3) Glorify God in our music
Sunday, January 12
Our gig at the Paradiso was a real hit on Friday night. The place was packed full with SRO (standing room only). And Laura and Allie played better than ever. I actually found myself wondering what I could’ve been thinking when I’d seriously considered the whole “going solo” biz. I mean, I might be pretty good on my own, but I think we’re totally awesome as a group. Of course, that’s only my humble opinion.
My parents were there too, along with their friends the Stephensens. Afterward Mr. Stephensen came up and talked to us.
“You girls have really got something here.”
“Thanks, Mr. Stephensen,” I said. “This is Laura and Allie.”
He smiled and shook their hands. “Just call me Ron.”
“Ron teaches music at the college,” I explained.
“Yeah, and this isn’t the first time I’ve told Chloe that she’s onto something with her music here. You girls could have a future.”
“Really?” Allie’s eyes grew big. “You mean professionally?”
“I’m not a real expert, but I know when someone has potential. Are you girls really serious about your music?”
“We practice a lot,” said Laura.
“It shows.” He handed me a business card. “If you’re still interested in cutting a CD, give me a call. You’ll never get anywhere without a CD.”
“Yeah, that’s what Willy says too,” said Allie.
“Willy?”
“He gives me drumming lessons. He used to tour with a rock band.”
He nodded. “Well, he’s right. It takes a lot to make it in the music business, but cutting a CD is the first step.” He started to leave then stopped. “Hey, have you entered the Battle of the Bands?”
“Battle of the Bands?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“I hope it’s not too late.” He scratched his head. “It’s up at the college. There’s a twenty-five-dollar entry fee, but it’s great exposure for picking up local gigs. They even give out some prizes.”
“How do we sign up?” I asked.
“Why don’t you let me look into it for you,” he suggested. “I could even sign you up.”
I looked at Laura and Allie. “You want to?” I could tell by Allie’s face that she was calculating her third of the entry fee. “I’ll cover the twenty-five bucks,” I said quietly.
“I’m in,” Allie said with a bright smile.
“Me too,” added Laura.
“Okay, then.” I shook Ron’s hand. “See if you can get us in.”
He called the next day while we were practicing and said he pulled a couple strings and we’re in! The whole thing happens next Saturday. So we decided to practice both Saturday and Sunday as well as three nights next week.
“You know what the grand prize is?” I said, directing my question to Allie.
Her eyes lit up. “A million bucks?”
“No, silly. It’s a brand-new, really good PEARL drum set!”
“You’re kidding?” She clutched her drumsticks. “Do you think we really have a chance?”
“Ron does.”
Laura cleared her throat. “Yeah, but if we win, I suppose we’d have to sell, the drum set and split the money three ways.”
“Yeah, or put it all toward cutting our CD,” I added, turning to wink at Laura.
Allie slumped down and groaned. “You mean you guys would sell a perfectly good drum set?”
“You’re always complaining about wanting money,” Laura reminded her. “That would put some cash in your pocket.”
“But …” Allie just shook her head.
“Oh, I don’t know. What do you think, Laura, could we let her keep the drums?”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. And the whole band would benefit from it. No offense, Chloe, but your brother’s drums are a little cheesy.”
“Hey, watch what you’re calling cheesy,” warned Allie, pretending to hug the bass drum. “I like these guys.”
“Oh, well, then, maybe we’ll just sell the new set after all.”
“Not so fast.” Allie stood up. “I think Redemption could use a better sounding set of drums.”
“I’ll say!”
“You mean if we win,” Laura reminded us.
“And that’s a big if,” I added.
“Let’s get to work!” Allie sat back down and started hitting the beat for the next song on our list.
And so now we’re all praying that somehow, someway, we’ll get that first prize and take home that drum set for Allie—well, for all of us, really.
is it wrong to want success
to ask God if He will bless?
is it selfishness or greed
to have a goal, to succeed?
is it wrong when we expect
fame or fortune, benefit?
just because God’s our Dad
shouldn’t mean we have it bad
can’t we ask for something more
that He’ll open up a door?
after all, He is King
He can do anything!
cm
Thursday, January 16
Bad news. We just found out that Screaming Tangerine is going to be at the Battle of the Bands. All the kids at school are talking about it. Screaming Tangerine is a local band that everyone predicts is about to make it big time. It almost seems unfair that they get to compete. But then I suppose they’ll bring in a lot of ticket sales, and the whole purpose of the concert is to raise money for the college music program. Oh, well. At least we get to compete. That’ll be fun.
Allie was pretty down about the whole thing at lunch today. But Laura kept assuring her that we still have a chance. I’m not so sure, but for Allie’s sake I’m acting as if we could still win.
