Breaking Stereotypes - Chapter 10

If you're a friend of mine, you probably know that I am writing a book called Breaking Stereotypes. Breaking Stereotypes is a Christian Rock band that starts in 2021. The lead guitar player and back-bone of the band, Sammy Hike gets killed in a tragic car accident two nights after the final show of the recent tour. John, the bass player hires his friend Christian to fill-in for Sammy to play along side of the lead singer Dakota and the drummer Zach. Throughout the book, the band will experience many down falls such as a battle with cancer and great moments between former enemies new to friendship.

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I woke up at 3:12 in the morning when I fell out of my bunk on the bus. We were on the road to Ohio. I hit my head on the steel floor so a headache was soon to follow. I looked to my right to find Christian snickering.

“What’re you laughing at?” I said sarcastically, “Go to sleep.”

“I don’t think I can now. You scared the crap out of me bro!” He said quietly laughing, “That was hilarious!”

“Yeah, I bet.” I whispered as I climbed back in my bed. The bus was jolting back and forth as it cruised down the interstate. As soon as I settled back in, I quickly climbed out, carefully walking to the kitchen area for some aspirin. Christian came into the living area and sat on the couch next to the driver. I took a bottle of Dr. Pepper out of the refrigerator and took my medicine. My head was pounding. I sat down next to Christian and opened up the blinds revealing the interstate.

“Busy morning out there isn’t it?” Christian said watching the many cars passing by going south.

“Oh yeah. The road is always busy believe it or not.” I replied. I looked at him and thought to myself for a second. “How do you like your first night?”

“I love it man. The bed is kind of hard but - ” I cut him off.

“The beds are always hard. We’re getting that fixed tomorrow. Dan is going to the nearest furniture store tomorrow afternoon with us then we are going to go eat before the show.”

“Great. I think my back is out of place from that bed though.” He said as he stood up and gripped onto the handlebars on the roof to prevent from falling. I sat back opening watching out of the window.

“You doing alright over there, bus driver?” I asked Dan.

“I’ve got my cup of coffee so I am good. About 200 more miles and we will be there.” He replied.

“Be safe. I’m going to back to bed.” I replied.

I woke up seven hours later to the smell of fresh caramel flavored coffee. I hopped out of my bunk to find Dakota, Chris and Katie on the couch watching the morning news. Zach was still sleeping.

“What’s on?” I asked, grabbing a coffee cup from the cabinet.

“Chaos, as usual." Chris said quietly.

“Dakota.” I whispered.

“Yes.” He replied.

“Make sure Believe is on the set-list. I need to speak before we play it tonight. Put it somewhere in the middle of the show.” I explained.

“I’ll do that now.” Katie said.

“Where’s Christian at?” I asked sipping my coffee.

“He’s outside on the stage practicing.” Katie said typing.

I walked off the bus and around to the stage. I ran up the stairs listening to the distorted guitar rumble from the speakers. I shook Cody’s hand as he finished setting up the last propane jet for testing.

“Beautiful scenery out here isn’t it?” I yelled. Christian acknowledged me and turned down his PRS guitar.

“Come again?” He replied.

“The scenery. The mountain views and grass layout all the way to the horizon.” We were in a field in the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. "It's beautiful."

“It’s gorgeous man. I’ve never seen anything like this honestly.” He replied.

“Stand clear!” Cody yelled.

“Oh watch out” I told Christian to back up unless he wanted to catch fire. “Pyro in three, two…” Propane flames shot up from the fire jet two feet directly in front of Christian and I.

“Oh my goodness that’s hot!!!” Christian yelled.

“You want to do a mock run real quick for the mix so you can get used to the fire?” I asked grabbing my in-ear monitors. “It’ll be a good time for Cody to test the propane birds.” In reality, mock performances never existed.

“Let’s go man.” He replied. I grabbed a microphone and stand and sat it where I would spend my night. I took the microphone and waved it in the air to the mixer. I whistled at Charlie for my brand new Traben Array five. I stooped down to grab my bass and monitor pack. I slung the guitar over my shoulder, clipping on my pack I walked back to the microphone.

