Nine Lives

Being accepted into Rise Records yesterday was the biggest thing I could accomplish. Now today was the day to start getting band members into the band. I had to pick them carefully and hope they accept my offer. I got up from bed and kissed my wife's cheek, leaving her a note. She looked so beautiful this morning. I smiled, getting ready to start a new day.
When I drove out, I checked out local gigs and stopped by one. I got out of the car and opened the door to find myself in a morning gig. It was a coffee shop and a mini cafe in one and it hosted wandering guitarists. I saw a mix of young and old people and saw the guitarist walking up. I sat down, ordering a cup of coffee and watched a young boy playing, about nineteen in age.
"Welcoming, Alan Ashby." the announcer proclaimed into the sound system. Everyone clapped and I clapped as well.
He was a ginger with vicious red locks that caught my attention. To be this young, he had guts and he looked as if this was his second round of playing. He was short in height and his face glowed when the lights hit him along with his red locks shining. "So um, this first song is Slipknot's Dead Memories". Everyone clapped, I was impressed, he liked Slipknot. I saw his hands playing with the guitar and he was playing every note right. I was amazed by this kid.
After he was done, everyone clapped and whistled. "So this next one is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb". He smiled, beginning to play. A Floyd fan? Classic boy.
He mixed the songs, lying to the crowd. He played a mix of their greatest hits and added his own style. His skills were good and they were amazing as he played Linkin Park and other such artists. "Thank you for having me." The ginger boy smiled, walking down, grabbing his pay and packing up.
I stood up quickly, following him out the door. "Hey you!" I yelled out, grabbing his attention.
"May I help you?" He looked up at me, as if I were a giant... wait a second.
"I saw you playing and you're really great dude." I complimented
"Thanks man, want an autograph then?" He smirked.
"Sure, but what I'm really asking is, I just got signed into a record deal and I'm looking for new band members. You seem like you've got style dude!" I smiled.
Alan's head shot up as he was signing a napkin for me, "Are you serious?" His face brighten up.
"Yeah man, I love the way you play, you got style and you got what it takes!" I took his autographed napkin. "I'm Austin Robert Carlile... But you can just call me Austin." I snorted.
"Well I'm Alan Anthony Ashby... But you can just call me Alan." Alan mimicked me.
"Triple A dude." I complimented, "I like that." I knew we were going to be great friends from the start.
"So, where you live dude?" Alan asked.
"Actually I live nearly 10 minutes from here, if you wanna come back to my place we can definitely work on building this band!" I said excited.
"Sweet, I actually parked over there." Alan pointed.
"The tan one? I'm the black one next to it." I found it ironic he was parked next to me.
"Sweet, I'll follow you." We both seperated and drove out in separate cars, Alan was following me and we ended up by my place in a matter of minutes.
"Austinnnnnn!" I heard my wife call my name. I saw her opening the door. "Who's that behind you?!"
"Alan Ashby, he's going to be my new guitarist!" I smiled promtly and happy that I finally found one our of four people to be guitarist.
"That's great honey." My wife smiled. "So you guys are going to talk about the band stuff?"
"Certainly and of course." I got out of the car and Alan met us after he got his gear out. He looked excited like a little boy at a candy shop.
"Alan meet my wife, Gielle, Gielle Alan, Alan Gielle." I smiled.
"Nice to meet you." Alan shook hands with my wife gently.
"Like wise." She smiled.
"So come in, I was just making food for Austin after his day." Gielle welcomed Alan in and I followed.
We all entered my house and Alan and I settled in the living room. Gielle walked into her space of the house, the kitchen where she was still cooking up some lunch and extra for Alan.
"So tell me about yourself, Alan." I started the conversation.
"Well I'm nineteen, almost twenty this Spring. I play classic rock and some basic metal. I like cats and guitars and that's pretty much it." He explained.
"How long have you been playing guitar?" I asked.
"Shit, like since I was a kid maybe when I was like I would say ten years old, most likely nine." He grubbed his head, playing with his locks of hair.
"That's great man, so here's the thing, I have a deadline till the end of the year but the end of January of 2010 is the latest." I explained, "We need another guiarist, a bassist and a hell of a drummer." I looked at the list and the gear and producers we possibly need in the future.
"Well we can look at local gigs again this week. Actually, I've played with a great guitarist and he also knows how to play bass." Alan shot an idea to me.
"Do you have his name?" I asked.
"Shayley Bourget." Alan took out his phone, calling him.
I was getting excited. This could possibly happen, this band.
"Hey Shay, it's Alan... I'm doing good! Well I'm asking from another friend I just made, he's just started a band with me and before we met he got a deal with Rise Records... Yes I'm with him right now... Ummm hang on." Alan paused, "What's your address?" He asked and I gave it to him. "Shay? Yeah I got it... 1467 Fairdrive Hollywood, CA.... 20 minutes? Alright, we'll see you then." Alan hung up.
"Shayley is his name?" I asked.
"Yep, he's a great guitar player. Plays bass too." Alan explained.
Shayley Bourget...