Making Hits for Your Heart

Following into the late afternoon, the guys had said their goodbyes to everyone at the studio and Brendan packed up their things and was headed to Chicago for their first show since going into the studio. Jamison had gotten shotgun as the rest of the guys had taken the backseat in the van and John behind the wheel as always.

“Alright, we have everything?” Jared asked, as he got into the back of the van.

“I think so…” Garrett said, crossing things off his mental checklist.

“You have control over the stereo.” John said with a smirk, as he pointed over to stereo.

“So much power… what to do with it?” Jamison said jokingly, as she plug her iPod into the stereo deck. “When it doubt… put it on shuffle.” She pressed shuffle and Weatherbox had surround the van’s speakers.

“Your iPod is off to a great start.” Pat said approvingly.

“Let’s hit the road… we got some shows to do.” John said, putting on his sunglasses.

After a few hours of songs ranging from Weatherbox to The Rolling Stones to Tupac, the car was filled with a comfortable silence mixed with the occasional random conversation. Suddenly an old favorite of the band had blasted through the stereos—“Clouds” by The Morning Light. One of their first tours ever as a band was with them and the nostalgia had started flooding through the van.

“This is my jam!” Jamison yelled at what seemed to be at her iPod in pure joy.

“Turn that shit up!” Garrett yelled causing Jamison to turn up the volume a bit more.

Everyone minus John began doing the claps to intro of the song and began singing along to the song at the top of their lungs. John watched from the rearview mirror to see his fellow band mates being their outrageous selves—singing along and pretending to play the respective instruments that were in the song. He chuckled to himself as he sang along to the words then looked over at Jamison who seemed to be in her own little world. Her expressive hands made gestures as she sang along to the song, squinty-eyed, a look that tried to portray a mocking intensity of emotion in the words of the song similar to the other night at the bar. The sight caused John to burst out into laughter while attempting to keep his hands on the steering wheel. After the song had ended the van had turned back into the quiet moving haven it was only a few minutes ago.

“You are ridiculous.” He said to her, chuckling and shaking his head at what he had just experienced.

“The great thing about karaoke and car sing-alongs is… it’s not about how well you sing—it’s all about the passion.” She explained, bobbing her head to the next song.

“You don’t lack in that department…” John smiled to himself as he took his eyes off the road for the moment and watched Jamison who was staring out the dashboard at the road.

John focused back on the road and began thinking about how long it had been since they had been in a van to get to a show—he had almost forgot the feeling of van life. There was a sense of youth and freedom to it all… he had missed that. Something about this mini tour had given him the feeling of reawakening and feeling like a new band all over again—he was so excited for the upcoming shows and to play for a crowd again after spending months making the record.

John began thinking about all the possibilities that were to come once the record was released and they would be able to tour on it. He thought of all the new and excited adventures, the new stories, the new friends, and the new set of reactions from the fans—old and new, he knew this would be the start of even greater things for him. The excitement was sinking in…

“Let’s go to Jimmy John’s!!!” Pat yelled staring at his phone, interrupting John from his thoughts, “There’s one at the next exit.”

“Let’s do it…” John said happily, following Pat’s order and taking the next exit.

Another few hours in the car and the sun had set hours before. The headlights had illumined the highway and suddenly the car was filled with the sounds of Copeland.

“Perfect timing… my iPod is on a roll today.” Jamison smiled, commenting on the range of music they had been listening to through out the drive.

“It is…” John agreed, “Copeland almost seems like night drive music for you and me.” He chuckled looking over at Jamison who was looking out the car through the windscreen.

“It does, doesn’t it?” She looked at John with a smile.

“I got to stop and get gas then we should be in Chicago in about an hour or two.” John said, waiting for the next rest stop with a gas station.

“I can’t believe you drove all the way—do you want me drive?” She offered.

John shook his head. “No, I actually like driving and being behind the wheel. I get uneasy if I’m not the one driving.” He sheepishly admitted, thinking about how he could never really sleep on the tour bus.

“Control Freak.” She jokingly teased.

“Did you just make a Copeland pun?” John chuckled, looking at her in a bit of astonishment at her choice of words.

“Unintentionally but yeah…” She laughed, as John shook his head completely speechless.

“Oh Jamie…” He laughed.