“Let’s do ‘The Fall.’” I spoke into the microphone, “Cody, you ready?” He gave me a thumbs up, putting his headset on. I looked over to Christian and gave him thumbs up. He returned the gesture. The synth of ‘the Fall’ started playing through my in-ear monitors. I vividly remember Sammy recording the guitar in this song. I strummed my bass guitar, trying not to move to much so I could keep a close watch on Christian. He seemed to be doing fine on stage. I sung into my microphone as the background vocals right before the song ended. Cody ran on stage to check the propane lines one last time before lunch.

“How’d it feel?” I yelled.

“I think my eyebrows are singed off but that was awesome!” He replied.

“Put a little extra pump on the set tonight and you are golden my friend.”

“John. Thank you so much man. I’m living life right now.” Christian walked off stage and toward the bus. I took a good look at our new stage risers and lighting design.

“Aye, Cody!” I yelled.

“Yes sir.” He replied running up the stairs.

“Who designed this?” I asked eagerly.

“You’re boy Charlie. He’s a set carpenter too.” He replied.

“Aye, Charlie!” I yelled again not knowing if Charlie was still around or went to lunch, “I didn’t know that…”

“You need me?” Charlie said.

“Yeah. You did this?” I asked pointing out the whole set.

“I did. Do you like it?” He replied.

“Do I like it? I love it!” I exclaimed, “Did Chris know?” Chris was our production manager so Charlie had to check with him.

“Yes. I figured he would have told you.” Charlie replied.

“Well he didn’t. Great job man.” I explained walking away, “Hey wait… Here’s my bass…”

I walked off stage and Timphany pulled in beside our bus. Timphany was opening for us again tonight promoting their new album along side of our nine-day-old album. Before I climbed on my bus, I saw Joel and the band jump off their bus and run to the trailer that was carrying their band equipment for the show.

Eight o’clock came quick after running to Columbus for new mattresses, getting dinner and meeting fans, I was almost worn out. From my bunk, the bass from Timphany was shaking me. Katie came over to my bunk, crossed her arms and leaned my way.

“Yes ma’am?” I said softly. She held up a thin stack of set-lists’, “Your first set-list went great didn’t it?”

“It sure did!” She laughed as she leaned in to give me a soft kiss, “Now get ready. The curtain drops in ten minutes.”

“I’m on top of that right now.” I replied as I crawled from my bunk. Along with the stage, I changed my stage clothing. Instead of black and white, black and red. I thought it looked nice. I put on my vest, loosened up my tie and put a little “smell-good” on.

“You guys ready?” Zach said coming out of the bathroom.

“You’ve been in there forever. That Taco Bell must have taken a toll on you.” I replied, “Come on guys, let’s pray.”

Zach, Dakota, Katie, Christian and I walked outside and stood in the 67-degree weather. Chris had been outside for two hours helping with pyro set up and last minute prep on the side of the stage. Charlie came around with my bass and Dakota’s guitar. Christian had his PRS in the bus practicing so Charlie had Christian’s monitor pack on his belt. I looked to Christian while the pre-show mix was booming.

“Ready to rock?” I asked giving him a fist bump

.

“You know it.” He replied. Chris ran around the corner with his thumbs up.

“Time to walk!” He yelled. I wiggled my tie, butterflies multiplied in my stomach and made sure my bass was on and turned down. I walked up the stairs shaking hands with Rocky. The curtain covered the whole width of the stage so Katie came on stage.

“This curtain is going to drop and there is going to be thousands of people jumping up and down for you, how cool is that?” Katie said.

“It rocks! Though, I do nothing compared to what He did.” I replied as the Choral and orchestral music queued over the speakers, “Time to go!” I gave her a kiss and she walked down the stairs at stage left. The intro music came to an end and a blank concussion shot in the air as the reveal curtain dropped. Strobes and red lights flashed everywhere and noticed many, many people with their hands up. Our first show without Sammy had begun and it was abnormal in a way. I watched Christian during the third song. He had caught on real well and was maneuvering around perfect with the noise and pyrotechnics. Before our fourth song, Dakota took a break to talk to the crowd.

“How’re we feeling?” I asked Christian as I took a big gulp of my water behind the stage.

“Dude I have never felt so pumped in my life. I’m in a zone. I don’t know how to describe it man…” He replied wiping off his forehead. I remembered back to when Charlie told me about being in the zone.

“Keep praying.” I said.

“Huh?” Christian asked in confusion.

“Keep praying.” I said, “Keep praying and focus. Don’t just focus on the fans while you’re on stage, focus on God and your gift. Don’t go a day without it.”

