Archives

Nice to Meet Ya

I had sung a dozen or so times at the Bluebird, we had played all the bars on Broadway, but tonight, we got to play Loser's Bar for their weekly Whiskey Jam. Its insane to think of all the artists that had played here right before their big break, and all of the acts that had come back to play after. We had run through almost every song that we have up our sleeve, I still couldn't help but think that we were missing something. I tried pushing it out of my head as our sound check wrapped up and we left the stage for the next band to run through.

"Tonight is going to be sick, dude. I cannot wait," Greg said throwing an arm around my shoulder as Jude came up on the other side of me.

"First Whiskey Jam, next CMA Fest," Jude replied typing away on his phone.

"You guys think something is missing?" I questioned as we put our guitars away.

"Like what?" Jude asked slipping his phone in his pocket.

"I don't know I mean we sound great for the more rock heavy songs, but like...the slower stuff seems not...right."

"We can't worry about this now, man. We're about to play our first Whiskey Jam. Let's just get through tonight then we can  figure out what you think we're missing." Greg added.

"Okay, I guess your right. I'm going to go grab lunch with Shannon, she won't be able to get in tonight so I promised I'd see her before."

"Well isn't that cute...pretending like you're actually serious about a girl," Jude joked as I got up from the table.

It wasn't a secret that I haven't been much of a relationship guy since I moved here, but I'm young. I figured when I meet the right girl I'll know that it's time to settle down. Until then I just want to have fun and work my ass off to make my dream of performing come true.

I picked Shannon up from her dorm, she refused to let me come up. According to her, her roommate is horrible, I honestly don't think she could be that bad. Either way, we made our way to the small diner in the suburbs of Nashville. I loved this diner, as much as I love the hustle and bustle of Broadway, it's nice to get away from the craziness. It reminds me of back home, late nights after a movie, or football game.

"...and she's constantly playing around on the beat up old guitar and scribbling in a notebook. I mean it's so annoying. Who just randomly feels like they need to write things down all the time, right? Are you even listening? Ryan!"

"Yes, sorry babe. Just uh, nervous about tonight."

"Aww I'm sorry. I wish I could come but my fake got taken away when I first got out here," she pouted from across the table.

"Don't worry. They'll be plenty of shows. You'll just have to come and watch at The Bluebird one night."

"Deal, and when you're big and famous you can hire me as your PR person!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Big and famous may be the dream but I might not even make it out of the writer's room." As much as I wanted the dream to work, I wanted to be realistic.

"You will be famous one day. Trust me you got the...thing, I dunno. I can just tell that you were meant to be on the stage."

Shannon was a fiery little southern belle who just got into town for her first year at Belmont. We had a mutual understanding that this was something fun. She knew that music came first and school came first for her.

"So our apartment complex has these parties...We kind of just open all of our doors and play music, write, drink. There's one next week if you wanted to come...maybe we could get some dinner and stop by."

"Well, you're finally letting me meet the friends. How could I pass that up?!"

It wasn't a coincidence that I was keeping Shannon from meeting my friends, but they had become a second family and it seemed like such a big step.

"Okay, so it's a date. Now I gotta get you home so I can get ready for the show.

****
I wasn't sure exactly what I was feeling. It was a mix of adrenaline, nerves, and excitement, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to make the most of this opportunity tonight. As the MC was introducing us we stood in out little family huddle and said a small prayer we didn't blow this chance. It was now or nothing, so I was determined to give it all I got.

We got onto the stage and as I was getting my guitar plugged and amped up I caught sight of two girls making their way through the crowd towards the bar. The short one with long brown hair caught my eye when she looked up to the stage. She had a small smile, like she had a secret and her eyes were so bright and a dark chocolate brown.

I almost missed the start of the song following her movement but was brought to life as I heard Greg thank the crowd and the tapping of Tori's drum sticks.

The set flew by in a blur, but my eyes always found her in the crowd, following her like magnets. By the time the set was over and we were off stage getting our things packed away I was itching to go and find her but I talked myself out of it a dozen times before I actually did find her.

It was an accident, if I'm honest. Tori was chatting up a girl and I knew if I didn't get home and get to sleep before she brought her back I would be drowning out the sound with noise canceling headphones.

I spotted Greg as I looked around to find him and Jude. It wasn't until I moved closer and saw him towering over her I realized he was with her.

I clapped him on the shoulder as I saddled up beside them, "Hey, I'm gonna get going. I have a lesson in the morning and Tori is putting the moves on some girl so if I plan on getting any sleep I should head home now."

"Alright man, Mollie. This is our guitar player, Ryan Jones."

"Nice to meet ya, Ollie."

"It's Mollie," she yelled over the music, "with an 'M'" I couldn't help but smirk at the sassiness. I couldn't pinpoint if it was the alcohol or personality, but I sure as hell was hoping I'd get to find out.

"I'm sorry, Mollie. My mistake. It was nice to meet you, hope you enjoyed the show."

"Yeah, look forward to seeing you guys up there again."

"I hope so too."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Greg asked, breaking Mollie and I out of our staring contest.

"Yeah, I'll see ya tomorrow. Well Mollie, I hope I get to see you soon."

I left and fought the urge to look back, only having a glance once I had made it to the doors. I would be lying if I said there wasn't a flutter of something in my stomach when I caught her looking my way.

I had a feeling I'd be seeing more of Mollie, and I was extremely interested on how this would play out.