“Are you pregnant?” I ask.
She chokes and coughs on her drink. “Fuck no!”
“Did you get laid while you were down there?” I ask mischievously.
“With Joe and Cory? Are you serious man?” she points out.
“Good point.”
“Why are you asking me all the ridiculous questions?”
“Hen, you look so fucking happy. I’ve never seen you this happy,” I explain.
“It’s because I am happy. I feel at peace, and I’m glad I took time off before coming back to all this madness. We met at a bad time in my life, brother.”
“I think it was perfect timing. You needed me.”
“I did. I needed you. I have no idea where or what shape I’d be in if you hadn’t of come into my life.”
“The stars aligned for us,” I say.
“Yeah. So you going to tell me how you’re doing?” she asks.
I sigh. “I’m dealing. It’s a lot… all at once, and in my fucking face.”
“Sounds like rock-and-roll!” she says and Rhys and Griffin let out a hoot.
“It gets easier. You become accustomed to the madness. It helps to separate it from reality. That’s why having our homes in the peace and quiet of Georgia is so important. We can escape chaos for a little while. Just remember so much of the chaos is fantasy. They don’t know the real you, each and every person you’ll encounter has preconceived notions about you and think they know you. They make up versions of you in their heads, and it’s so magnificently simple in their minds. There is no complexity to your personality, just a version they manufacture and become intimate with in their own minds. Always remember who really knows you, and who thinks they know you and it will save you a great deal of heartache.”
“That was… profound,” I admire.
“Lots of experience. You’ll do just fine, Memphis.”
That evening we appear on a talk show with Broken Access. The male talk show host speaks English and is so taken with Henley. He is mesmerized by her, and she laughs, flirts, and remains polite the entire time. I follow her lead and rather enjoy her taking the reins leaving me to focus on growing accustomed to pandemonium.
In two weeks, we cover every major European city we didn’t cover in the five weeks before and then we fly to New York for promotion in the states. I hope the upcoming tour is much more fun than this promotional shit. I’m ready to play and don’t get the chance as often as I’d like. We’re constantly rushed from one radio or television spot to a plane to a hotel to a limo and then it starts all over again. The last two weeks in Europe are much more frantic than the first five weeks. We’re with each other all day, every day, yet it’s like we don’t see each other at all. There isn’t a lot of time to talk, and downtime is unheard of. At least on tour, we get to hang out on the bus together.
Both bands are scheduled to appear on Letterman today. We’ve flown to New York and are being shuffled to our hotel for the evening. It’s surreal to go onto a talk show you’ve watched so many times. I’ve seen some of my favorite artists perform on this show. The craziness that has become my life, the craziness that is rock-n-roll has led me here. The train is moving so fast I’m scared I’ll get whiplash. It’s exciting but mind-boggling at the same time.
After we check into our hotel, Jessica visits each room and advises each of us on our wardrobe for the show. My poor sister has to set aside hours each day for one of these appearances. The guys from both bands gather in a private room in the hotel to eat and shoot the shit while she’s being tugged and pulled on to ensure her hair, makeup, and clothing are perfect.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Kip asks.
I laugh since the hamster in my brain hasn’t stopped running on its wheel since this entire promotional tour began.
“I was just thinking how much easier we have it than Henley. We’re told what to wear, and all we have to do is suit up. They’ll throw powder on our ugly mugs when we arrive at the studio for taping, and we’re good to go. We all have time to sit around and shoot the shit while she’s being treated like a living doll.”
“Don’t feel sorry for her. She’s better at this than anyone I’ve ever met. She lives in a male dominated industry, so she knows how to use what God gave her to bring every single man in a room to his knees. She’s good at this, she lives for it, and she doesn’t complain. Letterman is a big deal, so Jessica and Sam will ensure she looks like a damn goddess on the screen tonight,” Kip says.
“You don’t think it bothers her?”
Rhys jumps in the conversation, “Hell no! She doesn’t take anyone’s shit, but she knows better than anyone sex sells. If she has to use it to her advantage she will exploit every damn inch of it. Like Kip said, there is an insane amount of men in this industry, and believe me she lets you know she has the upper hand.”
Koi adds, “Do you remember when David Torres from the record company tried to talk to her like she was his bitch?”
The room erupts in laughter as they each recall the memory.
“I will use common sense and assume that didn’t end well for him.” I say.
Jagger chuckles and says, “Fuck no! Torres got some sort of promotion or something with the label and he showed up unannounced at one of our shows. I think we were in Detroit.”
“Yeah it was Detroit,” Griffin confirms.
“Anyhow, he demanded we all gather in the complimentary room and questioned us like a drill sergeant. He was asking what we were going to do to increase sales, insulted our music, and basically called us talentless. He was an epic prick. At some point in time he realized Henley wasn’t there, and he lost his shit. He insulted her, calling her shit like entitled and he used the word princess several times,” Jag adds.
