Ghost In The Guitar - 3. The Competition Performs

Fabian drove home on a high that could never be achieved with drugs. Not that he would know what a drug-induced high was anyway. He’d never touched the stuff. He was perplexed about the voice he heard. That was a new one for him.

He only had one nearly unbelievable explanation. Russell haunted the guitar.

When he put his head on the pillow that night, he heard it again.

“Goodnight, Fabian.”

It took him a long time to fall asleep. It wasn’t just the guitar.

******************************

On Saturday, it was Donte Fitzpatrick from Aberdeen, Scotland’s turn. While he was the best guitarist of the three from a technical standpoint, his work on a few of the more difficult passages wasn’t nearly as good as Fabian’s. Donte chose well for the three songs he submitted; but they were his best performances.

Donte missed quite a few notes during his rendition of Buried Alive. And not just in the solo. He wasn’t even aware that he was using Russell Anderson’s guitar for it.

The band told him they’d let him know of their decision by the end of the next day. After he left, the band all gave him a thumbs down.

Sunday arrived and Wallace Romero from Daly City, California walked into the studio. He was even less familiar with S&S’s catalog, although he’d been practicing it for the past five weeks. He was visibly disappointed when he was asked to play Buried Alive with a strange guitar. Again, he didn’t recognize the significance.

He was even less impressive overall than Donte. Wallace didn’t need to wait to learn that he wasn’t chosen. The band thanked him and wished him well in his music career, but indicated it wouldn’t include playing with S&S.

Neither Donte nor Wallace heard any voices.

The guys then had a short discussion about Fabian.

Nigel began, “Well, he obviously knew the catalog. Everything we asked him to play was part of our set on the last tour. And fuck, if he didn’t nail that solo. Do we think we should move forward with him?”

Yves agreed, “I do, it was like we were listening to Russell play. Even the timing for the last notes was dead on, gradually longer, slow notes. I’ve heard lots of failed attempts at getting that just right.”

Alex raised a concern, “But what about his age? He’s eight to ten years younger than all of us. We’d have to watch the alcohol use around him. Do you think we can trust him to keep away from it for a year and a half?”

Ryan voiced his concern, “I’d rather take my chances, and even babysit him than go through another search. He seemed mature enough that he’d listen to our guidance.”

Reid echoed Ryan’s concern, “I think more often I’d be babysitting him than you, Ryan. But he definitely has the chops.”

Nigel answered his own question as well, “I think it’s worth taking a chance on him. We might need to guide him more during the writing phase, but I think we can make it work.”

The rest of them agreed. A disembodied voice filled the room, “Keep him.”

Everyone looked around, expecting to see someone else. Nigel reacted first.

“You all heard that, didn’t you?”

Yves answered first, “If I didn’t know better I’d say that was Russell.”

Ryan shuddered, “I have shivers running down my spine.”

Alex looked like it scared the shit out of him, “We couldn’t have just heard Russell, could we?”

Nigel tried to calm Alex, “It would be creepier if it wasn’t Russell.”

Reid concluded, “I’d have to think that settles it. It’s as if that was some kind of sign. He’s in.”

Nigel passed the buck on the financial aspects. “You’ll need to take care of the business end with him, Reid. Maybe start him out with a three-quarter share until we know what he can do once we get into the studio.”

Reid agreed, “That might work. So, should we give him a call?”

Nigel agreed, “Let’s do it.”

Down in South Jersey, Fabian looked at his phone, “Little M Studios, Morristown, NJ. I guess they made their choice.”

Fabian took a deep breath and exhaled, “Hello.”

“Good evening, Fabian. Reid Leon here with the guys from S&S.”

“Hi Reid, everyone.”

“I’ll cut right to the chase. We’ve listened to all three finalists and talked it over. We’ve decided that you’re our guy.”

“No way!”

Nigel counted down on his fingers, three-two-one, they all said, “Congratulations!”

“Oh, man. I knew I had a chance after the audition, but I figured the other two guys had to be good, too.”

Nigel continued, “They were, but it wasn’t really even close.”

Fabian considered mentioning the voice, but then he didn’t want them to think he was crazy. Hell, he wasn’t even sure about it himself.

“So, what’s next?”

Reid answered, “I’ll work up a basic contract for you. For now, you’ll act as a subcontractor to the band. We’ll be heading into the studio to start on the new record after the first of the new year. Until then, feel free to stay with your band. We’ll probably have a few zoom meetings with you between now and then. Initially, mostly about the business end, but we’ll want to get your input as we start going through the songs.”

“Do I need to move up north?”

Nigel took this one, “It would be best. I’ll work with you and Reid on that, I think we can help out with the logistics and funding, should you need help.”

“Okay. I’ll start planning for a move in early January.”

Yves threw out another comment, “The green Les Paul will be waiting for you.”

“Um, yeah. Thanks.”

They all said goodbye and Fabian disconnected.

The voice was heard from again, “It’s yours now.”

Fabian was more than a little flustered.

******************************

A week later, Fabian got an email from Reid inviting him to a zoom call the next day, Monday, December 7th.

Reid went over the terms of the contract. Initially, Fabian would be paid a flat rate for the first six months. By that time, enough work on a new album would have been completed and a new contract, giving him a percentage of everything the band made, would be provided.

Reid suggested he have a lawyer look at it before signing it. Fabian said he had a cousin in Philadelphia that was a corporate lawyer and dealt with contracts all the time. He’d ask him to take a look.

“It starts the first of January, so get on that quickly. We can pro-rate it if you sign after the first. Have you looked into a move yet?”

“I spoke with Nigel, he suggested an apartment in Morristown. I think that will work with me making ten grand a month.”

“Don’t forget the $20,000 signing bonus.”

“Oh, I won’t. That will be more than enough to move me.”

“Great. I’ll set up calls for Mondays and Thursdays, starting this Thursday, to start the discussions on the new songs.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll get two-fifty for your time on each of those calls. I’ll get that set up as soon as we get the signed contract back.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“You’re part of the team. No reason to work for free.”

“Okay. Thanks Reid.”

“You’re welcome. Talk to you again on Thursday.”

“Bye.”

Fabian disconnected and wondered aloud, “How the hell am I going to be able to provide input on new songs?”

He wasn’t expecting an answer, but got one anyway.

“I’ll help you.”

Next Up - Moving, Recording, and Haunting