A Song for the Season

Change of Plans

The band’s van pulls up outside a blocky cement building in downtown Knoxville, and Tenney’s excitement stalls when she spots a school bus unloading eight-year-olds in matching red-and-green uniforms. A banner welcomes the Eastern Tennessee Children’s Choir, and risers fill the room where their set should go. Logan asks what’s going on, and Zane and Dad head for the front desk to find out.

While they wait, three sisters with matching sandy-colored hair sidle up, staring in awe. The youngest, about Aubrey’s age, blurts that Tenney is Tenney Grant. The oldest, Emily Hayden, names her sisters Sophie and Corinne and explains their mom drove them from Russellville after the family watched Tenney and Logan’s video performing “Reach the Sky” with Belle Starr countless times. Tenney is thrilled to meet real fans, though the choir’s warm-up vocalizing nearly drowns out her reply.

Zane comes back looking uneasy and admits Tenney and Logan aren’t scheduled to perform today. Mrs. Colvin, the managing librarian, clutches a big clipboard and explains that the music series director left suddenly for a family emergency, and the calendar got double-booked with the choir’s holiday show in the scramble to cover for her.

The choir director, sporting a candy-cane-striped bow tie, offers a fix. His kids have rehearsed for six weeks, so he can’t hand over the whole slot. Instead, Tenney and Logan can join the choir and sing a couple of songs during its set. It isn’t the show they planned, but it beats playing nothing, so they agree. With no room for Logan’s drum kit, he switches to guitar, and the two quickly figure out which songs fit the choir’s set list.

The choir turns out to be better than Tenney expects, opening with an enthusiastic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” to loud cheers. When the director invites Tenney and Logan up, the kids squeal with delight, and one boy’s eyes go wide at the sight of Logan’s guitar. Tenney and Logan lead the group through “Winter Wonderland” and “Jingle Bells.” The performance isn’t polished, since they never rehearsed together, but the audience eats it up anyway.

Afterward, the Hayden sisters buy one of the band’s EPs and pose for photo after photo, wishing they could have played longer. Zane mentions they have a full set the next night at a civic auditorium in Kingsport that holds up to 800 people. Sophie realizes it’s close to home and begs Emily to ask their mom. When Emily hesitates, Zane offers free tickets, and Corinne shrieks and tackles his legs in a hug. Tenney tells them she hopes they can make it, and Emily promises they’ll try.

The good mood doesn’t last once they’re back in the van. Tenney tries to get Logan to act excited about tomorrow’s bigger crowd, but he barely responds, staring at his phone. When she pushes again, he snaps that he already knows the show needs to be good and doesn’t need reminding. Hurt, Tenney turns away, and Dad urges them to take it down a notch. Tenney puts in her headphones and cranks her music, deciding to keep her focus on playing her best, despite whatever is bothering Logan.