I'm up to date with Lumpy's Country roads and i've read Runaway train by Jay cantrell (both of whom are among my favourite authors on this site), i'm looking for long stories about behind the scenes of the music industry, trying to get into the business, auditions etc, i find these stories fascinating.
Wolf has a series that starts with
https://storiesonline.net/s/10689/road-trip-jim-mellons-erotic-journey-across-america
and continues on to involve Crystal, a country-western singer. Jim Mellon also becomes a country-western singer.
I haven't read it, but https://storiesonline.net/universe/1382/intemperance by Al Steiner could be of interest.
https://storiesonline.net/series/824/chaos by EzzyB has music as a big part of the plot.
https://storiesonline.net/s/25804/the-pub and
https://storiesonline.net/s/26491/mow-cop by Telephoneman are shorter, much MUCH shorter.
I thought of these off the top of my head, but I haven't read them in quite a while.
The Intemperance series by Al Steiner. Book 8 is currently posting.
These Girls can Play by Dr. Paco Jones.
Axe Victim by Lellan McLemore.
Songbirds by Jay Cantrell.
Hopefully each of them will satisfy some part of your craving.
Speaking personally, I couldn't get through Intemperance 2, and haven't finished the rest. Read all the others though.
Same here, I gave up part-way through Intemperance 2.
I didn't care for Al Steiner's aftermath either, even though I absolutely loved his Greenies and A Perfect World as well as Doing It All Over.
It's very unusual for SOL that I find an author such a mixed bag. Usually they are all either good to at least tolerable, or so bad I simply give up.
Recommendations for stories about music and the music industry are common on the forum. Here are some of the threads:
https://storiesonline.net/d/s9/t12234/stories-about-music
https://storiesonline.net/d/s9/t7309/music
https://storiesonline.net/d/s9/t5564/music-as-a-significant
https://storiesonline.net/d/s9/t4497/a-musical-story
Good hunting,
AJ
Thanks folks, i'll away and have a look at yer suggestions, i tried Intemperance before but found the writing style hard to keep a track of but i really should give it another go coz Cantrells stuff is usually pretty amazing but i'm not really into the drugs/drinking/cheating/gangbang crap and i'm definitely not a fan of "stroke" stories so i usually end up skimming a lot when i come across those and miss details at times. I like Lumpy's take on the coming of age aspect although at times it's kinda predictable and at other times ye wanna smack the MC for being an idiot but that's me as a man in my mid 40's reading about a teenager who ALL parents know aren't exactly known to make the sanest decisions.
Take a look at Dual Writer's Florida Friends series.
It is not focused on the recording industry, but after the character of Chuck Johnson gets rolling, readers get several recording sessions in blues, jazz and country music and a love affair with dueling guitars.
That's funny. I am currently rereading, for the fifth or sixth time, the second of the books with Chuck. Always Finding Trouble It's the fifth in the Florida Friends series.
I've read the Florida friends series, bit long winded at times and definitely a stroke story at times an all but a good read all in all, the first few Chuck stories i liked but away from the marshalling it got repetative and boring after a while...just my opinion, my favourite stories from Dual writer are Recluse and ghost and Money!
It's been a long while since I read but but I seem to recall ShadowWriter's Hatchery Row having some of those themes: https://storiesonline.net/s/16034/hatchery-road
i'm looking for long stories about behind the scenes of the music industry, trying to get into the business, auditions etc
I love Hatchery Road, but there is nothing of that in the story, something which also applies to Opus One below.
On a slightly different theme Opus One by Ryan Sylander is set in a Conservatory of Music.
https://storiesonline.net/s/48790/opus-one
Fiddling Around With Uncle Bob by Lubrican
Daphne and Gabriella were teenage prodigies, and audiences the world over were enthralled by their music. The passion in that music was electric, and communicable. Where on Earth did girls that young find such passion to insert into their music? Only their mother. and their Uncle Bob knew. Originally posted in 2006. Revised and reposted in 2009.
Premier members only
If you don't mind a lesbian twist then Playing the blues https://storiesonline.net/library/storyInfo.php?id=14434
The problem with almost all of the stories about music is that they are outdated. The music industry now has little in common with what existed ten or even five years ago. For new talent Tik-Tok and Instagram is where they build an audience and where old talent maintains it. Nobody makes money on records and the money from streaming for all but the top acts is peanuts. Live performances are where the artists make their money which, together with the greed of Live Nation, is why ticket prices have soared.
colt45 described a lot of that in https://storiesonline.net/s/66546/mayhem-4-irish-mist which was posted late 2010.
Funny enough, I actually address that in Country Road, specifically the money in touring and how deals for that are structured these days.
The issue of an artist interaction with the music publishers is a significant part of the story line in J Cantrell story "Runaway Train"
And very enlightening as to exactly how many hands the final purchaser's money passes through before it gets to the artist, and how little the artist actually receives from that purchase price.
Plus, it is just a good, well-crafted story. I'm going to have to reread it soon.
[70 yr old retired guy living alone with nothing else to do but read (and reread) stories provided by those blessings in disguise, our beloved authors.
Essentially the same plot as "Axe Victim" linked in the MarissaHorne post near the top of this thread, and Axe Victim is a lot better (IMHO of course).