Authors: Michelle Mankin
As he pulled a custom Martin acoustic off its stand and slung a guitar strap over his broad shoulders, Avery found herself admiring both the guitar and the handsome man in the form fitting grey t-shirt and worn jeans who was getting ready to play it. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she looked around for an amp to plug in her electric.
Watching her get settled, Marcus asked,
“
How do you like to warm up?
”
Avery
’
s face heated up as she thought of several ways involving the two of them that had nothing to do with music.
“
How about some Zeppelin?
”
she suggested, rather than voicing her thoughts.
Marcus
’
face registered his surprise.
“
You
’
re kind of young to be into Zeppelin, aren
’
t you?
”
“
Zeppelin is classic,
”
she said in a serious tone raising one eyebrow.
“
Marcus, how old
are
you, anyway?
”
“
Twenty-nine.
”
“
Whoa, you are ancient,
”
she teased.
“
I
’
m nearly twenty, so don
’
t be giving me all that,
‘
I
’
m so much older than you
’
crap.
”
His blue eyes sparkled,
“
Bro, it
’
s not the age. It
’
s the mileage. And I
’
m a high mileage model, ok?
”
“
Yeah, right.
”
Avery laughed.
“
Anyway, I grew up listening to my mom
’
s music: Van Halen, Aerosmith, Heart, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, The Who. In my humble opinion, there hasn
’
t been any great music since the seventies
…”
Marcus started to object, but she lifted a hand to stop him, snickering,
“
Except for Brutal Strength of course!
”
He gave her a cute little half smile, top lip curving up ever so slightly and his eyes crinkling up at the corners.
“
Ok, Ok, I agree with you in part, but I think you can
’
t discount the impact of later bands like Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Guns and Roses, and U2
…
Hey wait a minute! Van Halen is more of an eighties band, isn
’
t it?
”
“
Whatever. Van Halen gets a pass with me, though.
”
“
Why
’
s that?
”
“
Three words.
Eddie Van Halen.
”
“
Ha!
Agreed.
That guy is in a league all his own.
”
“
He's one of the reasons I picked up the guitar.
”
“
Ok, what
’
s the other?
”
“
My mom.
She used to play professionally. My Martin acoustic was hers.
”
Feeling her emotions welling up, she turned her back to him, not thinking it would be very manly to let him see how much she missed her mom.
Marcus hesitated to ask, feeling pretty sure he wouldn
’
t like the answer.
“
Why doesn
’
t your mom play anymore, Avery?
”
“
She died when Justin and I were eight.
”
Avery sighed. In all the ways that mattered, she
’
d lost both parents that day.
“
I
’
m sorry. That must have been rough.
”
First his mom, now his brother.
Damn, this kid had been through a lot.
Avery
’
s throat constricted with the familiar deep-rooted sorrow that always seemed to bubble up when she talked about her mom. She took a sip of tea. Hoping to change the subject, she joked,
“
Justin always teased me that I had a crush on Eddie.
”
Marcus head snapped up in surprise.
“
What?
”
“
Oh, I mean a man-crush,
”
Avery recovered quickly.
“
I wanted to be him and all.
”
She fumbled around, picking at her guitar nervously.
“
Wanna
do
‘
Ramble On?
’”
“
Sure.
”
Marcus nodded.
He played the acoustic intro perfectly and as they began the lyrics together, she couldn
’
t help but admire his singing. He wasn
’
t Robert Plant, but he had no trouble hitting any of the high notes, either.
“
I didn
’
t realize you had such a great voice,
”
Avery commented in a surprised tone when they finished.
“
Thanks, so do you. But I
’
m curious, why that would surprise you?
”
“
Well.
”
She hesitated for a moment, wanting to phrase the question in a way that didn
’
t sound critical.
“
Most of Brutal Strength
’
s songs don
’
t really require vocal acrobatics, do they?
”
“
No they don
’
t, Avery. You
’
re right. Our stuff is pretty simple. After our first album, I went the route that the label wanted, and sold my soul to the devil, artistically speaking. I hope you don
’
t fall into that same trap. For far too long, I
’
ve let others define my music. I refuse to bend to that pressure anymore. Music to me is about personal expression. Anyway, from now on, I plan to go back to writing music I would want to hear.
