An Unsung Melody

Chapter Twelve

Greg played the song for her and she leaned in to ask him about a couple of the spots on how he wanted things done on the song. By the end of the song, they were both leaning in, heads nearly touching as he talked her through the bridge into the finale.

When the song finished, she grabbed the music and stood, "I think I can get it."

Logan walked her to the sound booth, "That was some pretty impressive smoozing you did in there."

She laughed and shook her head, "Not smoozing. I just realized that when a songwriter hands over their lyrics they might have an idea of what they want. I'm learning."

Ashley took her place behind the microphone and made sure she could see the music, getting everything adjusted to her liking. She pulled the headphones over her ears and gave her usual thumbs up to the guys, waiting for the music to play in her ears.

She counted the beats then leaned in and started to sing. She meant what she'd said to Logan, the things Justin had taught her over the last week had made an impression. If she was going to give her fans a love letter in this last album, she wanted to put her soul into these songs.

When she finished she looked up at the men, both were smiling at her, "Well, I had my doubts," Greg admitted, "but you can sing. I'd be happy to work with you any day. The bridge needs some work though."

"You should take that as a compliment," Logan's voice piped in over the speaker and Ashley laughed.

"Play back the bridge then," she said with a laugh, "you gotta give me a couple takes on that."

She worked with the two men all morning on the ballad until they had it just like they wanted it. They were about to move on to the next song when Lynn showed up with Lance and lunch for everyone. Lynn was winning bonus points for her with everyone it seemed. Lance was in an excellent mood compared to the last time they'd been in the studio together.

"I heard this morning went well," Lance commented as he looked between the two producers and Ashley.

"Finished the whole song," Greg said as he gulped a bite of the sandwich he was eating. There was more pride in his voice than Ashley would have anticipated, but she was glad she seemed to have sort wormed her way past his grumpy façade. "I thought we were going to have to have someone come in for some background vocals on that one, but she pulled it off without any issues. We'll send it off for mixing and get started on the next song today too."

"Didn't you work on something yesterday?" Lance asked Ashley.

"Oh I can-" Logan started to stand, but Ashley caught his eye and shook her head.

"I did, but it's not ready yet," for reasons she didn't want to analyze, she wasn't ready for Lance to hear Superman yet.

"That's not what I heard from the mixing engineer," Lance challenged.

Ashley met his familiar green eyes without backing down, "It's not ready yet. When we're done eating, maybe the guys can show you what we recorded this morning."

"Will I get all the songs on my weekly report?" Lance asked.

"I don't know yet," Ashley said with a shrug, "We'll have to see what is ready for you."

"I'd like you to have at least twenty songs recorded so we have some options for the album. I was thinking of moving you up to New York to work with some other producers next week."

Ashley tilted her head in Lynn's direction, "Did you talk to my manager? She's already got me working with some new producers this next week. In Memphis I believe."