Chapter 4 #3
They were about to head back into the studio when Dean turned to Colton, a horrified look plastered on his face. ”Shit! Where are my manners? Can I get you something to drink? I’ve got water, tea, soda, wine, beer, liquor.”
Colton considered his options. “How about a beer?”
“Coming up! If I’m not careful, they’ll take away my southern card for not taking care of my guest!” Dean joked as he walked backward toward the kitchen.
Colton wandered into the studio and looked around the large space. He enjoyed playing guitar, but he never really thought that much about music, or how it was made. The vast array of knobs, buttons, and controls on the mixing board made his head spin.
He picked up a guitar off a stand, settled into a stool, and began to strum a few notes.
Dean returned from the kitchen with two beers.
“Oh no, no, no.” Dean tsked.
“What?”
“Your posture is terrible! You’re all hunched over.” Dean walked behind Colton, placed one hand on his lower back and pulled his shoulders back into a tall, upright position. “Sit up tall, like Baby in Dirty Dancing. There! Better.”
Colton felt a tingle in his belly and a jolt up the back of his neck when Dean touched him, but he had no clue what Dean was talking about. “Huh? What do you mean ‘sit up tall, like baby’?”
Dean chuckled and poked his shoulder. “It’s from an old movie. You’re too serious for your own good. Try playing again.”
Colton began to play again, amazed at the improvement. “Wow! Just that one small change makes such a difference.”
“Yep. Poor posture can really affect your fingering and pick work. This should improve your overall execution. And your back will feel better.”
Dean grabbed another guitar and sat on the stool next to Colton. “Hey. Wanna work on a song together?”
Colton smiled with a little gasp. “That would be amazing! But I have no idea what to do. I just play random notes.”
Dean began strumming some chords. “Well, that’s how any song begins, really, just playing around until you land on something. So, let’s just riff and see what happens. But first, would you mind if we posted a pic on my socials?”
“I don’t mind, as long as you tag me,” Colton said as he felt himself smiling again with a nervous flip in his stomach. Geez, he was acting like a teenager. He really needed to reel it in.
Dean set up his phone on a tripod, set the timer for the photo, and rushed back to the stool next to Colton.
The picture came out great…both Dean and Colton strumming their guitars, side by side on stools, with soft ambient lighting.
Dean posted the pic on Instagram with the caption:
Jam sesh with @CM24
During short breaks in their messing around, Dean showed Colton the recording deck and how to use the DAW—Digital Audio Workstation—on his laptop.
He had Colton speak the word ‘hey’ into the microphone and dragged the audio file into the DAW.
Then, using the keyboard, each note played was a different sound of Colton’s voice…
low ‘hey’, medium ‘hey’, high ‘hey’, even super helium-high ‘hey’.
Colton was amazed at the technology at Dean’s disposal, and at how awful his voice sounded with each note on the keyboard.
After a few guitar sessions, and a few breaks, not landing on any solid ideas, they strolled out to the kitchen to grab another beer.
“Does it always take this long to come up with an idea?” Colton hopped on a stool at the kitchen island, taking a beer from Dean.
“Oh yeah. Sometimes it takes me a solid week, sometimes weeks, to land on a good idea for a song. You just have to keep at it, until you eventually find it.” Dean cracked open his beer and hoisted himself up to sit on the counter facing Colton.
“Doesn’t it get frustrating?” he asked, sipping his beer.
“It can. But that’s kind of the part I love most. It’s exciting, like searching for buried treasure.”
“That’s a very positive way of looking at it.” Colton chuckled with yet another smile.
“Well, I find nothing good usually comes from getting frustrated or aggravated. It’s all about perspective.”
“I’d like to keep trying, if it’s ok with you. It would be really cool to make a song with you.”
“I’d love that. But we’re going to have to cut it soon. It’s getting late.”
Colton looked at his watch, surprised to see he’d been at the loft with Dean for four hours. Where had the time gone?
“Shit! I didn’t realize the time. I’ve got practice at six am tomorrow.”
“Alright, just let me know when you want to get together again to work on the song. And, if I think of any ideas, I’ll shoot you a message.”
As Dean walked Colton to the door, he proclaimed, “Ooh, I almost forgot. I’m doing a show here in town next Saturday night. Would you like to come? You can bring Sophie.”
Because of her busy schedule, Sophie and Colton didn’t see one another as often as they liked. Sophie loved the club lifestyle and often posted pics and videos of her partying in clubs around the world. She'd be in town next weekend to visit Colton. He knew she would enjoy the show.
“Sure, we would love that, but I’m not sure if I’ll ‘get’ the show.”
“You’ll have fun, I promise.” Dean winked. “I’m glad you reached out. This was fun.”
Colton smiled. His cheeks were gonna be sore for a week from all this smiling. “Me too. I learned a lot about music tonight. Maybe I can teach you about football sometime?”
“I’d love that.” Dean gave Colton a pat on the shoulder. “Let’s get together soon.”
A few days later, Dean sent Colton a message…
Dean: Hey! This idea popped into my head last night. It’s not a new song, but maybe we can remake it?
He had attached a video of himself playing piano, singing “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce.
Colton watched the video, marveling at Dean's beautiful voice and impressive skills on the piano.
He was singing his own version of the song, which had a slightly different rhythm and melody from the original. It was a moving rendition and Colton felt another small stirring in his chest.
Colton: OMG, I fucking love it! That's my mom's favorite song!