(Complete) Nashville is a great place to live, except when you long for home. Does Rob return to his family or try to make his relationship work?
Topping the charts and playing to millions of fans is a dream come true, but being a country star isn'...
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Nash Kirkland dragged himself out of bed after noon. Happy Fourth of July. It felt good to be in his own bed. His band Almost Heaven had been on tour for three months. It had been one blur of lights, screams, and practically naked women trying to get at them. Up all night, sleep on the bus, do it all over again.
They had finished the night before with a concert at the Ascend, the outdoor venue in Nashville. For the next two months, he and the guys would be home before they went back out.
Nashville wasn't really home, and neither was Morgantown, where he met Clyde and Tyler. He found Clyde first. His friend was strumming his guitar under a tree on the WVU campus. Music was in Nash's soul. His momma told him his daddy was a talented musician, but the music killed him. Nash was pretty sure it was the liquor he drank after getting into a fight with his pregnant girlfriend. Maybe it was the tree which somehow got in the way of his car. Either way, he stopped making music, and she raised twin boys, mostly on her own. Mostly because of the string of boyfriends she had over the course of twenty-five years.
He had walked up to Clyde and said, "Gibson?"
He looked up and nodded. "You play?"
"Yup. I got my daddy's old Gibson. He almost made it big before he got sent to heaven." He knew the look. Clyde was ready to spew some platitudes. He held up his hand like a traffic cop. "I never knew him. He left me with his guitar and some talent. I plan to do what he never did."
"What's that?"
"Make it in Nashville."
"Maybe we can go together."
They hooked up with Tyler after they started playing for anyone who would listen. Tyler was a drummer and a Yankee. Nash and Clyde were skeptical of his commitment to country music. He had proven them right, but he was committed to their fame.
A year after Clyde graduated, Nash left school. They had enough of a local following to make a demo and were ready to take on Nashville. It wasn't easy, and they nearly starved, but they made it. Almost Heaven, named for the state where they met which none of them were from, had three hits on the debut album they had self produced. He renamed one from The Girl Next Door to 'Almost Heaven'
That was the past. They had a manager, a tour manager, a publicist, and the best label in Nashville owned by Beau Haywood. The man had invited them to his big ass house for a Fourth of July party.
Nash was exactly where he wanted to be. He did what his father couldn't, and he did it sober - mostly sober. He had a beer once in a while. Only Tyler tipped the bottle, but he was the bad boy. Wesley, their manager, and Angel, their publicist, worked overtime keeping Tyler in line. More than once, he and Clyde had reminded each other he was easily replaced. He didn't even sing.
Nash wondered if he could stay home, but the answer was no, even if he said he had a breakthrough with his writing. His job for the next two months was to write some hits so they could go back into the studio. The problem was he lacked inspiration, and hiding inside to avoid the sweltering heat was not his idea of summer. He thought about going home, but it wasn't really home anymore.