”
They tinkered around a bit, each working with different melodies. Avery watched him surreptitiously. There was something so sexy about this man, especially with his guitar. Totally engrossed, his dark hair fell forward concealing his face, and his lean chest muscles flexed enticingly as he cradled the guitar and strummed.
He drove her to distraction.
‘
Get your head in the game, girl. Don
’
t forget what a privilege it is to be hanging out with a world class musician like him.
’
Thoughts under control, at least for the moment, she asked him if he had any ideas for the album.
“
I do actually. Don
’
t laugh. It
’
s a departure from the typical Brutal Strength blueprint, but I was thinking of doing a concept album with love being the theme. You know, simple but deep. How those we love and who love us shape who we become- the power love has to transform us. What do you think?
”
She nodded, immediately.
“
I think that is an incredible idea.
”
“
I already have a melody running around in my head that I was thinking of turning into a song about my brother.
”
Noticing Avery
’
s almost imperceptible stiffening on the stool next to him, he apologized,
“
I
’
m sorry, Avery. I forgot. I didn
’
t think for a minute. I
’
m such an ass.
”
He put his hand reassuringly on her arm.
Avery received an instant electrical charge from his touch just like the last time. Her eyes flashed up to his, and he pulled his hand away immediately.
“
No, no. It
’
s ok,
”
she stammered.
“
Really.
I like your idea a lot. And a song would be a good way to honor my brother
’
s memory. Could we make it a tribute to both our brothers?
”
“
I think that would be perfect, Avery. I
’
m not really good with words. I can write melodies all day long but writing lyrics is torture. But I wanted the words to say something about how Dwight
’
s always looking out for me.
”
“
Yeah, Justin was the same way.
”
Only in a much more serious way than Dwight, she was sure.
“
Let me hear what you have so far with the music.
”
He started playing a tumbling rock riff on his acoustic.
She smiled.
“
You know, I think I hear the influence of Heart
’
s
‘
Barracuda
’
in there. Everything comes back to the seventies.
Just saying.
”
Marcus chuckled in response.
They spent a couple of hours working with the hook, the catchy guitar riff Marcus had already laid out for the song. They used the
Korg
to create some basic drums and bass tracks to round things
out,
knowing Dwight and JR could add better ones later.
The lyrics Avery made into a back and forth banter between an older and younger brother and the chorus became
…
Oh brother why
’
re you always bossing me?
Think you know what
’
s best for me
Brothers love, brothers fight
Brothers take years to get it right
They ran through the whole song one last time, recorded it, and sent it over to Dalton in digital format. Avery
’
s stomach growled, loudly. She self-consciously glanced at Marcus to see if he had noticed.
“
Holy cow!
What was that?
”
He had, obviously.
“
Very funny.
”
She smiled and looked around for a clock.
“
What time is it, anyway?
”
she asked, not able to remember eating anything since breakfast.
“
Seven,
”
Marcus informed her after looking at his watch.
“
Wow.
”
Her eyebrows rose.
“
Yeah, I know.
”
He smiled, eyes crinkling, and a slight dimple appeared in his left cheek.
“
Time flies when you
’
re writing a gold record, huh?
”
He thought for a minute.
“
I don
’
t really have anything in the house. Do you want to go out to get something?
”
“
Sure.
”
She smiled back, starting to realize that his dimpled smile usually preceded a painfully corny attempt at humor, like that one.
“
What did you have in mind?
”
Her stomach growled again.
“
I don
’
t know. I can barely hear myself think over that racket.
”
He pushed Avery
’
s shoulder with his own.
“
We better feed that thing.
How about sushi?
”
“
Raw fish?
Gross!
”
“
Have you ever tried it?
”
She shook her head.
“
Hey, don
’
t look so shocked, Mr. Rock Star. That stuff is a little expensive for starving artists to afford. Most of us think we
’
re lucky to get a gourmet fast food meal every once in a while.
”