out a Fender Telecaster, running a few scales before he plugged it into an amp and stepped up to the mic again. "Ready?"

"We're ready when you are," Alvin said into the microphone in front of him.

Kell looked pretty calm as he began to play. The song was "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix, one of the most difficult songs to play on guitar, but he not only played it well, it sounded great with just the solo guitar. When he was done, Alvin turned the mic back on. "Thank you, Kell. Can you play a bit of one of Bree's songs?"

"Sure," he said, shaking his blond hair out of his eyes as he began to play one of Bree's more complex songs, called "Night Life." He played several measures before Alvin stopped him.

"Thanks a lot, Kell. We'll be in touch."

Kell gave a wave and unlooped the guitar strap from his shoulders. He carefully put his Telecaster back into its case and then waved again on his way out.

Everyone took notes on their clipboard, except for Trent, and Bree couldn't help but smile at him. She knew he didn't think his opinion counted, but it did to her. She liked Kell a lot. He seemed a bit shy, but definitely laidback, which was important to her. She didn't want anyone who was going to be anxious or start drama.

The next musician walked in a few minutes later. Bree assumed there was a secretary or someone walking them back, but she didn't know for sure. This was a drummer, a tall man without much hair on top but plenty down his back. He was great, and Bree really enjoyed listening to him. She wrote only positive notes next to his name, though she hoped it wouldn't be a problem that he was so much older than her.

For the next two hours, there was a parade of musicians coming through the door, one right after the next. Most of them were great. A few were so nervous, they didn't perform as well as they might have otherwise. Bree liked all of them, but a few stood out to her. They were down to the last person, and she thought she had a pretty good idea who she would recommend to come back to play together, though she wouldn't have minded listening to all of them play again. "This is our last guy," Sally said, looking at the paper. "Zach Scott."

"Cool," Bree said, not sure what else to say.

A few seconds later, the door opened and a man carrying a Les Paul case came in. Bree's eyes bulged, but she tried to hide it. If she hadn't been sitting next to Trent, she probably would've let her mouth fall open, too.

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He was hot--that was the only word she could think of to describe him. Tall, muscle bound, with tattoos. His dark hair hung over one eye, and when he brushed it away, she noticed his eyes were a shade of gray she'd never seen on a person before.

He didn't say anything at all, only took his guitar out of the case, set it aside, put the strap over his head in one fluid motion, and then began to play.

Bree recognized the song immediately. It was "Eruption" by Van Halen, arguably the most difficult song to play on guitar, and Zach was killing it. The entire room was silent as the captive audience listened to him play. When he was done, Zach just looked at all of them again without saying anything.

"Thank you," Alvin finally said. "That was... very good."

Zach nodded. Bree wondered if he was unable to speak. He waited expectantly, as if he was assuming Alvin would tell him to play something else, but now Alvin seemed incapable of speech.

Sally reached over and took the mic. "We'll be in touch, Zach."

He lifted a hand and then put his guitar back into its case and was gone, like a puff of smoke.

"Interesting," Zelda said, rubbing her chin and then making some notes.

Bree was doing her best to look as if she hadn't noticed how good looking the man was. Trent had a slight smirk on his face, which Bree appreciated. At least he wasn't jealous or hadn't assumed Bree was all hot and bothered. "Okay--let's see if we can narrow the field down to about three or four guitar players, a couple of drummers, a couple of bass players, a rhythm guitar player or two, and a keyboardist, shall we?" Alvin said.

The rest of them agreed and started discussing the different musicians they'd seen. Some of them were very easy to eliminate while others clearly needed to go on the list for callbacks. The hard part was narrowing down the group in the middle. There'd been a lot of musicians who had similar skills, and in a few moments worth of playing without any discussion whatsoever, it was difficult for Bree to narrow them down.

"I liked Cat. She seemed nice," Bree said, brushing her hair back over her shoulder.

Cat Hadley, one of the keyboardists, had dressed similarly to Bree, with cowboy boots and a denim skirt. She'd been impressive when she played both of the songs she'd prepared.

"She sings, too," Zelda added, looking at the notes they'd been given. "We'll need some people who can harmonize."

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"Very good. We'll call her back. I do like the idea of having a few females in the band," Alvin noted. "It seems like so many backing musicians are male. It'd be great to have some other women in Bree's band."

They discussed a few more potential callbacks before they got to the end of the list. "And then, there's Zach," Jordan said with a grin. "Now, that man could play."

"Why is he not already in a band?" Sally wanted to know.

"He was. He played for Grifter, but they just broke up. He doesn't sing, so it's been hard for him to get another gig." Alvin shrugged as if that explained everything.

"Why doesn't he sing? Does he not speak?" Sally asked, and Bree almost laughed because she'd wandered the exact same thing, but she figured the executive was serious so she bit it back.

"He does--but not much. Not until he gets to know you. He's a good kid. He's definitely talented." Alvin seemed to be a fan.

"I worry about him fitting in, though," Zelda said. "He doesn't scream quaint country band."

"And it would be nice if he could sing." Jordan looked thoughtful, his pen to his chin.

"Maybe I could teach him," Bree said with a shrug.

The others just looked at her for a moment before Sally said, "You might be able to teach him some, honey, but teaching him to sing harmony would be a challenge."

"True," Bree said. "But... anyone who can play like that won't be available for long. If we're going to get him for my band, we'll need to act fast."

"Are you saying you want him then?" Alvin asked, and Bree thought she heard Zelda giggle at his wording.

"I'm saying, I think he'd be a good asset to have in the band," Bree replied. "I definitely want to give him a callback."

"Okay then. We'll add him to the list." Alvin did just that, and Bree nodded before turning to Trent and giving him a pointed smile. Hopefully, he wasn't concerned about her wanting someone like Zach in her band. He had to know that was the only way she wanted him.

Trent smiled back at her, and Bree let out a slow breath, feeling relieved. She hoped having Zach in the band wouldn't prove to be a bad choice, but at the moment, she was excited about the prospect of having such a talented guitarist in her band--nothing more.