Dissonance - Chapter 38

For a couple of days, nothing happened with the emancipation and I heard nothing from Dad. If Mr. Eaves hadn’t confirmed that they had, in fact, been served, I would have started to doubt Dad even knew about it. It really wasn’t like him to sit back and let something just happen. My impulse control, or problems with it, paled in comparison to his. I couldn’t imagine that he heard that he was losing his meal ticket and was just sitting back and letting it happen.

Wednesday night was the first sign he wasn’t, and it came from Rowan of all people. I only spoke to Rowan once or twice since calling him for advice about Brent. After producing our album, he’d gone back out west to work on several others and I hadn’t wanted to bother him. Which is why I was surprised when he suddenly called me up out of the blue.

“Hey, Charlie, I know it’s late, but do you have a moment?” Rowan asked.

Immediately, I could hear in his voice that something was wrong.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“A couple of people at MAC who know I produced your record have called me over the last few days to let me know about some talk that’s been going around. Is your father been calling the label on your behalf a lot recently?”

That sent a chill down my spine. I couldn’t remember if I’d mentioned my dad to Rowan after Dad came back, when I talked to him about Brent and asked for his advice on what to do about the Brent issues. I don’t remember mentioning him to Rowan either way, but even if I had, there was no reason for him to be asking about Dad.

“I don’t know. We’ve had some problems, so I’ve been living with a friend for the last several weeks. What have you heard?”

“Not a lot of specifics, just that your dad’s been making a lot of crazy demands, apparently threatening to pull you off your contract or sue the label for breach of contract. I don’t know the specifics, so don’t hold me to any of this, but for it to get to me, it must be bad. They were mostly asking if I’d met him and what I thought about you. They didn’t say it in so many words, but I think the label is thinking about canceling your contract.”

“Damnit,” I said.

“Is everything going okay over there?”

“No. It’s really not. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but Dad used to be a musician himself and even had a record contract for a while, but never got as far as cutting a record. He got out of prison while I was on tour, over some technicality, and sees me as his way back into the industry. It’s gotten really bad. So much so that I filed for emancipation on Friday.”

“Shit, Charlie. I’m really sorry. You’re trying to get emancipated over your record contract? I mean, you’re not the first, but I’ve only ever heard of that when millions are at stake.”

“It’s not just the contract. He’s violent and he’s been trying to get me to drop out of school so I can work full-time. He doesn’t have a job and I don’t think he wants to get one. He’d rather I was out there making money for him.”

“Man, that sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“I hate to say this Charlie, and I’m sorry if it comes off as insensitive, but that isn’t going to matter to the label. Especially at the level where contracts are decided, they’re only interested in the bottom line. Right now, he’s annoying, but once they have to spend any money dealing with his complaints, they’re going to start looking at dropping you. I’ve heard your sales are pretty decent, but you’re still too small of an artist to be worth any kind of trouble on their end.”

“Yeah, I know. I talked to Kent after Dad fired Warren, our new manager, and he said basically the same thing.”

“Warren Rice?” Rowan asked.

“Yeah. He got assigned to replace Brent as our tour manager and primary booker, but Dad didn’t like that he was willing to work around my school schedule instead of pushing for me to drop out of school like Brent did. I talked to Kent, and he said he’d go slow on processing the firing to give me time to get Dad under control, but that was like two weeks ago. It’s part of the reason I decided to go for emancipation, because I couldn’t talk him down from all this. Unfortunately, it’s going to be more than a month before anything happens at court, so I’m kind of hanging in limbo.”

“That’s not good, Charlie. If I’m hearing about it, you’re getting really close to losing your contract. I don’t know if you have a month. Can you talk to him, maybe get him to see reason?”

“I really don’t think so. The last time I tried to talk sense into him, he took a swing at me and I ended up dislocating his elbow.”

“Ohh.”

“Yeah, it’s bad.”

“You need to talk to Kent. I don’t know if there’s anything he can do, but it’s better to get in front of this thing. If you let them make the decision, it will be really hard to get them to take it back.”

“Okay. I’ll do that. Thanks for the heads up.”

“No problem. I’m sorry things are so bad. If you need anything, you know how to get me.”

“Thanks, Rowan.”

I hung up and sat there staring at my phone. I should probably have called Kent after I filed for emancipation, but honestly, I was afraid it would make things worse. He’d made it clear they’d been hesitant to sign me because of past issues with problem parents. Hearing I was about to go through a contentious emancipation hearing wasn’t going to make things look any better. I knew it wasn’t going to go away, but I guess I’d just hoped it would stay in limbo for a month. Clearly, it wouldn’t.

I sighed and dialed his number. It spoke to how bad things were that I got transferred right through to him, instead of sitting on hold till he finished up with whatever he’d been working on.

