1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 166



Only Noblemtl

166. NAMM Show (3)

The front yard always felt like a fancy restaurant, with beautiful melodies ringing out from the garage practice room every day. This was all thanks to Annie and Jake practicing ‘Air on the G String.’

I told her that it was okay to make a few mistakes since it wasn’t a performance, but Annie’s personality absolutely did not allow for mistakes. As a result, Jake was locked in the garage, playing the same song over and over again all day long. Jake really had a Buddha-like mind.

However, Annie’s guitar skills have improved a lot thanks to this opportunity. When it comes to playing an instrument, skills often improve in a stepwise manner. Even if it seems like you’re not improving, you’ll suddenly improve, and even if you hit a plateau, you’ll overcome it. In the end, if you don’t give up and keep working hard, your skills will improve.

I sat alone at an outdoor table in the garden, enjoying the sunshine and drinking hot cocoa with milk.

A moment later the garage door opened and Annie and Jake came out.

“James, what are you eating alone?”

Anyway, just look at that guy eating.

“cocoa.”

“Give me a ride too.”

“I’ll bring it. Have a seat.”

Jake ran into the house.

“Oops, hehe.”

Annie stretched out on the sunbed. After practicing for hours, it must have been a sweet break.

“Is it that fun?”

“Yeah. I want to write my own songs someday, but to do that, I need to know how to play an instrument. I only know how to play basic chords, but I practiced simple solos and power chords, so I think it will help me a lot when I write songs in the future.”

Annie stretched her entire body as far as she could once again.

“But what happened to Stella and Kevin? I wonder if they’ve arrived at your house by now. Oh, I’m dying to know.”

“My older brother is tall, handsome, smart, hard-working, kind, successful at work, and everything is good for him······ hmm······.”

“No, you have everything you need. What’s the problem?”

“You know what kind of society Korea is······.”

“Because he’s an orphan? What’s wrong with being an orphan?! It wasn’t even our choice! Besides, Kevin wasn’t abandoned like me, he was a war orphan!”

“Still, my mother looked happy at the funeral, so I hope she does well.”

“I really don’t like Korean culture. If two people like each other, that’s fine. Why do adults have to tell me what to do? I’m going to live in America my whole life. It’s comfortable and I like it here. Do you, too?”

“To be honest, yes. You don’t have to worry about anything else and just focus on your music. You and I only have one family.”

Annie stared blankly at the sky for a moment, perhaps thinking of her aunt. Just then, Jake arrived with two cups of cocoa and the cookies Angela had made.

“As expected, Jake. You have a good sense, haha.”

Annie jumped up and tapped Jake on the shoulder.

“Jake, aren’t you sad that you can’t go to Korea this time because of the Nam Show?”

Jake’s father was the commander of the US Forces Korea, so his mother also lived in Korea. Suddenly, Jake, an American, became the son who visited Korea during the Korean holiday.

“It’s okay, I’ll call you often. But maybe we can all go to Korea together soon.”

“What does that mean?”

Annie bit into the cookie and took a bite.

“If Kevin and Stella get married, we all have to attend.”

“······.”

The word marriage. It’s still such an unfamiliar word. Will Kevin really marry Stella······.

“Hey, our Namsho is almost here. Let’s talk about music.”

Annie waved her hand and changed the subject.

Huh, did this guy read my mind with his mind-reading skills?

* * *

Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do.

An oil market opened in a village full of one-story tile-roofed houses, thatched houses, and houses with broken and discolored asbestos slate roofs. On both sides of the long alley were shabby signs such as Chungnam Samupsa, Hanil Pomokjeom, Dongyang Sangsa, and Geumsan Rice Store, and there were even many stores without signs.

The narrow alleys were filled with people walking briskly, and in the narrower alleys between the shops, white smoke rose in wisps, and the smells of seolleongtang, sundaeguk, janchi guksu, and pajeon mingled and vibrated.

The vendors who sat with their goods on the floor, blowing on their frozen hands, and the ladies who were bargaining to buy things as cheaply as possible were laughing and having a good argument.

Although Western-style clothing has become widespread, there were still many people wearing white hanbok at Geumsan Oil Market, and workers were busy carrying grain sacks on carts.

It wasn’t deserted even though it was a slightly wider road. Trucks were busily unloading bags of flour, and taxis and cars passing by had to crawl through the crowds that filled the streets.

A black luxury taxi with the word ‘Seoul’ written on the bumper license plate entered the crowd and traffic.

“Youngmi, did you know Geumsan was a neighborhood with so many people?”

“It’s because it’s the market day before the holiday. It’s a rural area, so there’s nowhere else to buy things. But it’s really my hometown, but since I’m in the US, it feels like I’ve time-traveled to the distant past. Seoul seems to change every time I come here, but this place is the same.”

The taxi barely managed to get out of the marketplace and onto a deserted dirt road in the countryside again.

“Is it a river?”