Cam jumps up excitedly, “She was running late because one of our crew members had a medical emergency and she wanted to check on him. As she was coming down the hallway she heard just about everything he said about her, so she eased in the room while his back was to the door. She had her hand on her hip like she does when she’s about to show someone who’s boss around here.”
Cam mimics her and puts his hand on his hip and juts it out just a little.
Koi finishes the story, “She had this big ass smile on her face and it was all we could do not to give her away. She let him go on and on about what a pretentious bitch she was. She finally said something when he called her a pop princess.”
Kip takes up the end of the story, “She opened up with, ‘Your mama must not have taught you any manners, because she sure as hell didn’t tell you how to speak about or to a woman.’ The bastard turned around on her and thanked her for gracing him with her presence. Hen was like ‘Well I’m here! Don’t stop on my accord. You really seemed to be on a roll, by all means carry on.’ Torres told her when he summoned her he expected her ass to show immediately. Hen asks, ‘What can I do for you today Mr. Torres? What is so important this meeting couldn’t wait until I was finished checking on one of our crew members?’ Dick face was all like, ‘I want to know what you will do to sell more records. This tour appears to be run by toddlers. I’m also cancelling the smaller venues you requested to play for your ‘intimate’ setting.”
“Henley looked like a damn wolf crossing the room. She was slow and calculating, and it scared the shit out of me. I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that. Anyhow, she backs him into a corner, then literally grabs him by the balls, and lays into him. ‘Mr. Torres, this tour is run by professionals and rock stars. These two bands are the highest grossing artists for the last five years straight, and every stop has been sold out. I’ll kindly remind you my grandfather owns a controlling share in your label, and if I ever hear you speak to anyone on this tour like that again I’ll have your balls in a jar. Don’t you ever bring your pretentious ass around here again with your nose in the air and look down at us. If those shows aren’t put back on the books I’ll personally ensure you never w
ork in this industry again. Those shows are for the fans. It gives them an intimate connection with the music and were planned for a fucking reason’.”
“Then she squeezes his balls even tighter, and he moans out like a bitch, and she smiles. ‘Welcome to rock-and-roll mother fucker.’”
“She releases his nuts, walks away, and tells security, ‘Get that mother fucker out of this venue. He isn’t to set foot on this tour again without my prior notification and approval.’ Then she sashays her ass right out,” Kip says in admiration.
“So what we’re saying is Henley may have more to prove as a woman in the music industry, but she has no problem facing the bull head-on with his balls in her hand,” Koi laughs.
About thirty minutes later, Henley enters the room looking like a damn queen. She’s got some off the shoulder green dress going on, sky high heels, and her face and hair are perfect. She winks at us as we let out catcalls and then she tells us to get our asses moving.
The limo ride to the studio is relatively short. We’re greeted by personnel and ushered into a green room. Letterman’s assistants, or whatever their roles are, work to ensure the list of questions he will ask are correct. They instruct us when we’ll play and when we’ll speak to David. I’m just going to follow my sister like a puppy dog.
Broken Access performs first, a song titled I’m Waiting for the new album. They sound great and the closer I inch to our given time, the more nervous I get. After their song, they sit down with David to talk.
“The song was great,” he says.
The band thanks him.
“I’m Waiting is slated to release on Friday of this week as the first single from your new album, Walking Back to Georgia. Can you tell us a little about the song and album?” he asks.
“I’m Waiting is actually the first song Kip has written for any of our albums, and we were so happy with the song, we requested it be released as the first single. The label agreed and here we are. The album is titled after a song by Jim Croce because we went back to our roots and recorded at home in Georgia with my grandfather,” Koi answers.
“Kip, can you enlighten on what writing and recording your first song was like?” Letterman asks.
Kip laughs and then answers, “It isn’t the first song I’ve written, it’s just the first one that was worth a shit.”
Everyone including the crowd laughs.
“This song lived in my head for a long time, and I just needed to find the right words to express what I was feeling,” he concludes.
Dave and the guys exchange several jokes and have the entire crowd in stitches.
Time gets away from me and people with headsets and clipboards are rushing us to the mark on the stage. We play the blues version of Whiskey and Smoke. I’m consumed by the music and completely enamored by playing on stage with my band members. I can hear them through my earpiece, and when it feels just right, Henley and I jam the fuck out. We play off one another, not giving a fuck about the time constraints we were given. We just make music, our own little sound between the recorded lyrics and instrumentals. I watch her body language out of the corner of my eye and sense when she will step back up to the mic and finish the song.
The crowd stands and cheers loudly as I pluck the last low chord out of my guitar. Henley thanks them, and when I glance towards the stage I see Broken Access standing and cheering as well. The song was over way too soon, and this little taste confirms I’ll love touring and doing this every night.
The show goes to commercial and we’re ushered to seats next to Dave and Broken Access moves down to other chairs. We’re notified when filming is to begin again and Dave launches into the segment.
“That was amazing! I mean really amazing!” he gushes as he looks at Henley.
“Thank you,” we say.
“Now, I’ve always loved Abandoned Shadow’s music, but I have to say I’m a fan particularly of Henley’s, and I’m not sure it all has to do with the music,” he says and winks.
