Singer's Story by David Divers

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After hours of trial, error, and testing, everything was finally set up to begin the actual rehearsals. We hoped that it would be just a few run-throughs and then we would all relax on the beach and catch some rays. The opposite turned out to be true!

Chris went to the regional airport in Gulfport to pick up the personal manager and the show’s producer at five PM and I stayed at the coliseum to continue studying my dialogue and walking through the various stage directions. I wanted to be absolutely ready for rehearsals. After the personal manager arrived at the coliseum he pulled out a notebook and announced, “Let’s tear it down and load it in the trucks!”

Of course, we all thought he was joking. But the tour manager and technicians knew he was serious as a heart attack.

He explained, “Friday night after the show you are all going to be tired and wanting to rest. But we have to systematically load everything in its proper place in order to be on the road for Hattiesburg by midnight. I say ‘systematically’ because we can’t just tear it down and throw it in the trucks—everything has to be accounted for. By 2 AM on Saturday, most of the heaviest equipment must have been already unloaded and erected up there. It is a relatively short distance. Several other tour dates will be many hours away, so we need to work out the system in order to get it right the first time. Listen up to the tour manager. He has loaded and unloaded bigger shows than this for years. He will pass out a step-by-step order. Follow the order and don’t get ahead of yourselves.”

The tour manager then began handing out “tear down” scripts—with a different section for every area of responsibility.

General: Throughout the show, every time you finish with an instrument, piece of equipment, or clothing hand it to the Key Grip (stagehand) for safekeeping. He has a script which indicates what equipment is needed for each song in the show. After he makes sure that a piece of equipment is not needed later in the show, he will pack it in the appropriate storage case. There is no reason to leave unneeded equipment onstage at any time. If it is personal property or equipment, he will hand it over to the appropriate Coach Driver. That driver will keep an inventory checklist of each item as it is stored in the coach. If it is show property it will be packed and ready to load into the trucks.

1. Principal Talent and Musicians: After the encore set is over, the principal talents leave the stage by the rear stairway. Take all your remaining portable instruments and equipment with you. All musical instrument cases will always be stored under the rear of the lower riser. Pack your remaining instruments in their cases and take them over to your coach driver for storage. Any personal equipment left on the stage will be packed in the miscellaneous crate and will not be seen again until we set up at the next location. Nothing will be left behind!

Stage: Principal Roadie and 6 locals.

1. Each section of the stage is mounted on retractable rollers and can be moved independently from the section beside it. The center section where the band sits can be rolled back to allow opening acts room to set up their equipment. After they finish their segment and the video screens begin showing the intro tape, move that act’s equipment to the rear of the center stage and then roll the center section forward and raise the rollers to their locked position. This will lock that section in place.

2. While the final song of the main show is being played, unlatch the upper riser and lower its rollers. It takes four men to lower that section to the floor. As soon as the lights go down, pull that riser out behind the curtain and fold it flat. Roll it to the palate for loading in the trailer. While the lights are down, two men will roll the large piano to rear of the riser and pack it into its case. This will leave the electronic keyboards for the encore.

3. After the encore set, wait for the talent to leave the stage and, after the electrician unplugs the instrument amplifiers, begin removing them and pack them in their cases. Remove microphones and related cables and pack them securely in their cases. Fold mike stands and other portable stage equipment.

4. The drummer will return to the stage and dismantle his drum set as needed and pack them in their cases.

5. As the show progresses, keep all non-essential equipment stowed away as the show goes along. All of Chris’s equipment and instruments will be kept on the right side of the stage. Billy Ray’s will be kept on the left. Stage equipment that will not be needed further in the show will be moved to the packing area. Packing cases are numbered. Each item is also numbered. Make sure each piece goes into the proper case according to the packing plan.

6. Depending on the back stage arrangement, take all full cases at the central overhead door. The Truck Driver will complete the inventory check list by case number as each one is loaded into the trailer.

Sound and lighting. Technicians and 2 Electricians. At the conclusion of the encore set, give the order to turn up the house lights.

1. Turn off power to the sound board but leave the 110 volt cooling fans in the amplifiers running for at least ten minutes. Disconnect all connections to the snake. When the stage is disassembled and out of the way, have the union riggers lower the speakers and light grids.

Even with the tour manager’s guidance, it took nearly three hours to finally close the doors on the trailer and complete the loading of the coaches—even then, that didn’t include unloading and reloading the merchandise. That trailer had not yet been unpacked.

Immediately, the tour manager ordered that the whole process be reversed—that the whole show be restaged. There was no griping because everyone except our permanent crew was on overtime and our crew had been with the tour manager for years so they were used to long hours.

(You might think that during the tour, the time to stage the show would be significantly reduced. But it never happened. Except for a few key roadies who also doubled as truck drivers and the technicians, we had to hire a whole new crew from the local unions at almost every stop.)

