Jack Of Arts

"By the way, young man. How long are you staying in America?" The manager asked, changing the subject. "I probably will stay here until next year. What's up?" Tayaw replied. "Are you looking for extra cash? I have some spots open." The manager said, trying to recruit Tayaw. "You have open spots? Boss! I've been looking for weeks now!" Travis said in indignation. The manager for a split second, showed an annoyed expression before resuming to his neutral expression. Travis missed it, but Tayaw didn't. Tayaw could not help but feel sorry for Travis.

Travis looks like he's still in his early 20s so he guessed he does not have enough experience in playing in a big bar like Blackbird Café. "Kid. You should realize that there are a lot of guys out there who are just as good as you, and they've been trying out for a lot longer than you are. Didn't I tell you to try out in other bars? I think you will have a better chance with them." The manager explained to Travis.

"But you only saw this guy play three songs! Why are you offering him a spot already?" Travis said, still not getting why Tayaw is getting an outright offer. Travis admits to himself that Tayaw is good but he's not that much better than him. "I've seen him perform enough. I've also seen him perform well in a larger crowd than here tonight." The manager said. Travis does not really believe the manager's claim. "Can he even fill an hour?!" Travis said, still frustrated at the situation.

"And you think you can?! I've heard of your songs before, kid. They all sound the f*ckin same." The manager said, finally losing some of his patience. Travis just swallowed the manager's criticism and stayed quiet. He knows that the bar manager knows what he's doing that's why he's been a manager here for decades. He does not have a choice but to give up. He realized it's not good to offend the manager any further, if he has not already.

"So work harder and learn, boy. Be more creative. Go home before I ban you. Don't show yourself here until you can show me something new." The manager finally pointed Travis to the door. Travis glared at Tayaw for a second, uttered the F word before walking out.

"F*ck. Sorry about that." The manager said to Tayaw. "Is he really not good enough?" Tayaw asked in curiosity after getting pieces of Travis' story. "I was being polite. Most of the crowd cannot tell, but I think he's one of those kids that got popular in their high school just because they can play the guitar and sing a little. If he's not too full of himself, maybe he can tell how bad he is and that he's nothing special." The manager replied.

"So why does he get to try out a lot?" Tayaw asked again. "I owe his dad when I was still in Texas back in the 70s. If the kid knows any better, he better not call his father crying about me hiring you." The bar rubbed his eyelid while he said that. Tayaw felt that there's more to why Travis was quite aggressive earlier. "I didn't get your name yet, sir…" "Call me Henry." Henry introduced himself finally. "Henry. Why didn't he try out with other bars, by the way?" Tayaw asked.

"Look here, kid." Henry said as he pointed at the pictures hanging on the waiting room's walls. Tayaw took a closer look and he realized as he read the labels on the pictures, that many famous country stars have played here in their youth. Annabelle Moore, Thomas Martin, Lee Baker and more gave this bar great history over the past fifty years. "Ah. I can see why Travis is so hell bent on wanting to perform here." Tayaw's earlier guess was proven.

"Yeahpp. Just like I told the kid, there's more musicians who are better than him that don't even get to play here because of how competitive it is." Henry explained. "I don't think he respects this place." Tayaw said, judging from how Travis was like. "Good eye, kid. I think he wants a shortcut. I don't know if you've noticed, there are men who are wearing suits, not really fitting in." Henry said. "Yes?" Tayaw said, unsure what it has to do with Travis.

"Those are people from some of Nashville's record labels. They look for prospects in places like this." Henry answered. Tayaw finally understood. "Alright. Let me play here." Tayaw finally said, to the relief of Henry.

"That's great! Can you start on Saturday? I can promise you $350 an hour for you and if we have a lot of customers during the hour that you're performing." Henry stated the benefits. "$350? Isn't that a little too much?" Tayaw said, confused at the generosity. "Kid, most of our patrons here are in their 40s to 60s who have deeper pockets than most. Your style is also what they've been looking for for a long time now. And. Usually, I pay bands $100 per person, but because you can perform alone, you don't get to share what you get with others." Henry explained.

"Ahh. Alright. You don't have to pay me." Tayaw said. Even though Henry will be able to save a lot from not paying Tayaw, he almost took it as an offense. Most young musicians would jump at the money, but there's this kid who casually refused it.

"Look. This bar has a great fifty year, history. As a student of music, I feel honored just playing here." Tayaw clarified himself. Henry, with his over sixty years of living, more than half of it spent in the backstabbing music scene of Nashville, knows what bullcrap sounds when he hears one. Despite this, he actually that felt Tayaw is sincere.