“I’m excited for this mini tour… watching you guys in your element outside the studio as a fan and now friend. It makes me excited…” She said, looking out onto the road.

“I’m excited too… oddly enough, not that nervous. I am usually terrified right after we make a new record.” He confessed, as he kept his eyes on the road.

“Well, you’re not touring on the new record yet.”

“True.” He nodded in agreement, “I’m always anxious… the mixing, the mastering, the album art… all of that is still up in the air.”

“You’ve got people you trust doing those things and it’ll turn out the way it’s suppose to… a great record.” She assured him causing John to break out into a smile at her constantly reassurance and positivity.

“Are you always this calm after a record is made?” He asked a bit teasingly with a smirk upon his face.

“I am always excited… I’m excited to go out and get the record.” She said sounding completely genuine with her statement.

“You’re weird…” John said, chuckling at his own words.

Jamison laughed at his words then shrugged. “I don’t know maybe it’s cause I didn’t make the record, I don’t feel nervous. I didn’t put myself out there…”

“You played keys on it…” He disputed.

“That’s different... backing vocals, additional stuff, producing… it’s all just adding on to the product of your work. It’s not mine… I think if I ever made my own record—I would probably be anxious like you, terrified, scared, happy, excited, and all those things.” She explained.

“It’s an indescribable feeling…”

“I would think so…”

“So you just get excited? No worries or things like that?” He asked, looking over at her as she still had her gaze upon the road.

“No, not really… I mean I know I did the best I could to help make the best record I could with you guys, the record you guys wanted… if you’re happy with it, whatever anyone else says—the critics or even the fans… doesn’t matter. As long as you guys are happy, that’s the only opinion that matters to me. After that, I am just a fan and friend supporting and wishing the best for you guys.”

“I’m glad we have you on our side…” He smiled as he looked over at her once more.

She broke her gaze on the road and looked at him, “I’ll always be around…” She said giving him a mock salute causing John to laugh.

John got to the gas station and quietly began filling the van with gas and cleaning the windows. As he got back in the car he realized everyone was passed out asleep bundled up in their hoodies and blankets then he looked over to his passenger side to see Jamison head leaned against the window with her hoodie on nestling herself a bit tighter. John quickly took off his leather jacket leaving him in just a sweater and placed it on Jamison before starting the van.

“Goodnight Jamie…” He said quietly as she stopped moving around and slept in peace from the new warmth of John’s jacket.

The next morning the guys and Jamison had checked out of their motel and headed over to the venue to meet up with Peter, Alex, and Gary for load-in and soundcheck. Jared, Kennedy, and John were outside the venue greeting their fellow crewmembers they hadn’t seen in months.

“Jamison! Come over here!” Kennedy yelled as he saw Jamison walking out of the venue over to them. She walked over and looked blankly at the new set of faces that were in front of her.

“This is Peter—our merch guy.” John introduced as he gestured over to Peter who waved, “Alex—from This Century, he’s going to be doing additional keys and other stuff for us.” He pointed over to Alex, and then saw Gary walking over. “And that is…”

“Gary!!!” Jamison yelled running up to Gary and hugging him.

“Jamison Song, it has been awhile.” Gary said embracing her as they walked back over to the group.

“You know Gary?” Kennedy asked, looking at the two who had just happily greeted one another.

“Who doesn’t know this legend? FOH-engineer extraordinaire.” Jamison gushed, “Gosh, you’re with these losers now? Did they steal you from Good Charlotte or was it Boys Like Girls?”

“I am a communal blessing to all, I go where the soundboard takes me…” Gary joked, as everyone began to laugh.

“We stole him from the GC guys, Boys Like Girls stole him from us, then The Rocket ding dongs stole him, then we stole him back….” Jared explained, fist pumping to himself at the last statement.

“So popular…” Jamison joked looking at Gary with a smirk, “I’m sorry, I am being rude. It is nice to meet the both of you. I only heard awesome things about you guys. And I am a fan of This Century...” She said, looking over at Alex and Peter as she put her hand out for them to shake.

“Nice to meet you too. We’ve been hearing horrible things about you.” Peter said sarcastically, as he took Jamison’s hand to shake.

“It’s all true.” She said with a straight face causing Peter to laugh as she began shaking Alex’s hand.