“I hear that man.” He replied.

“That… is the true zone.” I said as I walked to the boardwalk for my bass intro. I got to the very end of the stage repeating choppy, fast riffs. I looked around making eye contact with a few fans. I even smiled for a few cameras. Christian revved up his guitar with a delay and reverb. I turned around and ran back to the main stage as Dakota started singing. Many songs were played and my new suit was soaked in sweat due to my adrenaline and the propane flames. The band walked off as I stayed on stage settling the crowd down for a talk.

“How’re you doing Ohio?” I yelled into the microphone, “I’m loving you guys tonight! It’s a wild party out here.”

I wiped off some sweat, wiped off my bass and adjusted my hair. “My brand new suit is drenched but I don’t care. No place I would rather be than with you guys, I love you!”

“For those who don’t know my name, I am John Willoughby. I play bass, obviously.” I chuckled.

“I have never talked on stage but before this next song, I want to share something with you guys. This morning, I woke up to the news. We all see a lot of violence in this world but a big personal problem we deal with today… is depression and suicide.”

I gulped, not knowing how the crowd was going to take this speech that God gave me. I was leading the following of the Spirit.

“This next song, is a call from Jesus Christ to those who are hurting. Depression is a huge thing. I had depression during my years as a young adult. Depression can be caused from abuse, violence, and negligence. Some of you out here have been told you are a loser. Some of you have been told that you are worthless and stupid but I am here tonight to tell you that you are worth the world to Jesus Christ. I want to tell you about the greatest love story in the history of mankind and this is a quote from the Holy Bible. John 3:16 says ‘For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.’” The crowd up roared, “Jesus Christ believes that you are worth dying for! He believes you are worth it. Some of you have thought about suicide. Some have tried to commit suicide. Some of you are cutters but there is hope from your depression. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” Whatever you’re going through, if you need peace and rest tonight, I want you to know that no matter how big your storm is, no matter what your past holds, no matter what someone has told you, there is a God out there. He’s not on top of mountain somewhere being busy. He is right beside you holding your hand through those trials. Jesus Christ loves you just the way you are tonight, enough to die for you and to carry your burdens for you. Give your burdens to Him tonight. If you can relate to that, this song is for you.” The crowd was silent. I saw many people with tears in their eyes. The band had come back on stage as I walked back to my main spot to play bass. The spirit of God was moving so much I was almost in tears. Christian started strumming the acoustic guitar as blue and white lights focused on Dakota.

By the end of the night, my fingers were bleeding and my neck was hurting. Katie was still on the side of the stage beside Cody watching the show. I turned and gave her a wink right before we ended our first set of the new tour. We ended another successful night with a bang.

“God’s been moving.” Charlie said as he took my bass.

“He’s surely been moving buddy…” I said as I patted him on the back. Katie came and grabbed my hand.

“Boy you rink. You haven’t smelt this bad in a while.” Katie said.

“You should have seen me and the boys the first night we had propane.” I replied, “and you think this is bad…” I wiped my face nearing the bus. I looked behind me and saw Christian near the stage still talking with Chris. I had no idea where Dakota was but Zach ran past me real fast yelling. “Last one to the bus has to tune guitars tomorrow!”

I took note real fast. Katie and I took off running what short distance we had left. Zach and I both got stuck in the door and looked at each other.

“So does this mean Katie has to tune the guitars tomorrow?” I asked. We all laughed and dismantled ourselves from being lodged in the door. I walked onto the bus behind Katie and smelt coffee.

“Dan, are you trying to make me stay up all night?” I joked. Coffee was my weakness.

“Of course. You’re driving tonight aren’t you?” He smiled and laughed. Later that night at 12:30 am, we were rolling to Green Bay, Wisconsin for our next show. Everybody was already settled in bed and asleep. Katie and I were cuddled up on the couch watching The Emperor’s New Groove. Kuzco and Pacha were fixing to tumble over the edge of a waterfall, which is hands down the funniest scene of the movie.

Within thirty minutes, Katie was fast asleep on my shoulder. I was scared to move because I did not want to wake her up. I turned down the television and looked out the windshield to find that we were on the empty interstate behind two semi trucks. I looked back at Katie as she started snoring. I giggled softly, holding back a laugh that was fixing to bust out of my system. The past three months have been some of the best months of my life. All I could think was that I still love her after nine years.