Love Made Music

LMM 3: Lets Sing

"Um...nice house." I said as I surveyed my surroundings nervously, my bands sheet music cradled under my arm.

Directly in front of me was an elegant, yet small, English oak curved staircase that seemed to widen as it got closer to the main floor. An open space was left behind and revealed a narrow hallway that seemed to tunnel underneath it, leading to what appeared to be a kitchen. The walls were painted carrot orange and were covered with framed posters and old albums from bands such as The Beatles, The Monkeys, The Rolling Stones, and Heart.

To my right was an alcove that appeared to contain the family room. A 72-inch plasma TV dominated the cranberry-colored room. Across from it was a large black leather couch with a matching recliner beside it. Three different Rock Band guitar controllers littered the plush blue carpet and a drum set stood not far from them.

"Your family must really like Rock Band..." I observed as I followed Cassie into the entrance way.

Cassie peered over at the room and shrugged. "My family likes music. It's mostly my brother that plays."

"I see."

Cassie entered the small hallway and stopped in front of a door. She opened it, revealing another set of stairs that seemed to lead to the basement. When Cassie descended down the stairway, I followed.

"So, hey, Cassie? Um, what are we doing?" I asked, hoping to be enlightened as to why I was in her house in the first place.

Cassie stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to look at me. The suddenness of her action caused me to stumble forward slightly. I regained my balance instantly and stood up straight, looking down to see Cassie.

"We're going to play your music." She stated simply. "If I'm going to sing for a band I might as well make sure I like their songs, right? The best way to do that is to play a few songs and get a feel for the sound and then afterwords decide if I want to join."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, sure. In theory, that makes sense. But what about the instruments? I don't have my guitar with me."

For a brief moment I thought I saw Cassie's eyes light up. Before I could be sure I was seeing correctly, Cassie turned back around and walked down the last few stairs.

The room suddenly was filled with light, momentarily blinding me. When the dark spots in my vision finally cleared, I found myself staring into a musician's paradise.

Simple walls and a hard floor designed to amplify sound waves greeted me. Mic stands, amplifiers, cords, instruments, everything needed to make music was housed in this room. Two keyboards were set up in a corner with various other equipment. In the center was a large Tama drum set, and from what I could see, one much more expensive than the Tama model Adam used for WashOut. On the farthest wall from the stairs was a line of guitars, all neatly displayed on mounts. I almost stopped breathing.

Immediately I made a beeline for the guitars, crouching down to look at each one in detail. My eyes gleamed with excitement, and like a kid in a candy store, I had trouble deciding which of the five impressive models I wanted to play. Maybe the Gibson ES-137 with its unique mahogany center block, or possibly the Ibanez GRG170DX and its shark tooth inlays in the fingerboard? There was also a Washburn and two Fender guitars next to the other two that seemed equally as playable.

"When you said your family liked music, you weren't kidding," I breathed.

I stood up, turning my body to face Cassie. "Whose are all these?"

Cassie stared at me for a moment before walking towards me. She leaned down and grabbed the blue Fender Stratocaster from its mount, cradling it lovingly in her arms. Then she looked up at me.