Chris and I returned to the hotel after the personal manager’s first order—but not until after we had learned our responsibilities in the tear-down. We had a meeting scheduled with the personal manager and the producer in his suite. It was located on the same VIP floor at our hotel, so the butler would be preparing dinner for us all. We got cleaned up and went to meet him.

As we entered his suite, the personal manager and the producer greeted us and we all sat around making small talk about the show and Biloxi in general. Finally, he said that it was time to get down to business.

He said, “First of all, you guys know how much I think of your talent—I wouldn’t bother to be here otherwise. As I told you when I first heard you on Billy Crowder’s segment of the Opry, I can make you into bigger stars than you already are. I know you are both already stars of Southern Gospel music. And don’t get me wrong; I don’t mean to belittle that or to demean you personally. But the reality is that you are big fish in a very small pond. We could make a big splash in that little pond, but all the water would soon be gone. You would still be big fish, but there will be no water to swim in. We need to build an image beyond Southern Gospel music—not just sustain what you already have.”

He continued, “I once heard about a big restaurant owner who said he not only sold steak but he also, “sold the sizzle”. That “sizzle” was something intangible, but was an illusion he created in the customers’ minds. He did it through advertizing and the way he presented his food.” Chris and I exchanged looks.

“As I told your label, I have prepared a blitz of advertizing for each major city where the full show will play. But in those cities we need to make your name and talent known outside the Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. We need the Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics, along with anybody else that likes great music. In other words, we have to create a “sizzle” beyond Southern Gospel. It would be great if we could focus on the general public, but due to this being religious music, it is doubtful if we get more than a handful of them to listen to you. But with your talent, it won’t be long before you will be known beyond Southern Gospel. So right now we need mainline church support if we are going to fill the auditoriums where we are booked. We even need black churches if such a thing is possible. You have great songs on a great CD—there is nothing Protestant or Catholic, white or black about them.”

The manager leaned forward on his chair and said, “So what do we need that we haven’t got? You both already have the looks and the talent. I have had a great show written and we have a top-notch producer. I have also put together a video as an introduction to the show. It will be shown on the video screens after the opening act if there is one, just before you go onstage.”

Chris broke in and asked, “Are you suggesting that we need to change our images?”

The manager said, “That’s exactly the opposite of what I mean! I am forbidden to change your images. But “sizzle” is what your audience perceives you to be, not what you are in reality—there’s a big difference. If we are successful, every member of the audience will perceive you differently.”

“The first basic fact you have to understand is that if you go in any church of any denomination, far more than 50% of the congregation who actively attend church are females. Another fact is that most of the males who do attend merely tolerate going to church in order to keep the peace in the family! In other words, they are ‘pussy whipped!’”

I guess I must have looked shocked or confused by those words because he said, “Excuse my language, Billy Ray. I don’t mean to offend or shock either of you. But I am a very rich man today by recognizing this basic fact. I put together shows and manage singers by appealing to the female psyche. In our show, this has to be foremost in our mind! We cannot neglect the men—far from it! That is why we need occasional comic relief. But every song and each spoken word of dialogue, joke, or gesture must be directed at the females first and, if the men happen to like them, that is gravy.”

“Admittedly, some men attend church out of conviction, but the majority of them would much rather be hunting, fishing, or playing golf! That’s a fact! Furthermore, most of the men who will hear one of your songs would much rather be listening to country and western, rock, or pop music! How do I know? Because it is my business to know! They have heard all of the clichéd gospel music about ‘climbing hills and mountains,’ and ‘crawling out of valleys’ that they can stand! They would rather hear songs about cheatin’, drinkin’, and fightin,’ and instead of attending one of our shows, they would much rather be getting a lap dance at their favorite bar! The majority of men do not willingly buy Southern Gospel CDs nor do they willingly go to our shows of their own volition. Just like attending church, they are a write-off as far as appealing to their musical taste.”

He continued, “Your Daddy told me that you get all bothered by all the young gals screaming! Is that right?”

“Yes sir,” I said flatly. “They have been a big distraction in the past, but I think I have it whipped now that I am using an earpiece monitor.”

He said, “I asked a female psychologist friend of mine to review the tape I made of you. She told me that despite what the feminists say, every female in the audience will go through a cycle of three things—either wanting to be your girlfriend, your lover, or your mother. As time goes by they will all evolve through the entire cycle—I am again speaking here of the long-term. The teeny-bopper screamer grows up to become the would-be lover, and she in turn becomes the woman who would love to mother you. Over the course of your career it represents a fortune! You haven’t changed your image, but the audience has changed their perception of that image.”