But here’s what is fun. Word’s gotten around school that we’re going to be in the Battle of the Bands, and some people are actually treating us like celebrities. Allie really eats this kind of attention up. And even though Laura acts as though it’s no big deal, I can tell she loves it too. I’m not quite sure how to act exactly, but I try not to gloat when I see someone like Tiffany Knight scowling at me in choir. She doesn’t put me down anymore, but she’s not what you’d call civil either. In fact, I’m sure this whole thing totally irks her. And I try not to take too much satisfaction in that, but, hey, I am human. Sorry, God. Help me to be kinder.
I TOOK A RIDE
upon my pride
it started out real fun
i went fast
and had a blast
and waved at everyone
but down the hill
i took a spill
went spinning into space
i hit a bump
and took a lump
got mud upon my face
whoooops!
cm
Saturday, January 18
What a night! My head is still spinning. Okay, this is what happened. They let the bands draw numbers for when they played, and we got number sixteen (and that was out of eighteen bands). So we had to sit there and sweat and freak and chew our nails down to the nubbins while fifteen other great bands performed before us.
Okay, I’ll admit that some of the bands weren’t all that great, and I felt pretty sure that we could easily beat some of them. But some of them were really good too. Like Pat Tango—another girls’ band that was really hot and got huge applause. And most of the bands have been playing together for years (not just a few months!). And, of course, Screaming Tangerine performed about midway through the concert, and the crowd absolutely went wild for them, stomping and clapping for an encore, which the emcee practically guaranteed when he said, “Hey, don’t worry; the winning band will play again at the end of the show.”
“Screaming Tangerine is obviously in first now,” Allie told us with a glum face. “And Blue Night is probably tied with Fat Tango, with Chop-Shop not too far behind.”
We both nodded. That sounded about right. We sat there and
pretended to enjoy the music when I know that all we could think about was getting this thing over with and getting out of there. Then just as the band before us was playing and we were waiting backstage, Allie started to freeze up.
“I can’t do this,” she said. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“Come on, Al,” I urged her. “Just take a deep breath and relax. It’s no different than playing the Paradiso.”
And then she threw up—all over my guitar. Okay, I’ll admit that for a split second I wanted to kill her. Maybe for a few seconds. Then I grabbed my denim jacket and tried to wipe the gluck off and dry my guitar. I heard a guy behind us totally losing it as if we were the funniest thing on the planet. Laura made Allie take some drinks from her water bottle and gently wiped down her face then said, “You better just shape up, girlfriend!” She glared at her. “Cuz we’re going out there, and we’re not taking any excuses from anyone! Understand?”
Allie just nodded, and when it was our turn, we both grabbed a hand and literally dragged her out. We tried to smile and laugh, as if it were all just a big act. But then I looked Allie in the eye and actually said a quick prayer. “God be with us!” I let go of her hand and walked over to the mike and started to speak.
“My name is Chloe, and my friend on bass over there is Laura. And the drummer who just barfed all over my guitar is Allie.” Well, this really cracked them up, and I think it gave Allie a moment to gather her wits.
“And we are Redemption!” I shouted, then turned and looked at Allie. I swear her face was white as chalk, but she started counting out the beat and then we played. Okay, we didn’t play our best—thanks to Allie’s stage fright—but at least we tried. And we didn’t make complete fools of ourselves. The crowd actually seemed to like us—a lot. Or else they just felt sorry for us. I’m sure we were the youngest ones there, and the whole barfing thing must’ve sounded pretty pitiful.
I was just glad to be done with it. And as soon as we finished, I marched off to the bathroom to clean up my guitar. What a stench! To be honest, I was glad to have an excuse to get away. I was still pretty ticked at Allie, and I didn’t want to say something I’d regret. Like, “Thanks for helping me throw away twenty-five bucks!”
By the time I got back out there, the last band was performing. They were really pretty lame, but the crowd was generous and clapped anyway. But you could tell it was only polite clapping. Then the emcee came out again and started chattering away about everything from the weather to politics, trying to be funny. But by then nothing seemed funny to me; I just wanted to go home and forget about tonight.
So finally he’s announcing who the winners are, starting with third place, which turned out to be Fat Tango. I actually clapped and cheered now because I really thought they were good. They went up and received their award, a check for two hundred and fifty dollars. Not bad considering it was only third. Then the emcee said, “Now for second place. Hey, it looks like it’s ladies night tonight. Will the band with the barfing drummer—Redemption—come on up here?”
Well, I thought I was going to faint. I grabbed Laura’s arm. “Did he say—?”
“It’s us!” she screamed. “Come on, Allie!” Laura gave her a shove toward the stairs then tugged on me. “Come on, you guys! Let’s move it!”
And the next thing I knew, I was up there saying thanks and receiving a check for five hundred dollars!!! Laura was hysterical and Allie was in tears.
“Did the drummer really barf on your guitar?” the emcee asked.
I nodded soberly. “Yeah, I was just in the bathroom cleaning it all off. Man, you shoulda smelled it!” Well, the audience went into hysterics over that.