“Charlie,” he said, and not in that friendly, jovial tone he normally used with me. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to check in with you and see if everything’s okay. I’ve heard some rumors that MAC wasn’t happy with me at the moment.”

“I see. Charlie, I’m going to do you a favor and be frank with you, instead of treating you like a kid.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

“Yes, we aren’t happy with you. Your father is becoming a real problem here, and I’m not going to lie to you, we are seriously rethinking our contract with you.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to fix this?”

“I don’t know, is there? Do you know what your father has been doing?”

“No. I’m not currently living with them and haven’t spoken to him for almost two weeks. I heard he’s been calling, but I don’t know what he’s been demanding.”

“All kinds of things. First, it was mostly about you. He wanted us to ignore the contract and demand you play through the fall. I explained to him that we’d agreed to work around your schedule and we were confident we could continue growing your brand even with you only doing minimal regional tours, but he didn’t want to hear it. Last week things escalated. He’s now demanding that we give him a record contract, or he’s going to pull you off the label. I tried to explain to him that it doesn’t work like that and you couldn’t just walk away without violating the contract, but he’s … unreasonable. I like you, Charlie, I really do, but I have bosses to answer to, and when they start hearing stuff, it gets difficult to find ways to make this continue to work.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he was calling you, but I knew he was becoming a problem, which is why I filed for emancipation last week.”

“You did?”

“Yes. It was over more than just my contract with MAC, but that factored in. It’s going to take at least a month, but once I get my emancipation, it should enact the parts of the contract that deal with when I become a legal adult. At least according to my lawyer.”

“It could, but I don’t actually know. I’d have to ask our legal department. I’m not sure you have a month, though. His calls are becoming more insistent and there are specific things he can do that would put you in violation of your contract. If that happens, I can guarantee we won’t be able to repair the breach.”

“Even if I’m playing all the shows you guys set up for me and any press you set up, doing everything I’m supposed to do on my end.”

“What shows? Warren got fired, remember? Right now, everything related to you is in limbo except the digital marketing for your album; and that’s only because the album is still selling well in spite of no marketing that you’re still on the label at all. You have no show revenue coming in and we’re not doing any press to promote your record. We’re almost through the first-month window, which is basically as far out as we can get you spots to push your album. After that, you’re down to passive marketing only unless you get your brand known more, which won’t happen with things on hold.”

“Is there any way to get Warren back on the job without my parents’ say so?”

“No, and I’m not sure we’d want to do that at this moment anyway. Warren is very close to being reassigned. He’s too much of a rising star to be sitting in limbo, especially when you might not have a contract in a week.”

“Is there anything I can do? I really want this to work out, but I can’t get free of my parents any faster. I’ve asked my lawyer and he says things are moving as fast as they possibly can.”

There was a very long pause on Kent’s end, and I was almost positive he was going to say no. I was an inch away from panicking. I’d filed for emancipation and destroyed my relationship with my mother, maybe forever, and it didn’t matter. I was still going to lose everything.

“Kent?” I finally prompted.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. Look, I really want this to work too. The fact that you’re still bringing in good record sales without any active marketing since the week of release makes me hesitant to drop you, and means you’ve got serious potential. After those first weeks’ numbers, I started thinking that, if we gave you a serious push, we could actually break you out of the regional business and get your first record to go national. That was before the business with Warren and everything else killing that idea, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve done a lot better than anyone thought you were going to. I’m also thinking that your going so far as to ask for emancipation shows how far you’re willing to go to make things work. I know you said it was about more than just your record deal, but that doesn’t change the fact that you did it. I have a lot of faith in you, Charlie. I really do. I’m going to do what I can to keep things together, on this end. I can’t do it forever, but I might be able to get you a month or two before things boil over. It’s the best I can do.”

“It’s more than I could have expected, Kent. You’ve always done right by me, and I’ll never forget it.”

“Good. I can’t tell you how unusual it is for us to stick our neck out for a new artist.”

“I know. I really do. Is there anything I can do that I haven’t already done to make things better?”

“Keep sales strong. That’s the only thing saving you. You’re not getting pushed from our end, which means you’re not getting interviews and promotional spots, and I don’t think you can get those on your own. You can try to make up for it, but I don’t think your social media presence is enough for the push you need. You could try booking more gigs than just the ones at that bar in your hometown. It’ll be a pain, but call around and see if you can get any spots in nearby cities. Get up in front of new crowds, so they know about you and your album. That’ll help.”

“Okay. I’ll do that. And Kent? Thanks. I really mean it.”

“I know. I know things are tough for you right now, but do what you can, and call me if anything changes.”

“I will,” I hung up and leaned back on my bed, thinking.

