Chapter 16 - Expansions
The following Friday evening Dave was tending bar with Jake, Sharon, and Candy helping and even delivering drinks and shuttling hors d'oeuvres that Chef Bobbie had made to various tables full of Circle members and friends. He had gone inside to get another case of Coronas when he heard a cheer and loud shouts from almost everyone on the patio. Something had happened outside that had inspired a great welcome.
Dave carried the carton out to the bar, and set it down. There was a cluster of people around somebody, all talking at once and trying to lavish the person with praise, kisses, hugs, and affection.
Dave walked over to see more closely. The crush of people ended and Dave found himself face to face suddenly with Ashley Steckler, or Ashley Steerman if she used her new pseudonym. She was crying, "I'm so glad to be back. I love you all."
Suddenly, Ashley saw Dave and threw herself in his arms. He had just a fraction of a second to brace for the impact of her small body. "DAVE. I MISSED YOU." The two hugged and kissed. Dave realized he did have a great attraction to small women -- now a country music star.
"Ashley, welcome home or back or whatever."
"Oh, this is my home. This is where I belong ... with all of you." She gestured around to all the others looking on. Erin, her sister, was standing there grinning with little Joshua Allen in her arms -- another one of Dave's children. He was giggling at all the hubbub of activity and noise about his aunt's arrival.
Dave laughed, "Why didn't you let us know you were coming? We would have arranged a greater celebration."
Ash said, "I told Erin, but I wasn't even sure I could get away until noon today so I told her and mom and dad not to say anything because it was so indefinite. I had a private jet down to SRQ. The pilots didn't want to land at our little airport, however, so I ended up over at the big one. I taxied out here."
Dave hugged her again. "What can I get you?"
"A white wine and you plus me making love later. I have been seriously deprived despite having multiple offers every day I've been gone."
"Getting hit on?"
"You can't imagine. Scarlett warned me, so I kind of knew what to expect. Every band member, agent, facilities managers roadie, groupie, and fan would love to nail my ass, as the saying goes. I just had to come home and get away from all that for a couple of days. I want to nail YOUR ass." She laughed and kissed his cheek.
Dave laughed, "And what makes you think that every Circle member -- men AND women -- don't want to 'nail your ass' right now."
Ashley laughed, "I'm hoping they do, in this case. I love them all and Cricket told me there were a couple of new faces here as well."
"I'll introduce you, but I can't even remember when you were here last. It's been so long."
"Longer if you were me on the road. I do have to say, I've made a lot of money. Dad came up to Nashville as you maybe know and helped me figure out how to use some of it for a home in Music City, USA, and how to invest the rest. I am resolved not to fritter it away on high living. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to end up like Scarlett where I'm here for a while and then gone for long time periods."
"You said your agent hit on you, but other than that how's that relationship? From the little I know about the music industry, that person is key to your success."
Ashley laughed, "MY agent is the only one that hasn't hit on me, but some of the others representing other singers or bands are around at the concerts I've done have suggested that we might have fun together. Kyle Hanks is my agent. He used to be a two-bit singer as he says, but decided he could make more money representing people with 'real' talent. He's about fifty, nice as can be, and treats me like a princess. He also has become my protector, my mentor, and a great source of advice about the industry, music, and life in general. I've come to trust him. He's looking out for my best interests for sure."
"He sounds ideal, but he has no interest in you? You're beautiful, smart, talented, and a million other positive things; if I were in his shoes I'd come a courtin' on your doorstep."
"He told me that respect is one of the most important aspects of any relationship, and that he respects me. He calls me Honey, but he seems to have pet names like that for just about everybody, and he knows everybody. Just this past week I started to flirt with him a little. To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind if something happened between us. He just looks over the top of his glasses at me to see whether I'm serious or teasing him. I don't think either of us knows for sure."
"What will you tell him about the Circle?"
Ash shrugged. "Some or a lot when the time comes. Eventually, I could see bringing him here, but not any time soon. We're too busy. He's taking this weekend off, too. He made a date with an old girlfriend in Chicago, so we left going in opposite directions. We flipped a coin, and I got the jet. He flew commercial. I have to be back in Nashville on Monday morning for an afternoon recording session."
Over dinner, Dave asked Ashley, "I know you did a dozen major concerts, but how have you been spending the rest of your time?"
Ashley groaned, "Learning every damn country and folk song ever published or sung. Kyle set a goal for me to learn three new songs a DAY! That's a lot of work. I have a knack for memorizing lyrics, but still you have to learn the melody and then have to figure out how to get the song into a key you can sing without croaking, and then how to sing it flawlessly in your own style. When I say three songs, I mean they're ready to be sung in a concert in front of ten thousand people or on television at the CMAs.
"I have my own band now, too, as of two weeks ago. They're the same five guys and two women, one of who is married to my drummer. I also have two backup singers; both are about my age with good voices, so I expect they'll move along when they can get breaks. I've been trying to help THEM and so has Kyle. Anyway, after I learn a song, they learn it too, and then we rehearse until we can deliver the thing as though we sang it all the time. Sometimes, in concerts, we've used a 'cheater' or a teleprompter to be sure none of us forget the lyrics to something new we've just learned.
"After fifteen songs -- a week's worth -- Kyle puts us all through our paces on Saturday as though we were giving a concert. We have a dedicated studio that we're in and he calls out a song, and we're expected to launch into it and deliver as though we had all those thousands of people screaming for it. He also reaches back to the weeks before as well as all of the songs we've got on our albums. Once in a while we flub really badly. We start the following week relearning those songs, and take it from there. We have used some of the songs in actual concerts, but only the ones we have a lot of faith about performing well.
"When I got tapped to do my first album I think I knew about a two hundred songs that I could do well. Now, that number is closer to a thousand. Moreover, I know them by which popular artist did the song. If someone yells out 'Sing something by Dolly or Reba', I can turn to the band and toss out a song name and we're off playing and singing."
Nikky asked, "What about songs that aren't country and western?"
