It was beautiful irony that the song was about not knowing what state of life you were in. About having a long way to go and being lost. About leaving in the morning… But despite the songwriter’s lack of direction and state of uncertainty, it wasn’t a sad tune. It was rock ’n’ roll at its finest and had harmonies that fit in any Beach Boys song.

Maybe I should just embrace it. Having uncertainties didn’t have to be bad.

Nicky had given me a lot to think about, and I did have a long way to go, but there was hope now too. Because he was right on the money. There were compromises to make.

Around the time everyone came back from their day in downtown Nashville, I was sitting outside the bus on a lawn chair, guitar perched on my lap, smoke dangling at the corner of my mouth, and I’d just rearranged some of the lyrics in the first song.

“The day did you good, huh?” Nicky smiled.

I nodded and took the smoke from my lips. “I owe you one.”

He shrugged. “I’d say we’re even.”

Darkness fell, and the first band was in the middle of their gig when August texted me to say they were here and were gonna check out some of the other bands. A big part of me wanted to seek them out, maybe have dinner with them, but I stayed near the bus. I couldn’t lose focus again. I felt much better. Determined—I felt determined.

It was impossible to drown out the concerts taking place so close, but we did our best to go through our gig step by step. Anyone who had questions or struggled with something, we dealt with.

Nicky came back after a food break with his man and announced that August and Camden had joined up with Gideon, so that was nice.

The next time I checked my watch, too much time had passed, and we were suddenly in a hurry. All the instruments had to come out of the cargo space on the bus, including my Hammond that was a fucking pain to move, Maria demanded pictures had to be taken, and I had to make sure the boxes with all the gear had the right labels for the crew that was about to put their hands on our shit.

It was the benefit of always playing smaller gigs—you were in charge of your own equipment. No such luck on a big festival where everything had to run smoothly.

When all was said and done, we had about five minutes to spare. The second band was about to wrap up, and the roadies were getting ready to invade the stage.