Page 54 of Starstruck
“She wants to move to Nashville.”
I raise my brows as Levi mutters, “Oh, fuck,” under his breath.
Now Colt’s reaction makes a whole lot more sense.
Sadie Armstrong is Colt’s half-sister—they share the same mom, Evelyn. After Colt’s dad died when he was five, his mom remarried Sadie’s dad, Keith, and they had her a few years later.
There’s a nine year age difference between the two of them, so they weren’t all that close growing up. But Colt has always been extremely protective over her because of some shit he refuses to talk about. We may be his best friends, but the guy holds more secrets than a teenage girl’s diary. We have our suspicions that something happened with Sadie’s father, but Colt has never confirmed nor denied our theories. Not that I blame him.
I understand better than most what it’s like to have a past you aren’t proud of.
All we know is that when Colt turned eighteen, he wanted to move the hell out of Butt-Fuck Nowhere, Tennessee, up here to Toronto but refused to leave his mom and Sadie behind. So he saved every dollar he made and brought them up here with him. I guess he knew Toronto has a decent music scene, which is what he wanted to pursue, and I know he wanted to get out of the country.
Sadie is now twenty-three and also pursuing music, which drives Colt up the wall. She’s talented as hell, but Colt knows what the music scene is like and worries about her. She just signed to Revolution a few months back. At least this way, Colt can keep a bit of an eye on her and knows the label will always have her back.
But if I’m being honest, I could’ve told you years ago that Sadie would eventually want to move home to Tennessee. Revolution is great, Toronto is great, but Sadie was made to be a country star,and she can’t do that here the same way she could down there.
I already know Colt has two issues with her moving back. The first is the fact that she’ll be far away from him, meaning he won’t be able to constantly watch over her. The second, and arguably the bigger reason, is that she wants to move back to the area she grew up in, which means she’ll be near Keith again. Though Colt has never said it, I know that’s something that worries him.
We may not know much for sure, but from what we’ve all seen over the years, she still struggles with the trauma of growing up in that environment. I can’t imagine her moving back will be easy on anybody.
“What’d you tell her?” Levi asks.
“That she can’t. She just signed to Rev, and though I know Jere would let her transfer to SSE, I’ll kick his ass if he does. She can’t go back there, and she’s not ready to move thirteen-hundred kilometres away.”
SSE, or Six-String Entertainment, is a division of Revolution Records. Where RR is majority rock, SSE focuses more on country music. They have locations out west in Canada as well as a few down in the States, too, with the head office being conveniently based in Nashville.
“She’s not ready, or you’re not?” It’s probably both, but my point still stands.
Colt narrows his eyes at me as a low growl rumbles out of him.
I hold up my hands in defense. “Listen man, I’m just saying. She’s not a kid anymore. Maybe it’s time to start letting her make her own decisions. Besides, it’s not like she’s moving back to Bluebell or whatever the fuck your hometown is called?—”
“Bell Buckle,” he interrupts.
“Yeah, that’s a hick-ass town if I ever did hear one. Anyway, Nashville’s what, a couple hours away?”
“One hour. That’s it.”
“Still. I think it’s time you let her grow up, Colt.”
“Bax is right,” Levi adds.
Colt grunts, turning toward the soundboard to let us know he’s done talking about this. “Let’s just finish up.”
I sigh, rolling my eyes as I wave to Brad, signalling for him to come back. “Alright. But you’re going to have to face this eventually.”
“BE YOURSELF” BY AUDIOSLAVE
We spend the next few hours finishing the album so it’s ready for mastering, and now that my part of creating this album is complete, I’m finally meeting with Jeremy and Val to discuss finishing my No Promises tour.
Back in October, I had been nearing the end of my North American tour for my last album. But after the news of Audrey and Brennan’s deaths broke, the label put all tours on hold. I was pissed, both because the stage is my favourite place on Earth and because my two biggest musical inspirations werekilled, but it made sense, seeing as they owned the label. I figured it’d be a short break—that I’d get back out there soon after their funeral. But then one month bled into two, which bled into three, and there was never any mention of getting me back out there.
By the time January rolled around, I was itching to perform. I typically do at least one show a month even when I’m not on tour, and it’s been almost seven since the last time I even looked at a stage. But it was decided that my new album needed to take priority over finishing my tour as a way to boost the label’s morale post–Thorned Roses, so it hasn’t really been brought up until now.
I march down the hall of the fourth floor, marketing and touring, and make my way to the conference room we agreed tomeet in.
“Hey, James,” Val greets as I fill the doorway. “Thanks for meeting with us today.”
