Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,26

their lives.

The band had just finished playing a show in Pensacola. Laura was able to make this trip.

“You guys were great...as usual,” she said, confirming the roar of the crowd. Red Lawn had quite a buzz in the state of Florida, all their shows were packed.

“Yes, you were,” a long blonde haired man said.

“Thanks.”

The man extended his hand. “I’m Eric Wayne, head of Circle Records.” Circle Records was a local record label that helped launch the careers of a lot of Florida bands. The guys of Red Lawn knew very well of Eric Wayne.

“Nice to meet you.” Cody shook his hand.

“You guys sound good. I’m thinkin’ you might be right for my label.” Eric had a thick New York accent. He moved to Florida to escape the cold and depressing winters. A lucky investment in a tech stock helped him start the record label. He made it a success on his own.

Cody had taken on the leadership role of the group, much to Alex’s dismay. He answered quickly, “I think we’d be interested.” He looked around at the other guys. “Of course, we need to discuss it.”

“Of course,” Eric said, already knowing what the answer would be. “Here’s my card. There’s a cell phone number on it. Call it when you make your decision, but don’t take too long.” His caution was more selfish than altruistic, he didn’t want to lose them to someone else.

“Sure, we understand.” Cody took the card.

“I look forward to hearing from you,” Eric said, turned, and walked away.

The guys were psyched. They couldn’t believe it. Laura was thrilled for them

“It’s all happening for you,” she whispered in Cody’s ear.

He hugged her tightly.

Yes, it was.

The next day Cody called Eric and accepted his offer. They agreed to meet two days later in Gainesville for lunch.

Alex was skeptical.

“Let’s not sign up right away,” he cautioned before the lunch.

“Dude, we’re not going to, but he’s the only way we can really break into the business,” Bobby said, frustrated at Alex’s downer attitude. “It’s not like other record companies are knocking down our door.”

“I’m not saying he can’t do a lot for us, I just think we should be cautious.”

“We will be,” Cody interrupted, “Now let’s go to the meeting before we’re late and lose the deal.”

They met Eric Wayne at a small café. Eric was all business. He pulled the contract from his briefcase. A large red circle with a black music note in the center, his company’s logo, was emblazoned across the top. That was the only simple thing about the contract. Under the logo were two pages of the smallest type any of the boys had ever seen.

“I know it looks scary,” Eric admitted, “but, it’s all basic and customary kinda stuff. It just ensures I get my cut, a small cut I promise.”

Cody skimmed the contract with his eyes, overwhelmed, by the legalese. “Can you give us a moment?” he asked Eric.

“Yeah, sure, take your time.” Eric walked away from the table, stepping outside to smoke a cigarette.

“We should probably have a lawyer look at this,” Cody said.

“We should.” For once Alex agreed with him.

“Okay, nice thought,” Harper countered, “but who can afford one?”

“We can’t,” Bobby answered the rhetorical.

Cody leaned back, “So what do we do?”

Alex thought aloud. “Well, Circle Records is legit, we know that. I mean they launched the careers of those other Florida bands...Fearless Five and...and what was the other one?”

“Linus,” Harper answered. “Fearless Five hit it big, Linus only had that one song that did okay.”

“Well, in many respects we control that part of our destiny. Linus didn’t really have any other great songs,” Alex rationalized.

Cody looked the contract over again. He kind of understood it. “Look we either go with it or we lose this chance.” He paused. “I say we do it.”

“I agree,” Bobby said.

“Me too,” Harper chimed in.

They all looked at Alex. “Who am I to disagree?” he said.

They called Eric back in and signed the contract.

“Okay,” Eric said, “now that you’re with me, we can talk honestly. First, we need to discuss the name. I know you’re creating buzz with Red Lawn, but the name is a bit dry. The name doesn’t say much about you.”

The guys looked at each other in shock. They were Red Lawn.

“Well, won’t people not know us anymore?” Cody asked.

“That’s a fair question, but consider this. Most bands change their original names because they’re not catchy enough. If the music is good, which yours is, people are gonna to come see you