“Let’s load in and do sound check!” Pat yelled as he ran back into the venue.

Soundcheck had also become a mini rehearsal session going through bits and pieces of the setlist. Since it was December, it was the right thing to put their holiday song “Ho Ho Hopefully” into the setlist as they did every year.

“Gary, can you lessen the reverb to Kennedy’s mic?” John asked, through his microphone as they were getting ready to practice and play “Ho Ho Hopefully”.

“Yo Jam, you should jam with us…” Jared exclaimed, as he saw Jamison walk towards the doors about to leave the venue. “You know we’ve never had a girl do the harmonies for this song with us. I always wondered how it would sound live…” Jared said to John who gazed at him with an intrigued look.

“I do too.” John said, shaking his head then looking over at Jamison. “Kill our curiosity…” He motioned Jamison to come over to the stage as Kennedy brought over an extra microphone.

“Someone better buy me a sandwich later… I was going to go eat.” Jamison said half jokingly, as she fiddled with the microphone.

John chuckled. “Instead using your mouth for eating, lend us your mouth—“

“Trying so hard to refrain from the dirty jokes but…” She said with a smirk causing everyone to burst into laughter.

“Shut up.” He smiled, “Let’s do this…”

Jared began counting off and playing. John began singing the first verse occasionally looking over at Jamison who was mouthing along the words with him.

Ho ho hopefully this holiday will make us believe that
We're exactly where we're supposed to be
And we're ho ho hoping that
We all come back and as a matter of fact I know
We're exactly where we're supposed to be
Together by this Christmas tree

The three sang together in seamless harmony and throughout Kennedy’s verse Jamison joined in and adding an extra spin to the song. They had finished the song with no bumps and thoroughly impressed with how it sounded.

“Sounds good…” John said approvingly, looking over at Jared who had the same expression upon his face.

“It does…” Jared said, shaking his head as he took off his guitar.

“Why have we never had any of the girls we were on tour with join us to do this?” Kennedy asked to no one in particular as he took a sip of his water.

“It’s cause we’re stupid.” John said, with a laugh as Jamison put the microphone off the stand and jumped off the stage.

“If we are done here… I am going to go search for some food. Does anyone want anything?” She said, unphased by the conversation the guys were having.

John shook his head. “We’re good.”

“I’ll be back soon.” She said giving the three guys a mock salute before heading back to the door to leave the venue.

John watched Jamison walk out the venue and smiled to himself. He suddenly remembered the list he had made after Jamison’s birthday—her “to-do list” and an idea had struck into his brain.

John turned and looked to his fellow band mates. “I got an idea…”

Later that night Jamison stood side stage watching the set. Usually she would be at front of the house wand watch from there but Garrett had taped a square to the floor and dubbed it “Jamison’s” and told her she had to watch the set from there.

“So, we started this mini tour as a small thing to do on our journey home for the holidays.” John began, as the crowd began to cheer. “We brought along our friend and one of our producers for our new album that will be released sometime next year—so if you hate it, blame her. No don’t do that…” He joked, as he took a sip of his beer.

“Oh god…” Jamison said, with a chuckle as she shook her head watching John, Kennedy, and Jared pull out stools to break out into their Christmas tradition.

“But anyways one of the things I wanted to do in the spirit of the holiday season was to help her get over her fear of singing in public.”

Jamison began to panic. “Oh god…” She was hoping what she was thinking was just in her head.

“So I thought we could sing this next song together with Kennedy as it is a holiday tradition for us—and we practiced at sound check for fun and it sounded great so I thought we could do it once more for you guys.” John said to the crowd as they began cheering even louder.

“No no no…” She repeated to herself completely dumbfounded.

“Jamison Song, get your ass out here!” John yelled into his microphone as he looked over to the side of the stage, gesturing over to go on stage.

“NO.” She said, knowing John couldn’t hear her but probably could read her lips.

“Do I have to come get you?” He said into his microphone, causing everyone to yell in excitement.

“No.” She said, firmly pointing a finger at him. “No.” it seemed to be the only word she knew how to say at the moment. John just kept his eyes on her and giggled at her reaction

“She’s a bit shy… why don’t we give her a round of applause.” John said, into his microphone as he looked over at the crowd and began clapping as everyone followed along.

