She’d pressed her mouth into a thin line. “One, if I’m lucky.”
That surprised me. In my fourteen-year-old mind, I was sure she’d have offers piling up in no time. But looking back now, it was an incredible bit of realism on her part.
I wonder how many of those CDs actually did end up in the trash.
Merle Gonzales,former executive at Studio 22 Records
You’d better believe I’m kicking myself. God, I think about it every day. I was actually down in the lobby when she came in—I remember that day because I had terrible heartburn. Decided to see if I could walk it off while the TUMS kicked in.
So I’m getting my steps in, and all of a sudden these two little girls waltz through the doors, totally unaccompanied, and head straight over to Doris. She talks to them for a little bit, takes something from them, and then they’re off.
I go over and say, “What the hell was that?”
She shrugged. “They left a CD for you.”
“Forme?” I started laughing. I mean, yes, I did produce records. But before or since, I’d never seen anyonethatyoung try to pull something like that.
I don’t want to be mean; it was ... well, it was a very intentionally done album. The photo on the back was a nice touch. But it looked like a kid’s art project. Like I said, I was having a rough afternoon, it was a slow day, and I felt like I could use some amusement. So I popped it in my desktop upstairs.
It was good, I’m serious. I had to admit even then that it was a thoughtful demo and that her songwriting was more than a few degrees better than I had expected.
But ... she was a child. It was too much of a gamble. Apart from the sticky situations you can find yourself in when it comes to contracts and ethical standards at that age, who knew what her work ethic was? Would she be able to follow through, or would she get sick of the industry real quick and turn into a headache and a waste of my limited time and resources?
Had I been presented with a thousand other talented fourteen-year-olds, I would have turned them down again and again. It was the principle of it.
It’s the only thing I can tell myself to soothe my regrets.
Mike Rosetti,CEO of Tough Grit Records
I threw it away. Didn’t even listen to it. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
Mari
Ryan didn’t expect to hear anything right away. We stopped at the post office last, where she mailed the rest of the demos to the producers we couldn’t visit in person, and then—by some miracle—managed to make it back to the hotel without too much suspicion from the Holdings.
“We walked to the 7-Eleven for slushies,” Ryan said when they asked where we’d been. “It was farther than we thought.”
She played the festival the next day and shone as always. Played all the songs on her demo tape along with her favorite covers to enthusiastic applause.
Ryan, her parents, and I were all packing up our hotel room the next day, late morning, when John got a call on his cell. He paced around the room for a signal, and then said, “I’m sorry, you’rewho?”
Poor John.
And then he glared at Ryan. He said, very stiffly, “Thank you for your call. I need to talk to my daughter about this.” Then he hung up the phone and said to Ryan, “What did youdo?”
She looked at him very innocently. “About what?”
“You know about what, young lady. Why is someone from Madcap Records calling me about bringing you in for a test session?”
Ryan stayed nonchalant, but I saw her eyes light up. “Oh, is that who that was? I sent some demo CDs around town. I thought it was a good idea in case any of them wanted to see me play on Saturday.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Barb. “Ryan, why didn’t you talk to us about this first?”
Ryan had looked down then while I sat awkwardly on the edge of the hotel bed, watching it unfold. I think she did feel bad about sneaking around her parents, but she had known she couldn’t risk them shutting the plan down. Austin was a big opportunity.
“Well, I’m calling them back and telling them we’re leaving town today,” John said.
“No!” Ryan looked up. “Dad, there are no major record labels in Massachusetts—not for the music I want to play, anyway. This was my one chance to see if anyone who’s a realprofessionalmight be interested in my music. Can’t we at least try?”
