Adam throws himself completely into music after Blake leaves. He sits around the house for a few long days, talks very little and cries quite a lot, with only a guitar for company. But after that, he’s determined as fuck to be successful. He doesn’t want to look too closely at whether it might be a competitive need to be better than Blake, but his first move is to call up a few guys from his old high school.
They’re guys that he knows are good musicians, guys that he’s been kind-of friends with, but who he could see himself being much better friends with in the future. They get together, write some music, and drive around L.A. presenting to every record label that allows them through the front door.
It’s a slog, but when they finally think they’ve made it, there’s elation - and then complete disappointment. The album they’ve created, the album they’ve worked so hard at, is expected to do well, and doesn’t.
It’s after that, that Adam finds himself feeling worse than he has since Blake left, and it’s then, in a moment of absolute weakness, that he Googles Blake Shelton.
Record contract. Number one debut single on the Country Billboard chart and two more that went to top twenty. Adam refuses point blank to listen to any of it, until he’s enrolled in college with Jesse, out in the car, and the track comes on the radio.
Adam can’t bring himself to reach out and press the button, so he listens to Blake’s voice fill the car, the strum of the guitar that Adam knows he’s playing himself. There’s that familiar warble to his voice, the addictive Southern accent, and it’s about halfway through the song that Adam realizes there’s a tear falling down his cheek. He clears his throat, changes the station, and pushes down on the accelerator a little harder.
It’s a couple of years later when everybody in the formerly-named Kara’s Flowers decides they’re fed up of college, and they meet again in Adam’s Mom’s house. They’re back in the studio at the back of the house, all picking up their respective instruments, and it feels right.
It’s not until a friend of Adam’s parents, Jordan, stops by a rehearsal and listens to them, that they get another chance. And god bless the man, Adam loves him so much, because Jordan quits his job so that he can manage the band. It’s then, when Jordan puts that much faith in them, that Adam realizes this could maybe, with a little luck, happen.
They work with Jordan closely, putting together what feels like the thirtieth demo, and after a whole lot more rejection, Sunday Morning finally gets the attention of someone. Someone turns out to be Ben Berkman, and they’ve met before. Adam can’t quite contain his absolute relief when, on seeing him and the band perform live, someone finally gives them a more concrete agreement. They’re told to find a new guitar player, free up Adam himself for moving around the stage a little more, change the name of the band, and they’ll sign them.
James joins them after that, they change their name to Maroon 5, and finally, they’re getting somewhere.
Adam writes an album with the support of the band, writes a track out of sheer frustration that the label deems to be ‘lead single’ material, Harder to Breathe. And it’s that very track that helps them on their way.
It’s during that period of time that it’s easiest for Adam to shed any thoughts of Blake Shelton. Maroon 5 are finally going places, Harder to Breathe makes it onto the radio, and Songs About Jane, their debut album under the new name, makes it into the top 20, twenty six months after they first released it. It’s a long time coming, but fuck, is it worth it.
They spend the following three years touring pretty much non-stop, with the likes of John Mayer, Jason Mraz and the fucking Rolling Stones. Adam’s still not sure the gravity of it all has hit him; he honestly doesn’t think it ever will.
He’s consistently straight these days, picking out whatever girl looks the polar opposite of Blake Shelton, and almost managing to convince himself that he’s happy about it. They drink too much, smoke too much grass, sleep around too much, but it feels like things are coming together, and Adam wouldn’t give it up for the world at the moment.
The band pretty much goes from strength to strength. The second album does ridiculously well, as do the singles from it. Adam and the guys cry a little over the success, and they embark on more and more performances; they do a world tour, which feels like the biggest deal yet, they perform on American Idol, they record with Rihanna, and still it doesn’t really sink in. They accept it though. They accept that they’re now featured on TV shows, they’re recording with world-renowned artists, and Adam in particular seems to get recognized everywhere they go.
Through it all, Adam manages to steer clear of all thoughts related to Blake Shelton, for fear of having a complete breakdown. He still catches the odd piece of news related to the guy, and he still has a hard time dealing.
It’s in February of the next year that The Voice is pitched to Adam with Carson Daly already signed up as the host, and he signs up pretty much on the spot.