She shook her head furiously. “No.”

“I think I’ll have to go get her…” John said, before getting up from his stool and putting his microphone on it and walked over to where Jamison was standing.

“No.”

“Come on.” He pleaded, pouting his bottom lip out a bit.

“No… no.” She poked her finger into his chest.

John simply shook his head. “Up you go then…” He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder like it was no big deal.

“John!!!” She yelled, kicking and squirming around but it had seemed to be of no use. She heard the crowd screaming hysterically and realized that she was already out on stage and John had placed her on a stool between himself and Kennedy.

John picked up his microphone. “Everyone, this is Jamison. Jamison, this is everyone… say hi.”

“HI JAMISON!” The crowd yelled, as Jamison began burying her face into her hands hoping this was all just a weird dream.

“She still seems a bit shy, let’s give her one more round of applause.” John said, hyping up the crowd once more to cheer for her.

“God… I hate you.” She whined, as she looked at John like a 5 year old causing him to laugh at her reaction once more.

“I am being a good friend and helping you overcome.” He simply said, putting his microphone out of range. “Let’s wear these hats to get in the mood…” He tossed Jamison a Santa hat before putting on his own.

“We’re going to do this?” Kennedy asked smirking over at Jamison who had her face buried in her hands again.

“Let’s do this…” John said smiling, “Sing along with us if you know the words.” He said into his microphone as he heard Jared count off and began playing the intro to the song. He looked over at Jamison who seemed to just be glaring at John but also laughing from pure disbelief at the situation.

John began singing the first verse looking over at Jamison while singing as she just anxiously fiddled with her microphone stand waiting for the chorus to come. The two locked eyes and John tried giving her a reassuring look hoping his eyes were conveying that she would be okay, that she could do this, and that he was there for her.

Right as the chorus began Jamison took a deep breath and sang along with the two and did exactly what she had done during soundcheck reminding herself that this was just like karaoke or trying to convinced herself that it was. She looked over at John who kept giving her encouraging looks as well as Kennedy and she slowly began to loosen up.

“We’re exactly where we’re suppose to be… together in Chicago with Jamie and Kennedy…” John sang the last line, as he walked over to Jamison and pulled her into a side hug as the crowd cheered.

“Let’s give it up for Jamison Song everyone!” John said into his microphone causing the crowd to cheer once more even louder than before.

Jamison quickly ran back side stage as Garrett and Pat ran back on stage to finish their set. She felt her heart go a mile a minute. She had wondered what just had happened and contemplated whether what had happened a few minutes ago was real or just a figment of her imagination.

After The Maine’s set the guys got off stage and quickly went outside the venue to greet and hang out their fans. After a few hours the guys went back inside the to see Jamison helping Peter count out for merch as well as Gary packing up the rest of their gear.

“You did wonderful.” John said, coming up from behind her pulling her into a hug.

“I hate you…” She mumbled, although her eyes seem to be saying otherwise.

“It wasn’t that bad right?” John asked, completely ignoring her previous comment.

Jamison quietly sighed. “No, it wasn’t…” She admitted causing John to smile in triumph.

“You want to do it tomorrow night?” He asked, with a smile.

“No.” She shook her head.

“Too bad you are… even if I have to carry you out every night.” He said lightheartedly, as she looked at him peculiarly.

“Why?” She simply asked.

“I think the world deserves to hear you sing… and you need to get over the fear of putting yourself out there.” He answered, “And let’s just say, I have my reasons…” He smiled as he thought about the “to-do” list.

“You are something…” Jamison chuckled touching the back of her neck not knowing what else to say to John’s response.

“I said I would try to do as much for you as you did for me…” John answered softly. She placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him with no other words before walking off.

As she began walking towards the door she turned around and looked at him. “Hey John?”

“Yeah…” He turned to look at Jamison who had a small smile upon her face.

“Thank you…” She smiled sincerely, “For just existing in this world… and especially in my life.” She shook her head once in thanks before walking out the door.

John just stared at the door Jamison just walked out of and smiled to himself.

Things For Jamison To Do

#1 Preform in front of a crowd (besides karaoke or something similar to that)
#2 Learn how to ride a bike
#3 Get a tattoo