The crowd laughs.
“It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” he says.
“It has,” Henley replies.
“The world didn’t see or hear from you for quite some time, and suddenly you’re all over the place. You’ve been extremely busy,” he gives her a mischievous grin.
“I’ve been extremely busy,” she winks.
“Tell us about the new album and tour, both titled There’s No Crying in Rock-n-Roll,” he says.
Henley and Griffin launch into explanations about both, and the crowd applauds several times. Then the thing I didn’t realize I dreaded until it happened… happened.
“We were all so heartbroken by the tragic loss of Caleb King, but I see you are still a quartet. Can you tell us about the newest member?” Dave asks.
“We agonized over which direction to go when we decided it was time to record again. Caleb King can never be replaced for obvious reasons. We held auditions in L.A. and Memphis came out, and it turns out he is Henley and Koi’s long lost brother. He played the hell out of his audition and we knew he was the only person who could ever play with us. He’s been with us ever since, and I’m damn proud he’s with us. Instead of taking Caleb’s place, he’s created his own spot and our new album reflects his creative genius," Rhys explains.
“The Hendrix household has had an exciting couple of years,” he says.
“Yes, we most certainly have,” Koi adds.
“Now, I’ve been given permission to address the scandal of the year, so I’ll run with it,” Dave says.
Oh shit. Please don’t be what I think it is.
“Henley, a certain tape was released without your permission; however, I just wanted you to be aware of the fact that I give the tape 9.5 stars,” Dave says and Henley laughs.
Oh shit. This can’t be good. She’s laughing?
“Why Dave, I didn’t take you for an amateur porn kind of man,” she teases.
“I’m usually not, but I mean come on! When you hear Henley Hendrix is in a sex tape, every man has to take a peek. I just needed to see it for myself to believe it. We’ll call it research,” he says.
We all laugh once we realize Hen is okay with this.
“Is that what we’re calling masturbation now?” she asks.
He blushes on camera, “I have a duty as a journalist to ensure what I report is accurate.”
“You do. How many times did you ‘research’ this tape?” she uses air quotes for research.
“Oh you know, once a day, at least,” he answers and everyone in the room cracks up.
“You are very thorough, Dave,” she flirts.
“You have no idea. Now, the only reason I didn’t give it a full ten stars is because there was no audio. There was music in the background, but there was no ‘audio’ if you catch my drift,” he uses air quotes for audio.
“Now Dave a woman has to keep some secrets to herself,” she plays.
“Well for ‘research’ purposes, I’ll need to rectify this situation,” he uses air quotes again.
“We will play a game for my ‘research’ purposes. Lines will scroll across the teleprompter, and if you’ll read those as if you are ‘in the throes of passion’ it will help my journalistic duties considerably. I’ll even have my own lines.”
“Let’s do it in the name of ‘research’,” Henley winks.
Henley burst into laughter and then gains her composure. In her best seduction voice she says, “Oh, Dave it’s so big.”
Laughter
“It’ll fit,” Dave says.
Cheers
“I need you, Dave.”
“Can I touch your breast?”
“Really? Can I touch your breast? No one says that while they’re getting it on,” Henley smiles as she corrects him straying from the teleprompter.
“What would you have me say?” he wiggles his eyebrows at her.
“Bitch, put your tits in my mouth,” Henley replies.
Holy shit, we were on Letterman.
***
Henley
Letterman went really well, and I was able to put on a smile and deal with the Ian scandal. It felt good and was empowering to take back control. I would not let people see how much it had hurt, but it was in the past and I might as well poke fun at it so people will drop it.
We’re escorted back to our hotels after Letterman. I’m actually thankful we have a day off to spend in the city tomorrow. I lean against Memphis in the limo, exhausted from the events of today. I’m so glad he’s here. Never did I dream I would find someone I could rely on and connect with like I did Caleb, but I did. I’m so grateful for Memphis, but still sour I didn’t get to share a childhood with him.
He seems perplexed by all the chaos surrounding him. I don’t forget he’s a recovering addict, and I’ll take all the precautionary steps I can to keep us both safe and healthy on tour and in this crazy business.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Perfect,” Memphis smiles.
“What did you think about the show?”
“It was so much better with you there. The other stops were horrible. I felt like I was drowning.”
“You’ll get used to it. Dealing with all these different television and radio personalities is an art, and it takes time but you learn how to hold your own. They can spot fear a mile away and they’ll eat you alive,” I say.
“Why did you let him talk about the Ian thing?” he asks.
“I can’t change what happened Memph, and I sure as hell can’t rewind and keep them from seeing it. What’s done is done. I move forward from here on out, not in reverse. I accept what happened with Ian and I, and if I can show the world they can’t hurt me they’ll forget. I’m a rock star so I have the luxury of having a ‘fuck it’ attitude. People expect it from me, and in situations like these it really benefits me.”
“I think what you did took a lot of courage.”
Guitar Face Series Box Set: Books 1-4 Page 71
