Then Gary Baldwin answers, “Well, we will sponsor you to drive BMWs, all you have to do is sign the papers that John has.”
“You better come in.” I told them.
As we sit down on my not so classy dining table I offer John and Gary coffee, they accept, I get the refreshments then suddenly John shouts in excitement “Hurry up for goodness sake Steve, sit down!” Gary and me look at each other in amazement and shock. Then he apologizes; his reason is that he is thrilled for me. Which is a lie, his reason is that in the end of this he leaves with a big, fat paycheck.
I decided about half an hour later to go for the sponsor of BMW for a year. Gary left, and then John told me to say my goodbyes to my family and friends because we were leaving for the national tour of the USA in a week. I said “Fine” then he exited too.
I said goodbye to everyone close to my heart in my hometown, Lexington, Kentucky. I met up with the rest of Tribute in the studio to complete our album. We finished up the missing pieces in the songs.
It was 8:00pm so Harry thought we should go onto a club. We hesitated and then went for the offer.
As we arrived in the coolest club in town, a group of couples recognised us and came over to say ‘hi’. Harry noticed one of the girls didn’t have a man with her, he asked one of the girls and they confirmed that she didn’t.
Harry went over to her, and asked if he could sit down next to her. She let him, so he sat on the other side of the diner style table.
“Aren’t you in that rock band?” She asked attempting to match the bands name. “Yeah… Tribute, we’re just about to tour the US, 35 states in 9 month.”
“You’re keen aren’t you?”
“Suppose I’m just curious, I’m going to be gone a long time and I want something to remind you of me.”
“What do you have in mind, kid?”
There was a long pause, then after about 4 seconds Harry said “…An autograph. Why…what did you think?”
“I was thinking bigger than that.”
“Who should I right it out to?”
“Katie.”
After he had finished writing it Katie looked at it, then put it in handbag.
I wondered around the dance floor trying to offer a babe a dance!
Then, in the corner of my eye I saw her, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life! You stood there; it looked like she was lost or looking for something. I thought this was my best opportunity to meet her.
“ Are you lost?” I asked.
“No, just looking for the bar.”
“Its round there on the left” I said pointing in the right direction. “The names Steve, are you from around here?”
“No I’m from the city!” she replied.
“Does the city girl have a name?”
“Jo, my name is Jo, okay small town boy!”
“At least I get out of here sometimes unlike… Oh I don’t know… every person in this tiny town. They barely leave their houses.” I said.
“ I’d hate that.” There was a long uneasy pause then she broke the silence by saying “Anyway, nice meeting you Steve, I got to get some drinks.” As she started to walk off I grabbed her hand and twisted her body around. “Can I have your number please Jo?” I asked, which was unusual for me because if it was anybody else I would of let her walk off.
“I just met you but your alright so what the hell.” She wrote it on my hand with the pen I got from Mark.
“Thanks.” Then she walked away.
“I can’t believe this day has arrived!” Mark said as we loaded the tour bus.
We packed our stuff into the underneath compartment of the bus and soon we were on our way to the State line.
Our first concert was Toronto; it was a quiet night because we were almost unheard of there. We did our thing, they cheered at the end. We were happy, next California, this one was a lot better tan Toronto because the crowd went crazy when Harry ripped his shirt off, we didn’t know he was going to do! I think he got taking away by the reaction of the audience, I don’t know.
Then it was Carolina, John got all the dates mixed up, that’s why the order of venues is all over the country. That means a lot of travelling, I’m thinking of sacking him when we get back.
We went to Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Atlanta, Capital City (Washington), Anaheim, Arizona, Montana, Utah, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada, Kansas, Iowa, South Carolina, Wisconsin, New Jersey, West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, and Tennessee, then there was Kentucky. My home state, good old dusty Kentucky, the place I grew up after emigrating from Rep of Ireland when I was 2 years old.
We got ready as usual and waited in the changing room for John to brief us, Mike wasn’t there and nobody knew why he wasn’t either. Then Mike walked in with John following him from behind. “What’s up Mike, you don’t look to happy?” Mark asked.
“I think you should tell them Mark.” John said in a depressed voice.
“ Can someone please tell me what’s happening here?” Harry burst out.
“It’s…It’s…It’s my headaches, there more serious than we all thought. It’s a lot more serious.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“I have a brain tumour!” he said, you could hear the lump in his throat!
“Dude, are you going to die?” Harry said soon after.
“It looks that way.”
“It’s all my fault, I kept telling you it was nothing!” Mark said as you he ran out the door. John followed Mark. He caught up with him and tried to calm him down and explain that it wasn’t his fault. But everyone knew it was Mark’s fault but no one dare say it or even whisper it. I think deep down Mike knew it was partly Mark’s fault; it was his as well because he believed him and stayed away from a doctor.
“Anyway guys, hmm… I just thought you should know so I got to go. I’ve got to have a cat scan at 5pm, see you boys later.”
He walked out leaving Harry and me in the darkened changing room. There was an awkward silence then finally I couldn’t bare it anymore and stormed out looking for someone or somewhere to be sad. I couldn’t be with Harry because he would think I was a loser, but he was sad too, I could see it in his deep blue eyes when I was in the room.
I scamper down the hallway looking for an open door to hide in and lick my wounds then as I turn the corner I stop still. In front of me there she was, talking to security. She looked my way, then turned back to the guard and said something then she turned back towards me and started walking quickly and in a rush. It was my babe I met on the dance floor a while back. It was Jo, the city girl.
“ Wow, something’s wrong isn’t it? I can see there is by your expression.”
I didn’t say anything and just stared into her brown eyes. “Well, thanks for the information!”
“It’s Mike…he’s ill.” I said eventually, I could barely speak I was so upset.
“O my goodness, I had no idea. What is it?”
“Brain tumour.” I answered quickly. Jo was taken back by it all.
“Mike died after 3 months, I got together with Jo, Harry got Katie, it got too much for Mark so he quit Tribute over depression. Now its just Harry on the drums, me bass guitar and main vocals and Harry backs me up. As a three we got two no.1 US hits. I think it’s better with the two of us really; it’s a lot more peaceful at times. But then again we do miss Mark and Mike.
Now the girls tour with us so that’s better. It means that Harry is finally faithful to someone. I’m really into Jo and I think she likes me.
I fired John eventually as soon as we got back. I said he was a risk to our careers and told him he was reliability. All that was true, and I think he knew it too. So as a replacement we got Geoff. He is so much more organised than John, he plans stuff out more and is overall much better at managing. We don’t have to go around to find gigs anymore, they come to use with an offer.
I was happily walking down a dusty road in the middle of nowhere, it was a hot summers day in Raleigh, North Carolina. I looked up and down the road several times on my journey. One way was our gear; the other way there was just a road, which went as far as you could see. I needed to have a break and get away from all the hassle and noise of our venue for the night. I stopped and sat down of what looked like a bus stop. I needed time to reflect on the previous year. I lied down on the bench and slowly dosed off in the warm heat of the sun.