I appreciated Kent trying to give me the time to get through the emancipation process, but the idea that only my record sales were making that possible and that we only had digital marketing worried me. If the sales started falling off, I was screwed, and there was nothing I could do to fix that.

I sat there for another few minutes, thinking, and then called Rowan back.

“I’m surprised to hear from you so soon,” Rowan said.

“Yeah, I just talked to Kent, and it’s as bad as you thought. He’s going to try to keep the wolves away from the door for a month, until my emancipation hearing, but he said because Warren is technically not working for me at the moment, I have no promotions going on except for the few digital ad buys they had done on streaming platforms, and he’s concerned my sales numbers will start dropping.”

“It’s a legitimate concern. The execs only care about how much they’re spending and how much you’re making. If the business with your dad starts costing them money, or is keeping you from making money, they’ll drop you.”

“That’s what Kent said. I’m going to call some of the clubs I played in Asheville, that weren’t on our tour, and see if I can set up my own gigs down there, maybe get a little more exposure, but that’s not going to push enough record sales or streams to make a difference, and we only just started our own social media stuff. We need to generate some free advertising, and I have a thought about how to do that, but I’m not sure if it’s okay or how or if I should even do it.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s not bad, I’m just not sure how … uncool it is, although that’s not the right word. I want you to tell me if this is a terrible idea. Linda has a huge social media platform. I know it’s a reach, but if they could drop a mention, maybe something about us having opened for them, and link it to our stream, it would probably drive some sales numbers, at least for a while. I don’t need anything long-term, just enough to bridge the gap until Dad no longer controls my contract and I can get Warren back.”

“Normally, I’d say that’s really not cool. Everyone in the industry has dealt with people trying to figure out how to use them for their benefit, and this is very clearly that. However, Linda likes you. If you explain what’s going on and what you need, I’ll bet she’d do it.”

“Yeah, that’s problem number two. I don’t have her number, and there’s no way I can get her number from you to specifically ask for this favor. I think, even with things the way they are, that’s going to come off badly.”

“Probably. I’m pretty sure I’m hearing the favor you’re about to ask.”

“Do you mind?”

“No, although I’ll point out that you are worried about asking Linda to do you a favor, but have no problem asking me to ask her for the same favor.”

“I mean, you did produce the album and I know you agreed to a piece of the back end if you worked for scale upfront. So the album working out is as much in your interest as mine.”

“Ha, now you’re sounding like someone who’s been in the industry for a while. Yes, I’ll call her. Anything else?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I’ve recently made two more contacts, neither of whom I know well or have contact numbers for.”

“Jesus, how many people do you want me to call?”

“I don’t know, because these are both long shots. Do you know Eli from Nightshade?”

“I do, but I have this feeling you already knew that.”

“I knew you produced one of their early albums.”

“Ahh, there it is. Okay, so what about them?”

“I did a favor for Eli at the Nashville Food and Wine festival. Their guitarist OD’d and they were looking at having to no-show on their performance, which was apparently a problem because they were already on the fence with their label, due to their guitarist’s drug habit. I know their songs and sat in for Brad at that show, at the very last minute, so they didn’t get in trouble. It wasn’t a huge favor, and it was really good for me; but, they also have a pretty big social media reach.”

“You know Eli and I aren’t really friends? I haven’t spoken to him in three or four years.”

“But you have his number and he’d take your call.”

“Yes, and probably. Fine, I’ll do it. But you’re out here making me look like an asshole, you know that.”

“Then you’re really going to hate this next one, because it’s really a reach.”

“And the first two suggestions weren’t?”

“You know Ronnie Ralston?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Well, we had a really good interaction at the same show, and I was hoping she’d remember me.”

“That’s it? You talked to her backstage and it was nice, and so now you want her out pimping your record? Man, that isn’t just thin, that’s transparent.”

“Okay, too far. I said it was out there. I’m just desperate.”

Rowan was quiet for a suspiciously long time, so I said, “Rowan?”

“You’re going to make me regret helping you to keep this contract, aren’t you?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” I said, suddenly thinking I’d made a mistake. “I’m desperate and was just taking a shot in the dark. Don’t bother anyone, and I’m sorry for messing up your night.”

“Charlie,” he said quickly before I could hang up. “I was just grousing; I’m not actually regretting it. I was actually thinking, Linda does know Ronnie, and has a soft spot for you. I’ll mention it when I talk to her. If she wants to call Ronnie, then great, but I’m not pushing it.”

“No. Of course not. Rowan, I really appreciate it.”

“Uh-huh. Just remember this if I call you for a favor one day.”

“I will,” I said, and we hung up.

I’d pulled the only ‘emergency lever’ I had. If any of them, or even two of them, sent out a message to their millions of fans, it could be enough to keep me from going under, I was sure of it. I also knew I couldn’t go to this well a second time.

But like I’d said. I was desperate.