When the SUV pulled up near the oversize garage, Shelly looked over to her manager Mark with a strained expression on her face. Without a word, her face broadcasted everything she wanted to say.
"Look Shelly, we both agreed you needed to broaden your sound, this is an excellent opportunity."
"Are we here because it's an excellent opportunity or because it's free?"
"Both. You know the agency doesn't have the cash to line everyone up with a full backup band, at least not until you can pull together some record deal."
"But how can I get a record deal without a band?" Shelly asked.
"Look, I know they're not professionals, but I've heard this band's pretty good. If they work for you we can even run some demos here."
"In the garage?"
"From what I've heard they've got some pretty good electronics."
"Okay, but if this is just some garage band we're turning around and leaving, right."
"Just give them a chance."
Mark watched as Shelly opened the door and climbed out of the vehicle. The sun caught her auburn hair, lighting it up like a fire. Following her up the drive he couldn't help admire her self-confidence. Though only nineteen, she had the self-assurance of a woman twice her age. When she wanted something, she was not afraid to reach out to grab it. On occasion she failed, but that never stopped her from reaching.
When Shelly was about halfway up the drive, the silence from the garage was mowed down with the distinctive sound of bluegrass. Mark prepared himself to catch Shelly as she ran back to the truck, but was surprised when she slowed, but didn't turn around. It was as if she was mesmerized by the twang of the banjoes and the rhythms of the sound.
Catching up to Shelly, Mark walked slowly beside her as they moved silently to the large open door, where they stood and quietly listened. After a minute or two, in the middle of the song, suddenly one of the band members raised his hand and waved them all to stop. He held his guitar out until another member grabbed it and set it in a stand.
The band member then stood up from his stool with the rest of the band following his every move. From behind, Shelly and Mark could see he was an older man, but it was not until he turned around that they could see how old he really looked.
His cowboy hat covered his head, but the thin wisps of white hair that poked out was a clear hint that he was balding, if not fully bald. The man's nose and ears seemed much too large for his small, round face. Looking into his eyes, Shelly saw only a cloudy white confirming her suspicion that he was blind.
He suddenly called out, "Do we have visitors?"
"Ah, yes sir, I'm Mark Dunsmore from Hitchward Agency..."
"You brought along a young lady?"
"Yes, one of our star vocalist, Shelly Bryan."
"Ah, we've been expecting you, two, three, four...," the old man said, while the band began playing. "You recognize this one?"
"It's an old one," Shelly replied, "but yeah, it's Clapton's 'Bell Bottom Blues.'"
"Well, Bobby Whitlock actually wrote it, but it's listed by Derek and the Dominoes. You know the words?"
"Sure," she answered, picking up with the band:
"Do you want to hear me beg you to take me back? I'd gladly do it because I don't want to fade away. Give me one more day, please. I don't want to fade away. In your heart I want to stay."
(1)
Waving his arms, the band stopped playing and the man turned toward Shelly and said, "I am proud to meet you Shelly Bryan. I'm Willie Norris," he said holding out his hand toward the young lady.
Noticing the slight shaking of his hand, Shelly took it with both hands and shook, surprised on how soft the man's hands were. Sure the fingertips were calloused, but the rest of the hand was so smooth and soft. She could see odd blue veins beneath the skin, but his handshake was firm. "Hmm, firm and soft, when have I felt that on a man before," Shelly thought to herself.
Holding his arm out to her now, Willie said, "Now, if you help me a bit here, I'll introduce you to the rest of the Medicaid Swing Band." Slipping her arm into Willie's, Shelly led him to each of the band members where they had a short talk, before moving onto the next musician.
They finished the introductions after about half an hour and Shelly led him back to the stool. Willie carefully sat down, reached down and grabbed his guitar. He glanced at Shelly and asked, "'Bell Bottom Blues' from the start?"
Grabbing a microphone from a nearby stand she said, "Sounds good," into the mike. The microphone was on, so she prepared herself to begin. She looked over to Willie.
Willie quickly whispered to her, "We're gonna go ahead and record. It's just jamming, so if we mess it up we'll just keep going for now, okay?"
Shelly nodded and Willie said, "'Bell Bottom Blues,' two, three, four..." and the band began to play.
Mark, glad to slip into the background moved over to the recording equipment, shook the hand of the technician and settle into a seat beside him. He had talked to Willie earlier and the two had worked out a list of songs Shelly was ready to sing at the time. During the session, Willie even pulled out the lyrics to a couple of classic bluegrass songs and after a few tries, Shelly was singing them almost as good as the songs she knew already.
After about three hours of almost non-stop music, Willie shut down the band and said, "Okay everyone, in tribute to our special guests, we have catered dinner. Go ahead and fold things up here and head over to the back yard, we've got some crawdads and barbeque going."
Helping Willie put his guitar on the stand, Shelly led him out of the garage and over to the picnic area, where the two sat together at a table, along with Mark, the sound guy and a few of the other band members. As the group talked of the recording and what they were looking for on the demos, Shelly studied Willie.
