One was Matt. He was already coping with stage fright, and I really didn’t know what adding this kind of pressure would do to him. He might soar. He might crash and burn. And if he choked and that cost us this opportunity, he would never be the same. He just wouldn’t get over it—ever. I really didn’t want that kind of guilt on his conscious; he was too gifted to get lost inside his own head.

The second problem, and possibly the bigger one, was Griffin. He was already a megalomaniac, and I really didn’t know what this kind of attention would do to him. He might take it in stride, or he might try to forcefully take Matt’s instrument from him, so he could selfishly try to prove he was top dog. That might lead to a very vocal fight…and a very definite rejection from the label. And the band would never be the same after that.

No, the best thing for the D-Bags right now was ignorance, so I started doing everything I could to make sure the guys had no clue Lana was here scouting for talent. Mainly, I simply never mentioned it to them, and I begged everyone who did know why she was here to not mention it to them either. I hated hiding something so important from my friends, but this secret was for their own good. And honestly, it was still a long shot. I didn’t want to get their hopes up only to let them down if we failed. It would be much easier to go back home if they never knew how close we’d been.

Every band member I talked to was sympathetic to my request; they’d seen their own bands crumble under the strain. In truth, Paul was the only guy on the tour I was worried about. He would gladly spill my secret and traumatize my friends just so we would bomb. So, to head off that problem, I also asked people not to tell him that I was withholding information from my band. It wasn’t that much of an issue because nobody on the tour had a problem with not talking to Paul; nobody liked him, not even his own bandmates.