Then, of course, Screaming Tangerine was presented with first place and got back on stage for an encore, which we enjoyed immensely. Afterward, we were getting our pictures taken and the drummer from Tangerine told me they would’ve rather had the check since his drum set was even better than the prize. Then I told him that our barfing drummer had been really hoping for a new drum set. “You should see the one she has to play on at home.”
“You wanna trade?” he said, but I thought he was joking.
“Oh, yeah, sure.” I turned and smiled for another photo.
Then just as we were getting ready to go, the leader of their band, Scott Cinder, walked up to me. “You guys serious about wanting to trade prizes?”
“Are you kidding?” I stared at him.
“What’s up?” asked Laura. I quickly told her what they were saying, and she said, “Why not? If they’re serious.”
So before Allie even realized what had happened we switched prizes.
“We’re just hitting the road now,” said Scott. “We don’t have time to deal with trying to sell those drums, and we could really use some extra cash. Besides, we thought it would be kinda cool to be known as the guys who helped out the barfing drummer on an up-and-coming band.” He smiled. “You guys are really good.”
And so there you have it! What an unbelievable night. Allie just about passed out when we told her what we’d done. Well, at first she didn’t even believe us.
“You guys are just trying to get even with me for messing up tonight,” she said. “And I don’t even blame you. I’m so embarrassed. I’m sorry.”
But when we showed her the certificate for the Right Chord music store and convinced her it was for real, she just started shaking.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I cannot believe it! Scott Cinder really said that?”
So go figure. Allie lost it and barfed on my guitar, but we still came in second. And even though we came in second, we still walked home with the prize for first. Now, I am thinking that only God could do something that impossible.
DESPITE US
despite who we are
all our fragilities, inabilities
You showed up
despite our ineptness
our comedy of errors
You came through
despite us
our doubts and our fears
You carried us along
thank You
amen
cm
Seventeen
Wednesday, February 5
Life seems to have slowed down during the last couple weeks. I suppose that’s good. I’m sure my parents were getting worried that all this success was going to go straight to our heads, like maybe we’d hit the road with our show. Ha! I could just see us piling into Laura’s little Neon (which isn’t even paid for yet) with all our equipment and stuff and trying to make it to Nashville or New York or wherever it is that bands go to hit it big these days.
But we do have a date to cut a CD now. Hopefully with our next two coffeehouse gigs, plus playing for a birthday party that Laura booked for us, we’ll have enough to cover the cost. If not, my dad promised to help us out. And Ron Stephensen said that he’d give us the best deal he could in the studio. Willy’s been working with us lately too. Mind of mentoring, I guess you’d say.
We don’t agree with everything he suggests, but he’s got some good advice and seems to know a lot about the music business. Although sometimes it seems as though he’s trying to scare us out of trying to do too much. “They’ll chew you up alive,” he likes to say. “And then spit you out again.” But I’m thinking if God wants us to do something big, well, then He can make it happen, and He can protect us from the ones who would try to hurt us. In the meantime, I think we need to just focus on doing our best right here and now. Who knows what lies ahead? Besides God, that is.
WHAT’S NEXT?
i close my eyes
and dream a dream
about what lies ahead
amazing things
songs and lights
all play across my bed
but what is real
and what is not
and what will be will be
i cannot tell
i cannot guess
what lies in store for me
(but i trust You, God)
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amen
Sunday, February 16
Well, I guess I’ve been a little self-absorbed lately, what with music and friends and church and all. But I just got the strangest e-mail from Caitlin today. I didn’t even know what to think of it. She and Josh were pretty much engaged at Christmastime, and as far as I knew everything was just fine. But now she has called it all off. I was stunned. And sad. She didn’t give me any details, so I called her up and asked what was going on.
“It’s a long story, Chloe.” Her voice sounded so far away and tired.
“That’s okay. I have time. If you want to tell me, that is.”
She sighed. “Well, I know you’ll understand if I tell you it’s a God-thing. And more than anything else, I want to obey God. Does that make sense?”
“Sure, that’s what I want too. But are you saying God doesn’t want you to marry Josh?”
“All I know for right now is that I’m not supposed to be committed to Josh like that. For right now, I need to just wait on God and obey Him.”
“Then maybe later—”
“I don’t know about later, Chloe. I can’t see into the future.”
“Is there another guy?”
Then she laughed and I felt relieved. “No, of course not.”
“Do you still love Josh?”
“Yes, of course. I never quit loving him. I just can’t promise to marry him. It was really messing me up. It’s like I was all depressed and confused, and finally God showed me that we jumped the gun. I never should’ve agreed to that whole thing.”
“Does Josh understand all this?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, he knows, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. He knows.” Her voice sounded flat, or maybe it was just sad.
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you okay?”
“I think I will be. It’s just so soon. Like I’m still sort of in shock. But actually, once it was done I did start to feel better—as if I could sense God’s presence in my life again.”
“Really? You mean being engaged to Josh took God out of your life? But Josh is a Christian and a—”
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