Page 90 of Hard Rock Muse

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With drinks in hand, we went back to the private room. The band members were sitting around a table talking about the new album, while Jessie and Becca chatted to each other off to the side. Maybe it was true that these people were workaholics and never talked about anything else.

“Ever!” Seth called out. “Come over here, you’ve got to be the tiebreaker.”

“Sure,” I said as Julian and I settled into a loveseat near them. “What’s up?”

“We’ve been talking about the next tour,” Seth started.

“I don’t see why we can’t just put it to a vote, and I’ll be the tiebreaker,” Cerise interjected.

“Sweetheart, I love you and all,” Liam began, putting a hand on her leg, “but you can’t keep being the tiebreaker with these things. All we ever end up doing is what you want.”

“And what I want is usually right,” she said stubbornly.

Liam kissed her cheek. “You need to learn to let other people make decisions sometimes.”

“What for?” she asked.

The others just chuckled, and I got the feeling this was a regular conversation they had.

“So here’s the deal,” Seth told me. “Three of us think doing a short acoustic set during our next tour is a great idea. The others don’t agree.”

“Who agrees and who doesn’t?” I said.

“Not telling,” he said. “We don’t want you to be biased toward Julian’s vote.”

“You didn’t even ask me my opinion,” Julian said, amused.

“That’s because I already know what it’s going to be,” Seth said.

“Fair point,” he said.

“Lay it out for me,” I told them. “Give me the pros and cons.”

“Okay, so, last tour Cerise did this one acoustic song,” Seth began. “The fans loved it. So the thinking is, we should try some more of that. But not all of us are so sure. It was one song, and it was near the end when the audience is getting all emotional anyway. Will straying too far from our rock roots alienate some fans?”

“Hmm…” I pursed my lips thoughtfully. “Those are both great points.” I leaned forward on my elbows and tapped the table. “So let’s talk it out.”

The band members each started talking over each other. Although they tried to be impartial and consider all points of view, I could easily tell Liam, Seth and Gael were against it. Julian, Nathan and Cerise were for it.

It didn’t escape my notice that three out of four people who actually had acoustic versions of their instruments liked the idea. Cerise probably wanted to re-live that moment, Nathan had no doubt composed some songs for an acoustic guitar on his own and Julian had always been a genius when it came to the piano.

I kept my revelation quiet and used my role as tiebreaker to get the band members to debate with each other instead of trying to convince me. It wasn’t a choice for me to make. The band needed to come to an agreement themselves.

As we talked it out, I began to realize how much I’d missed this. The intricacies of the music industry, planning tours, deciding on set lists, just the usual back and forth between band members as we discussed our craft.

A long time ago I’d convinced myself going solo was the best chance for me to achieve my dreams. But now, with all the band members of Cherry Lips shooting ideas back and forth, I realized I never would have been happy going at it alone.

There was a certain dynamic that came with being in a band that couldn’t be denied. It was like family. Even when you disagreed with each other, you still loved and cared for each other.

A lump formed in my throat. At one time, Where Angels Burn had been my family. I couldn’t believe I had ever been so selfish as to forget that.

“Hey,” Julian said, nudging me on the shoulder. “You’ve gone quiet.”

“Just thinking,” I said, clearing my throat.

“About what?”