“Yes, Geumgang River. When I was young, I used to play there a lot with my younger siblings. We didn’t have anything to eat or toys, but we were happy because of that river. When my mom came home from work, I would carry my youngest on my back and go to the bridge to meet her. When the sun set over Geumgang River, it turned golden. We would walk together like that and sing songs to my youngest, and we would arrive home just as the golden light was almost gone.”

Stella Jin, who came to her hometown, became an ordinary woman named Jin Yeong-mi, and talked quite well in front of her lover.

“Big brother Daeho, aren’t you nervous?”

“little?”

“Don’t worry. Mom will definitely like you. I know my mom well.”

Choi Dae-ho, who was always calm and confident when he worked as Kevin Choi in the United States, was holding a handkerchief tightly in his hand. Jin Young-mi leaned on his shoulder and gently placed her hand on his.

* * *

Angela, who was always stuck with Annie, has been spending more time alone in the piano practice room lately. It wasn’t because Annie was immersed in guitar practice all day, and it wasn’t because she felt competitive with Siyoon.

When Angela played alone, not in an ensemble, she would sometimes fall into a state of ecstasy. Sister Maria asked me to always be there to watch over her during those moments.

So whenever Angela went into the practice room alone, I would always hide and stay by her side like a shadow.

The soundproofing technology of this era is obviously inferior to that of the future. The door had a round glass window that looked like the windows in a passenger ship’s cabin. It was not intended for surveillance, but to prevent accidents.

Angela sat at the grand piano, spread out her music sheet on the stand. Her hands were on her knees, and she was staring intently at the sheet music. Angela was usually bright and smiling. Now, her expression was completely unreadable.

And it was the first time Angela was looking at sheet music. It was definitely not a drawing sheet music she had drawn, but a thick sheet music book.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and placed his hands on the keyboard. The two small, white hands floating on the keyboard remained motionless in the air. I, too, held my breath for a moment as I watched them.

After a while, ten fingers slowly rested on the keys and began to move slowly.

It was Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, which we were to play together at Namsho. It was the original, not an arrangement for three people. I put my ear close to the wall.

It was just one piano, but I imagined there was an orchestra.

The conductor leads the orchestra with a profound expression, and the pianist’s fingers become busier under the spotlight. The introduction flows like the morning fog, seemingly anxious and yet not, beautiful and yet dreary.

And before the rushing speed began, I looked at Angela through the glass window again. Her eyes had changed. She had clearly fallen into a state of ecstasy.

Leaning forward with his upper body, his fingers raced across the keyboard like a cheetah, tearing the air apart and even distorting time. Not paying attention to the dizzyingly crazy key changes, the complex pieces of sound poured out all at once, rushing fiercely in one direction.

My legs were glued to the floor and I couldn’t move, and my heart rate was racing.

After a violent storm raged, it seemed as if things were calming down again, but then another type of typhoon came and passed again, and this cycle was repeated.

How long did he stand there like that?

My legs began to feel tingly and a cold sweat ran down my back.

More than 40 minutes had passed. Angela was trying to complete the third movement. She looked very tired. Should I go in and stop her? My mind was in turmoil. Sister Maria’s words kept ringing in my ears.

For the musician Angela, it was right to watch until she finished, and for her friend Angela, it was right to stop her.

But the performance that was rushing towards the end of the third movement made all my thoughts disappear. Before I knew it, I was cheering for them to finish it all.

I don’t know much about authentic classical music. But classical music and rock seem completely different, but they are actually quite closely related. There will be many derivative genres of rock music in the future, but classical music has a huge influence on bands like German melodic speed metal and Dream Theater.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Swedish-American guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, who rewrote the history of heavy metal in the 80s, opened the golden age of classical heavy metal.

Brazilian vocalist André Matos has been interested in classical music since his teens, but he formed a heavy metal band. He studied composition on piano and keyboard, and tried to combine classical music with metal music.

He also sang a song with lyrics to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in a group called Viper, and later formed a band called Angra, which grew into a world-class band by combining traditional Brazilian rhythms with European classical music.

Moreover, most of the super guitarists who were popular in the 80s and 90s played classic songs with electric guitars.

The same reason I, a member of a rock band, coveted Angela, who showed great talent in piano. If Angela put her mind to it, she could play any kind of music, whether it was classical, pop, or rock.

I’ve heard Angela play Chopin’s pieces with her free hand a few times, but this was the first time I’d seen her play a piece this long, lasting over 40 minutes.

Just hold on for a little longer.

Angela will be okay.

Almost there.

I kept thinking to myself, “When Angela finishes playing, I’ll go in and applaud.” I kept watching with anticipation.

The long song that seemed like it would never end has finally ended.

Charalarang!

The moment I grabbed the handle to open the door and go in, I heard an absurd dissonant sound. I quickly looked at the glass window and saw Angela crouched and collapsed on the keyboard.

Angela!