Coming Full Circle

With rehab finished and Nicole given a clean bill of health, the siblings took a trip back to Austin.

We were standing in front of the statue and I looked over to Jon and said that he had a nice hat.  I thought that it would make a nice addition to my collection, provided I could find one in white.  We headed over to a local record/souvenir store where we met Tall-Boy.

Tall-Boy Williams - Bassist, Professional Amateurs

Tall-Boy:  Yeah, I was sure as shit surprised when Nikki Falcon walked in on my shift at the store.  She wanted a Vaughn hat but dyed white. I made sure that she got it.  Dyed it myself.  

Tall-Boy Williams was an aspiring bassist for a local alt-country band, Barnstorm.  During a local show, Tall-Boy called out Nikki and Jon and they joined the band on stage for a couple of songs.

Back in the Saddle with Barnstorm

Barnstorm was a great band an' all, but when Nik and Jon called me up, I had  to join'em.  I mean, to be a Pro-Am was a dream.  "For Hire" was one of my all time favorites.  How could I say no?

With a new bassists/vocalist in tow, Jon focused on learning a new instrument; keyboards.  But getting a new album ready proved difficult.

I didn't think it was possible but I couldn't play anymore.  After hopping around from drums, guitar, singing, producing, managing, and then throwing keys on top of that, my talent for drums wasn't there anymore.  My timing was off.  Freestyling wasn't a problem but keeping a beat was.

Placing an ad in Rolling Stone as well as combing Sacramento, San Fransisco, and Austin yielded few promising results.

We had a session drummer fill in for a few gigs but it didn't feel right.  It felt... mechanical.  No soul.  

The group decided to visit San Diego, Jon and Nicole's birthplace as well as Julia's final resting place.  What they found at her grave site would prove to be a surprise.

The Big Sleep

Nicole was in a coma for 9 months.  During that time, Jon moved his studio operations to the LA area to make sure he was at her side.


For the first 2 months, I ate and slept at the hospital.  After that, I realized I had to get back to work.  Spent 6 hours or so in the studio, then 8 hours at Nikki's bedside.  Since I wasn't doing much outside of the booth I decided to get a haircut and trimmed away the bread.  I also kinda let myself go a bit.

After several months of vigil, Nikki finally managed to stir out of her sleep.

I remember waking up to these bright white lights and someone playing "Closer to the Heart", very badly.  My first words were "you're in the wrong key" at which point I've got this big guy crying and hugging me.

Rehabilitation was slow for the accident victim.  Her brother was strict about what medication she would receive as he didn't want a relapse. But the biggest shock was during that first few days.

She didn't recognize me.  Granted, I had bulked up a bit, got a shave and a haircut but after talking with her, she knew it was me.  The biggest shock was when she ran out of the bathroom screaming.

I freaked out because the person staring back at me in the mirror wasn't me.  No pink hair and the face was completely different.  It was weird though.  As much crap as I did, I never blacked out.  Sure my memory might be a little fuzzy but there weren't any holes, till now.  And it was scary, to lose the better part of a year like that.  It still took me another 7 months before I could play again. 

Nikki, after rehab

After finishing rehab, the siblings decided to head back to where everything started for them.  Back to Austin.