Chapter 4: Making the Band Part 2

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.

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.”

“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.