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I left the hotel right after I finished performing. If you’ve ever been in an audition situation, whether for acting, singing, or that special trick you can do with ping pong balls and a unicycle,* you can generally tell from the expressions on your judge’s faces how well received you were. It was impossible to tell how I did. The other auditioners who were in audience clapped politely, but Delious showed absolutely no expression either way.

I knew I had done pretty well, at least, I knew that I didn’t hit any sour notes, didn’t fuck up the guitar part, and didn’t forget any lyrics. That’s about as good as you can get, right?

I can’t recall how many days went by before I heard anything from Delious, or Jeff, his assistant. It was long enough that i had pretty much forgotten that the audition had happened, and was quite surprised when the message appeared on my work voice mail:

Jeff: Hey Jester, this is Jeff [Can'tRememberHisLastName] with Trijon Productions. I’m calling because we’ve reviewed all the tapes from the auditions and we were extremely impressed with your performance. We’d like to have you come back for a call back audition. We are only inviting 25 guys back, and would appreciate a call back to hold your spot. Thanks!

Of course I called immediately, and agreed to the time and place.

There were guys from Dallas, Oklahoma, Los Angeles, and Nashville at the callbacks. We were paired up and moved around into different groups like chess pieces. There was a lot of a cappella singing, I was asked to play the guitar and piano for some of the groups. Strangely, no one else was able to play.

I hit it off with a couple of the guys that were there, and tried to work my way into their groups when possible, Jerimy Koeltzow from Oklahoma, and Matthew Hayes, originally from Chicago, but now living in Nashville. I recognized Matt as the powerhouse singer who brought on the Rick Astley moment from the auditions. Matt and I could harmonize so well, it was though we had been singing together all our lives.

The day was pretty uneventful, there were long periods of time where we weren’t doing anything and other groups were singing for Delious and Jeff. They spent a long time whispering back and forth and changing the members in and out. There were more video cameras, and a few more people just hanging around that didn’t seem to have anything to do with the audition process.

Throughout the process, I noticed that one auditioner seemed to be favored by Delious. His name was Stephen Parker, and he was rarely out of sight of Delious. He auditioned and performed with groups like everyone else, but he seemed to have access to Delious that no other participants had.

After a fairly long day, I offered to take Jerimy out to dinner as it was his first trip to Nashville. He invited along his friend, Doug Urie, who was also from the Oklahoma auditions. I invited Matt to come along, but he bowed out.

I took them on a driving tour of the city, including 2nd Avenue, West End, Music Row and we grabbed dinner. Conversation was easy, as we grew up essentially in the same place. Oklahoma City is not so far from Joplin, or Kansas City. What I found most amazing was their complete naivety regarding the music business. They knew nothing of contracts, record deals, the role of managers, producers, record companies. I gave them the quickest American Music Business 101 course I could manage in a short evening.

We parted ways that evening with the intention of keeping in touch, regardless of the outcome of the auditions.

* Please send photos.