McCade:
[Stares steadily, not speaking]
Jesse:
We all…
[Shakes head]
We got no words.
So, Preach tells him…
McCade:
“When we do a duet with Celine Dion, she’s all yours.”
Jesse:
[Dissolves into laughter, it wanes, and he sobers completely]
Christ, it felt good to be back with my boys.
So, Dave provides the band with another Spinal Tap moment and says, “I’m gonna raise a practical question at this point, are we namin’ the album Follow Your Star?”
[Chuckles, but again sobers]
Then Preach says, “Those were the last words Lyla’s mom said to her before she died.”
And well…
[Pause]
Shit.
We’re still out in the desert, layin’ down the album, Preach and me at the mixing board with Danny and Hans, who came back onboard because this is a Roadmasters reunion, [grins] when DuShawn’s cell rings.
I do not get a good feeling when he takes the call and walks outside.
When he comes back in, he’s learned…hell, we’ve all learned, he does not delay in sharing.
“That was Lyla,” he says. “She’s decided, and she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to come to the charity gig.”
Now, I do not know about everybody else.
For my part, I want them back together.
This is Preacher and Lyla, and the band is back, but the world still isn’t right because those two are apart.
The rest of the guys, I can’t say.
But I know there’s uncertainty, and I know it because I feel that too.
He fucked her up when he disappeared.
And for a long time, it was not good.
That said, my way of thinking, this is Preacher.
He built a band that made the big time, he kept us together, and he put two murderers in prison.
He could win back Lyla and do it right.
Or I hoped like fuck he could.
When DuShawn says Lyla isn’t comin’ to the gig, Preacher just stares at him.
No words.
But Shawn mutters, “On it,” and takes his phone back outside.
It’s the next morning, Preach and me are at the studio, rappin’ about a fade in one of the songs I wrote that we’re putting on the album, when Shawn shows.
He gets some coffee, sits with Preach and me and says, “Vanessa talked with her and with Sonia.”
He then takes a big breath and I know nothin’ good can come after that.
It doesn’t.
“She’s seein’ someone, brother,” Shawn says. “Apparently it’s gettin’ serious. She knows it’ll be a thing with the press if she shows, and she’s worked hard to get past there bein’ a thing with her and the press. She’s got anonymity now, mostly. She doesn’t wanna go back there and she doesn’t want what goin’ back there might do to this guy she’s seein’.”
Preacher just sits there, staring at Shawn, not sayin’ a word.
But he doesn’t have to speak.
The vibe wafting off him tells a whole story.
Shawn reaches out, clamps Preach on the shoulder, and goes on, “Sonia says she’s happy, Preach. She practically begged Vanessa to get me to get you to stand down.”
His voice gets low and he finishes it.
“China says she’s glad you’re back. She’s glad the band is back together. She’s glad we’re makin’ music again. But she just can’t.”
I feel this for Preach.
I really do.
And to be selfish, I feel it for all of us.
You can never go back again.
I know that.
I’m older and smarter, and at that time, closer to findin’ Natalie, so I don’t wanna go back again.
[Smiles sadly]
But I really wanted that for Preacher.
I wanted him to have his girl.
When Preach doesn’t say anything to Shawn, Shawn asks, “You good?”
“I’m alright,” Preach tells him, though we both can tell he’s not.
“You gonna stand down?” I ask, partly hoping he does, mostly hopin’ he’s gonna fight for her.
And he says, “She’s happy.”
And that’s when I know, that’s all he wants for her, and she’s got that.
So…
[Breathes deeply]
Yeah.
We were rusty.
Shawn and Dave are makin’ music, and Timmy and me weren’t entirely away from it, but I cannot sit here and tell you the Roadmasters got back together and it was like we’d never been apart.
It was not.
The thing is, we were not only out of practice as a band, we had to find our new groove.
We had to find out who we were together with all that had come in between.
We had to do somethin’ we knew how to do.
Work hard at it.
[Smiles largely]
And we found it.
[Off tape]
Follow Your Star not only never received any flak about the sugar-sweetness of the title, it went on to achieve overarching critical acclaim. When it was released, it was widely heralded as your best work to that date.
At the time, there was discussion that the generosity in reviews had something to do with all that had been learned about McCade, all that had happened with the trials, his subsequent disappearance, and a relief that he was back and doing what he was so good at doing.
But time has told this was not true.
The album was just exceptional.
And although this, nor any of the following efforts of the Roadmasters achieved the commercial success of The Cycle or even Some Like Yesterday…, it is commonly agreed that Follow Your Star heralded a new era for the Roadmasters that wasn’t solely about your reunion or being in a new millennium.
The depth and poetry of the lyrics, the wisdom and resonance of the music would go on to define the band, not overshadowing what had come before, but instead cementing your place in the industry, in the genre of rock, and declaring that you were an enduring act who could grow together as a band and stand the test of time.
Well…
Yeah.
[Grins]
Of the ten songs on the album, only five of them were written by McCade. There are two by you, one written by Clinton, one by Townes, and one that’s the first genuine songwriting collaboration for the Roadmasters, this between you and McCade.
Unh-hunh.
Even so, from start to finish, it was not lost on anyone that every song was about Lyla.
No.
[Shakes head]
I suspect it was not.
[Grins crookedly]
I was driving home from work when I saw him.
Parked in front of my condo, a big truck.
And leaning against the grill…
Preacher.
My heartrate spiked and my fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
And after I got over the shock (and, okay, thrill) of seeing him again, all that was in my head was that I didn’t think he’d do this.
I really didn’t.
I’d told Shawn no.
And I was torn between fury that he did and relief at seeing him standing there, looking healthy…