An Angel's Tail

Chapter 25

After graduation, Honey, Kitty, Brad, and I all decided to buy a house together with the help of our parents. As planned, we'd formed our own band, along with our friend, Kelly, whom we met in the support group, and her husband, Tyler. Kelly was also a vocalist, and she played the Irish flute. Tyler played the bodhrán, which is an Irish drum. We all decided to call our band "Cairdeas," the Irish word for "Friendship." As we looked for gigs and ways to gain exposure, Honey decided to give private voice lessons to beginner vocalists. Brad took a job at a music store, where Tyler was already the manager. Kelly took a job as a waitress at a nearby café. Kitty took a job as a babysitter. I, however, could not handle a regular job due to my disability, so I decided to look around for open mic nights and other ways to get our music heard. We agreed on starting a YouTube channel, which I gladly set up. We updated the recording equipment and software our parents had bought us many years ago, as well as a new camera. We set up our own recording and video studio in our house with the equipment, including lights and a greenscreen for different background effects. We practiced, recorded, filmed, and uploaded all the time. Meanwhile, I kept looking around town for open mic nights. Soon, I found one that was being held at a nightclub not too far from our house. We performed a few songs there, and were offered a few gigs at an Irish pub and a few Celtic music events. As for our YouTube channel, we were slowly gaining traction. We did many covers of popular songs, but with our own Celtic and classical crossover twist. We also put out some original songs. We were working on our very first official album.

"Really?" Brad was on the phone, and seemed very excited. "That's great! Okay, thank you so much! Yeah, we can make that happen. Thank you! Great. Okay. Bye."

"Who was that?" Honey asked.

"That was the owner of our local performing arts theater. I was able to book us a gig there on St. Patrick's Day!"

We all gasped and jumped up from our seats with excitement.

"Holy shit, are you serious?!" Kelly shrieked.

"I'm dead serious," Brad said with a goofy grin. "We just need to sell as many tickets as possible, and advertise our show all over town."

"Oh, this is wonderful news, Braddybear!" Honey exclaimed, wiggling and wagging her tail gleefully.

So, for the next few months, we compiled a list of songs to perform, a mix of originals and covers, and made sure they fit the required time frame. Honey and Kelly made our costumes. Brad and Tyler had already decided to wear kilts, which Kelly happily sewed for them. Honey knitted emerald green front-zip onesies for herself and Kitty, and she made beautiful, strapless, emerald green gowns for Kelly and I. My dad graciously bought us a whole sound system with top of the line concert speakers, cordless microphones, and all the bells and whistles needed for a great show. Honey, as you guys may remember, is an excellent artist, and she painted beautiful backdrops. Kelly, Tyler, and I advertised for the concert, and even printed out tickets to sell. We weren't charging a large amount, especially since we weren't a bigtime band in any way. We decided to charge only $10. We also continued working on our first album, so it would be ready to sell at the concert.