We loaded the Nomad, and Marie and I headed for St. Augustine. Dennis wanted to drive his pick-up so he had wheels if he got lucky, or if Marie and I decided to do something after the gig. We arrived early so Marie could set up her keyboards before Ronny scattered his drums all over the stage. I always set up on the right side of the stage, with Marie to my left, giving Dennis the center, and the bass man on the left. The drummer goes in the back. I plugged in all the cables and set the microphone stands in place. I had two guitars and my piggyback Fender Bandmaster amplifier nicely tucked into my corner of the stage before Jeff and Denny and Ronny showed up. I prefer to have my stuff in place and be out of the way first. That gives me time to scope the local talent and relax before we start.
Bob, the owner had a new billboard next to the main entrance and there, for the entire world to see, was our name on a colorful poster advertising our engagement. Bob asked if he could take a picture and put it on his billboard. We agreed and told him we would pose before we started to play.
I went to sit in the dining area and have a plate of fried shrimp. I was perusing the menu when our old friend from The Mill Top, Irene, glided up to the table and brought me a glass of iced tea. "Here you go, Honey," she drawled, "the house wine of the south."
"Irene," I stood and hugged her close. "How in the world are you any way?"
"Waiting on you to take me in the ladies room and ravage my body," she quipped.
Irene looked pretty good, for an older woman, in her white shirt and short skirt, even with the apron. "You got it, Baby. Later on after we get cranked up, we'll figure something out. As long as I get to keep your drawers."
"You're horrible," she scolded. Then she whispered in my ear, "White lace and crotch-less, just for tonight."
"You hussy," I said.
She vanished and returned with a platter heaped with golden brown fried shrimp. Marie and Dennis joined me and we made short work of the delectable food and we went over Denny's revised song list. He'd added some extra folk music for tonight and Marie and I would be singing a lot more harmonies with him. He was expanding his list, which meant he was spending more time rehearsing at home. I could jump in on almost anything and Marie had all the right moves on the keyboards. Jeff and Ron were the question marks. We had only limited experience with the two new players and I hoped it would be smooth.
Jeff and Ron joined us at the table. Denny gave them the list and they nodded their approval of the new songs and indicated they just needed him to give them a key and we were cool. I was enjoying this.
Marie handed out the new flowered shirts and we stepped into the office to change. It was the first time, since Dennis and I started the band, that we had ever dressed alike. I liked the shirts all the same because it made us look professional, which we are.
Marie had taken her bra off, when she put the satin shirt on, and the smooth cloth turned her nipples to stone. Denny, whose chest was really hairy, left the top three buttons undone.
"He's got a little swagger to his step tonight," Marie mentioned to me, out of earshot of Denny.
"You noticed that too?" I asked.
"Yeah, and he's hanging his chest out for the chickies to see too," she answered.
"No Chrissie for a few days. Louise and I saw them having a spat last week and I haven't seen her around. His mother's been by a couple of times though," I said.
"She's got the sweetest pussy in the whole world, we gotta get her to come over and play some more," Marie wished.
"It ain't no sweeter than yours, Lover," I said as I squeezed her leg under the table. "But it's the tightest little twat I've ever had my dick in."
She punched me on the arm and I laughed.
We went to the stage just before eight o'clock and fine-tuned our guitars and at eight sharp, Bob lowered the lights in the lounge and Jeff brought the colored floods up on the stage and we kicked off the night with an instrumental medley by Duane Eddy. We modulated into a couple of folk numbers by The Kingston Trio, and Peter, Paul & Mary. We played several fifties rock songs and one of our original songs. Dennis was spectacular tonight. He was working the crowd over the mic and introduced each tune by title and artist. He asked for and received requests and did every one they asked for. At 9:45, he kicked us into our break song and introduced each member of the band and gave each one of us a solo bridge and we left the stage to go on break with the whole place clapping their hands and hollering for more.
As soon as our feet hit the floor, we were surrounded with adoring fans. Dennis was deluged in a sea of female admirers. Marie was entrenched in a circle of smiling faces and Jeff and Ronny were being congratulated as well. I shook about twenty hands and looked up as Bob waved me over to the bar and pointed to a tall, blond haired fella in a gray suit. I pushed through the crowd and Bob grabbed my hand in his island-sized paw and shouted over the crowd, "Out fucking standing, Cool. The woman and new bass and drums are great. You're killing them." He gestured to the suit and introduced him as James Day, from Cypress Records, in Jacksonville.
I shook the man's hand and he said, "Nice job, Virgil, I like the look and I like the music. You cook on the leads, who's your teacher?"
"I learned it all myself," I explained. "I play by ear."
"Who writes your lyrics on the original stuff?" he asked.
"Marie does most of it, Dennis and I do the music and we collaborate on the arrangements. I've got a fairly extensive studio so it's easy to work on tracks." I told him.
"Í want to hear some more of your original stuff and I'd like to get you up to the studio in Jacksonville Beach to do a demo," He invited.
"I've got a demo reel I can send you if you want to hear some of our better stuff," I said.
"Fair enough," he said. "Here's my card, I'm really interested so let's get together, soon."
Irene was standing next to Bob at the bar. She handed me a cold iced tea and Bob patted me on the back and I thanked him for introducing me to the record promoter. My mind was racing a mile a minute. Marie finally came over and she was ecstatic.
