Fade Into You (Shaken Dirty 3)

“I was told Antone’s on Fifth Street. Is that not right?” The driver didn’t sound particularly worried.

Antone’s? They didn’t have anyone playing there tonight, did they? She checked the schedule of artists and gigs that she updated every week and checked it. Nope, nothing scheduled for Antone’s that she was aware of. Still, Caleb wasn’t known for sending her on wild goose chases… “No, Antone’s is fine,” she told the driver. “Thanks.”

Then she pulled her messages back up again. Still no texts. And no phone calls. What the hell was Caleb up to?

Googling Antone’s website on her phone, she scrolled through their appearances list. There were a couple of good bands on there this month—bands she’d been keeping an eye on—but she’d never heard of the one they had scheduled for tonight. Fly by Night. A quick Google search showed they didn’t even have a website. Weird. There were no reviews online. Nothing.

She started to dig deeper, but then a text message from Caleb finally came in. The dick.

Caleb: Hey, Soda Pop! Thanks for saving my ass

Me: I haven’t saved anything yet :/ What’s going on?

Caleb: This is your shot

Me: Unless you mean tequila, I’m pretty sure I don’t know what you’re talking about

Caleb: Shaken Dirty’s auditioning a new bassist at Antone’s tonight in a pick-up show that nobody knows about

Me: Holy shit! Shaken Dirty????? They’re Fly by Night?

Excitement roared through her, had her hands shaking and her heart pounding out of control. She’d been a fan of Shaken Dirty from the very beginning, had been the one to bring them to Caleb’s attention when the two of them were still in college so that he could convince their dad to sign them (since she knew there was no way their father would take the recommendation from her). When they’d gone big, she’d celebrated with Caleb. And when they’d gone huge, he’d told her father that she’d been the one to pick them out. The one who’d insisted he listen to them.

And her dad had still given all the praise to Caleb. No surprise there.

Of course, when shit had gone bad and the band had nearly imploded a few months ago, he’d been right there ready to point the finger at her…he was great like that. Caleb had tried to stop the witch hunt, but no one talked Bill Germaine into—or out of—anything once his mind was made up. So she hadn’t protested the castigation or the bust in rank that came with it, because the last thing she’d wanted was their father’s shit to land on Caleb. But it had been a bitter pill to swallow—Shaken Dirty was far from the first band to suffer from in-fighting and drug abuse. And it wasn’t like she’d been allowed to have anything to do with them once they were signed, anyway. That had been everyone else’s job but hers.

And now Shaken Dirty was back, ready to play? Two and a half months didn’t seem long enough for them to really get their shit together. Or more precisely, for their drummer to get his shit together.

Me: Wyatt’s out of rehab?!?!

Caleb: Yeah. Got out this morning

And he was playing tonight? God knew things moved fast in this industry, but this was supersonic.

Me: How is he?

Caleb: I don’t know. That’s kind of what today’s about. Gauging that and checking out the new bassist

Me: They found a new bassist? Who is it?

Caleb: They’re auditioning a new bassist. And it’s Li Marcos, from Firestarter

Me: He’s good

Caleb: Yeah…

Me: But not right for them

Caleb: You haven’t even heard how they sound together

Me: Doesn’t matter. His fingerings aren’t good enough to keep up with Ryder. Or even Jared. He’s going to look like an amateur up there

Caleb: Yeah, well. We’ll see

Caleb: Also, this is the start of a three to six-month gig

Me: For Li?