“There is another basic fact that you also need to understand. If the audience wanted to simply hear your songs, all they have to do is listen to the radio or buy your CDs. When we charge good money for them to see and hear you in person, we are inviting them to be part of your lives for a 90-minute period of time. They get to hear your songs, but our show was designed to give the illusion that they are also sharing a slice of your life—like a Hemingway novel—but in our case that “slice” is contrived to play to their various emotions. And we toy with their emotions in order to create “sizzle”—to build an image in the minds of the audience that says, “Hey, I know those guys—they are boyfriends/lovers/sons and I want to buy whatever they are selling!”

Then a huge grin broke over his face as he announced, “I also have some news that I haven’t told you about yet. Our tour now has a corporate sponsor. While you guys were on the road for the past two months I have used the video that I put together as a sales pitch to try to interest corporations in sponsoring the tour. This afternoon just before I left for the airport, your attorney faxed me a signed copy of the contract with the Coca-Cola Corporation in which they agree to split the cost of advertizing for the tour. When you drive along the beach tomorrow morning you’ll see a big red Coke logo on the electronic marquee outside the coliseum and a flashing message that reads “Coke proudly presents Chris Baker and Billy Ray Stone on their ‘Blood Brothers’ tour!”

He replied, “That’s what I do! I am a promoter—I wish I could say that I am a great singer or a musician, but I am simply a ballsy hustler! The big country and rock acts do this all the time, but as far as I know this is a first for Gospel music!”

“Anyway, the video and I convinced Coke’s advertising division that you will become the first real superstars of Southern Gospel music. With their assistance and connections, we can almost double the amount of advertising that we do for weeks in advance of our show in every city we are scheduled to play. I also want to tell you that after Hattiesburg this Saturday night you won’t be seeing very much of me for the rest of the tour. But believe me, I will be somewhere out there on the job promoting this show and you guys. We all have our responsibilities in this operation—you take care of the music, I take care of the hustle! And believe me, my hustle is for our customers, not for you! I may exaggerate to them but I will always talk straight with you. I know the music business and I know my clients and you are the “Real Thing.” He laughed a sly laugh and slapped his knee at his own joke.

We talked for another hour and he showed us the video on his DVD player. In my case it was an expanded version of the two-minute video that the Gospel Music Awards ceremony had produced which showed me singing with my family from seven years old all the way up to the time of the GMA show. He combined it with Chris’s Best New Male Singer award ceremony which he received five years prior to mine. He had added several minutes of additional hype and it ended with an introduction by the Emcee of the Grand Ole’ Opry: “And now, ladies and gentlemen—Coke presents the BLOOD BROTHERS TOUR----Let er’ go, boys …”

We all had dinner together that evening and then Chris and I went to our suite—we had a big day coming up again tomorrow and we had a lot to think about. It was getting late and went to our own rooms to take showers. Afterwards, I wandered out to the living room area and saw that the balcony door was open and the curtains were blowing into the room. I went outside and there in the darkness was Chris leaning against the balcony railing totally naked, gazing out at the lights of the shrimp boats as they trolled in the Mississippi Sound. I went back into the suite and made sure the outer door to the suite was locked and on the way back out to the balcony I took off my towel and grabbed a small pillow off the couch.

I tossed the pillow down at his feet and backed him up a little and I sat down in front of him straddling his feet. Though it was dark out, I sensed that his cock near my mouth … though it was soft and dangly at first, my warm breath caused it to gradually rise until it made contact with my lips. I stuck out my tongue and gave it a few licks, then slowly turned my head back and forth and caressed it with my slightly whiskered cheeks. His tool transformed from a limp invertebrate into a pulsing dragon seeking its prey … he swiveled his hips as his cock searched for a hole to explore. Finally, it found a warm haven between my lips … his heat mingled with my juices and I could taste the faint saltiness of his member. I opened both my mouth and heart to it and it was at the perfect level to slide in … I began to slowly work his cock in and out of my lips …. he likewise humped his butt back and forth … after a few minutes and a multitude of strokes, he tried to back away and he tapped me gently on the top of the head to slow me down and warn me he was getting close, but I wrapped both my arms around his butt and pulled him even closer into me. I held him there to control the speed and to make it last longer but when I did he took it as permission to cum and he forced it in and out even stronger … my head was pinned between his crotch and the balcony wall … he began solidly forcing his cock in and out with as much pressure as the strength of my arms would allow … one stroke … two … three … four … fivesicseveneightnine … ten … eleven … twelve … thirteen … fourteen … fifteen … gradually I tightened my grip until he couldn’t stroke anymore … and it was over … I released the pressure of my arms and he withdrew and pulled me to my feet … although it was late and I was a growing boy, we made it still later when we finally retired to our rooms … yes, indeed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day …

As usual, many thanks to Madison Cole for his assistance in editing my stories.