"huh. You know I don't feel comfortable having a good musician like you play for free." Henry said honestly. "I'm not an American, Henry. Even if I wanted to get paid, my visa would not let me." Tayaw explained his circ.u.mstances. "Well, why don't I pay you under the table? Hm? A young man like yourself would need some …" as Henry is about to offer pay for Tayaw to buy himself more clothes, he noticed Tayaw's clothes again.

"You don't need money, do you?" Henry had a sudden suspicion after he realized that Tayaw's suit seem to be of higher quality than the clothes of the record label people he often sees in the bar. Tayaw, to Henry, also looks beyond just neat; Tayaw looks very clean; a sign of an unburdened person.

"I don't." Tayaw did not explain himself any further. Henry also remembered how many views Tayaw's Youtube videos are. "Tell me, kid. Are you some superstar in Teungeb?" Henry mumbled after he leaned in closer. It is the only explanation he can figure because of how good a musician Tayaw is and that he can afford not getting paid. "No. I wish. Haha. I'm here on a business visa, Henry. I'm a businessman. Don't ask anymore." Tayaw just said. Henry also put his curiosity aside.

"Alright. I can start on Saturday. Is that it? I only play on Saturdays?" Tayaw said, wanting to know more if he can perform more often. "I can put you on stage on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 10." Henry said. If it was any other musician of Tayaw's age, they would not notice one important thing on those days. "You're putting me on 'prime time'? You… You're not taking advantage of me, are you?" Tayaw said frowning.

"HAHA! Don't back out now, kid. You don't want to get paid? Then give the bar a little push!" Henry said, looking smug. "Look, kid. Even if you are not able to attract more customers, I can help you get your name out by putting you on the peak hours. If I can't pay you money, I can at least pay you with exposure." Henry explained.

Tayaw scoffed. He knows how many venues would not pay musicians in exchange for exposure. Even though Blackbird café is not such venue, Tayaw was unimpressed by Henry's plan. Despite that, he just let it go. "Tell you what. How about we do this? I'll play on Fridays and Saturdays. You take what's supposed to be my pay and divvy it up amongst the performers who are in need of money the most." Tayaw suggested.

Henry was surprised at Tayaw's suggestion. Not only because it's generous but it's also the first time he's encountered this. Henry, after a thought, finally shook his head. "Fine, kid. I'll tell them it's from you." Henry said he shook his hands with Tayaw.

Tayaw then packed his guitar and walked back out to the bar room to join Chala. As he looked at Chala's table, however, he saw Chala talking to a blonde lady who looks to be in her late 30s. Chala looked to be having fun, so he sent a text message instead. After seeing that Chala saw the message, Tayaw looked for an empty table. After a moment of looking around, Tayaw found a vacant seat, by the bartender's counter.

"Nice set, kid. What would you have? It's on the house." Tayaw was greeted by a smiling bartender after he took a seat. "Thank you. Jameson, on the rocks please." Tayaw replied. "…" He got nervous as the bartender just looked at him strangely. It would be a bummer if the bartender asked for his ID. "Something wrong, sir?" Tayaw asked. "Ah. Nothing. I thought you were only going to ask for a beer." The bartender said.

Tayaw sighed in relief. He understood the bartender's concern; a glass of Jameson is quite expensive after all. "Don't worry. It's on me." Tayaw replied with a chuckle. "Quite a strong taste for a kid." The bartender said as he prepared Tayaw's glass. Tayaw figured that his height and vintage looking fashion passed him off as an a.d.u.l.t of drinking age.

Tayaw then turned around to watch the performer on stage. After listening for a while, however, he shook his head. Wrong chords, pitchy singing, and the thoughtless strumming made his head hurt. "I guess that's the best an open mic night can offer." Tayaw said to himself. He found it satisfactory, however. The manager must have pre-filtered the performers tonight from a competent pool. If it was another open mic in a smaller bar, where people from the crowd can just go up on stage and play, Tayaw could not imagine the headache he will get.

"Your whiskey." The bartender said as he slid Tayaw's drink forward. "Thanks." Tayaw said and started sipping. Tayaw then stared emptily as he started sorting out songs in his head. He will start on playing on Saturday so he filtered the songs he can easily arrange into modern country, Bluegrass Country, and blues country. If it was rock or indie style, Tayaw can just choose whatever. With Country however, he has to choose songs with lyrics that would fit the country genre.

Most pop songs are out, and so are sports anthems. He's left with folk, some rock songs, and ballads. Country music sings about rural lifestyle, love, family, and home so he funneled more of the songs he knows that fit those categories. 'Wait… oddly, my recent songs also fit country." Tayaw suddenly realized. 'Nevermind. I'll just sing one of those each set.' Tayaw decided.

"Hey there." Tayaw suddenly heard. He turned his head to look beside him to see a beautiful young lady with brunette hair and green eyes. "Hello to you." Tayaw replied.