Getting in Tune

by Roger L. Trott

Punk is coming ... but it's not here yet. It's the fall of 1976, and 20-year-old guitarist Daniel Travers's life is a mess. His band, the Killjoys, is going nowhere, the pills he's popping are making him crazy, and the voices banging around his head have him convinced that he's a bleedin' quadropheniac. Then the phone rings, a new agent offering a weeklong gig at the exotic Mai Tai Hotel, hundreds of miles away in Puente Harbor, Wash. With an imagined Pete Townshend of the Who whispering encouragement--"It'll be like the Marquee in `64, mate!"--Daniel takes the gig and drags his talented but combative band out onto the road. Told that Jimi Hendrix and Heart started out at the Mai Tai, Daniel sees the gig as his best chance to ditch his problems and continue his search for Townshend's Universal Chord, the magical set of notes that will restore harmony to his life. Yet when the Killjoys hit Puente Harbor, bar-brawling bikers, an enticing groupie with ambitions of her own, and the haunting vision of a punkette left behind all combine to test Daniel's friendships and his belief in the promise of the Universal Chord. Getting in Tune, so full of the low grit of small-club rock 'n' roll and the transcendent spirit that elevates the music, plays like a twisting, ear-banging melody. Step in, can you hear it? The band is tuning up right now....

300 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Roger L. Trott is a former rock music critic who has played bass and guitar in bands throughout northern California. Getting in Tune, Roger's first published novel, is loosely based on his experiences playing with these bands, from gigs in San Francisco to club engagements on Washingtons Olympic Peninsula.

Roger was born and raised in the small Sacramento Valley town of Lincoln, CA, where his father published a weekly newspaper. Roger subsequently attended high school in Redding, CA, and studied English and journalism at Shasta Community College. After taking three years off from college to play music, he attended Sonoma State University, graduating with a bachelors degree in economics, and the University of California, Davis, where he earned a masters degree in economics.

Roger lives in the Sacramento, CA, region with his wife, Lisa Rea. He is currently working on a second novel of musical fiction and continues to play music, including mentoring a local youth rock band.

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Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm picky about any novels that deal with music, especially rock music, and this one gets it right. The musical references, the descriptions of the way it feels to play--when it's going good and when it's going not so good, the crappy clubs: all spot on. More importantly, the music set the stage but the characters drove the novel, which is how it should be.

[Richard Fulco · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy rock and roll, especially the period in the late seventies when punk came storming into the public, then you will enjoy this novel.

[Cuddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting in Tune is set in the mid-1970s. Daniel feels like his band, the Killjoys, is going nowhere fast after playing for four years in Creedly, or the boonies of Northern California where they live. That's when he gets a call from promoter Rick Astley, asking if they'd like to play a gig at the Mai Tai Hotel in Washington. Daniel takes this as his chance to get out of his messy life, and move on to bigger and better things. After his band mates Mick, Rob, Yogi, and Sam warily agree to it, they hit the road. The Mai Tai is not what they expected it to be, and they soon find out it's a hangout for the Hell's Angels. At the end of their week-long trip, they are offered a huge opportunity to play a major concert locally. But at what cost will it be for Daniel and the rest of the Killjoys.

Getting in tune follows the band on their journey to Puente Harbor where they have their gig at the Mai Tai Hotel, supposedly where Jim Hendrix and Heart played before they were big. The hotel is a dump, the bar smells of stale beer and cigarettes, and the hotel owner doesn't seem to like the guys. They meet some of the locals Kitten, Cecil, Beanie, and Evangeline who give that feeling of ending up somewhere you never imagined and being stuck.

Daniel is likeable and the drastic change in his mood when he is on uppers is realistic. He's looking for that one thing that can change him, and his life, for the better, and thinks that the band will take him there. He makes some bad decisions that end up costing him in the end, but they are a crucial part of him figuring out who he is as a person. Yogi the drummer, who I think is the most underappreciated character in the book, is sweet, he busts out with song lyrics at random moments, and also hoards food. You know, like Yogi Bear? The other members Mick, Rob, and Sam are constantly fighting (usually about Mick's outlandish behavior), and often talk about leaving the band. This and dealing with the dark underbelly of the music industry put a big damper on Daniel's big plans for the Killjoys

Although I was born in the early 80s, the late 60's and 70's have always had a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to amazing rock music thanks to my totally rocking dad. So Getting in Tune was a cool way to get a look into the lives of a budding rock band in the 70s at a time when Punk was just starting to break through. Roger seems to know pretty much everything there is to know about rock music, and playing instruments, which makes the story have a real legit feel to it.

I really enjoyed this story, because I'm a huge music fan in general. Aren't we all right? The balance between the band drama, the love story, the comedy, and the business side was spot on making it easy to fall right in and take the ride with Daniel. It wasn't a typical sex, drugs, and rock and roll book. Even though all those things take place through out the story, there is real emotion behind the actions of the characters that isn't represented in most "musical fiction" books.

Getting in Tune is a true rock and roll story, and if you're a fan of Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone then I think you will enjoy this one.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twenty-year-old Daniel Travers lives and breathes music. And so far, music has been good to him and his band The Killjoys; they always get local gigs and are by far the best band in their hometown of Creedly. But this is both a blessing and a curse because Daniel has dreams of following in the footsteps of his rock and roll idol Pete Townshend from The Who and escaping from his pathetic excuse for a home. Music is all Daniel’s got because the rest of him is beyond screwed and falling apart, and not only because of his pill popping and those voices in his head. So when he’s offered a gig at someplace called the Mai Tai Hotel, he jumps the chance to finally make it—out of Creedly and into the punk scene, so he hopes. But Daniel can’t hide from his problems forever, especially because they originate from himself.

Getting in Tune is a musical coming-of-age novel dealing with the fuzzy line between real and fake. Even through the drug and alcohol distorted world Daniel lives in, there is something so genuine about his character. He’s at odds with himself and stuck between being true to his music and finding the Real Him and doing anything to get out of Creedly and launch the Killjoys to success. I wouldn’t say the Daniel’s very likable, especially due to his frequent drinking and drug usage, but he is very easy to understand, especially when he spells out the root of all his problems. I enjoyed the deeper, almost philosophical, meaning behind the novel more than the actual plot, which was a slightly repetitive blend of drinking, smoking, playing music, and figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B. the story means more than just that, and Daniel exemplifies this search of sorts for the truth through his internal struggles. I didn’t like how the portrayal of life in a rock band is stereotyped, though many of its aspects are probably true.

Getting in Tune appeals first and foremost to all rock music lovers, particularly fans of Stephanie Kuehnert’s I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, even if Getting in Tune isn’t as unforgettable as Stephanie Kuehnert’s musical novel.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

[Katie]

This is written by my brother-in-law, so I am partial to it!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Really enjoyed the characters and the authors writing.

[D.B. Pacini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you been in a Rock and Roll band? Do you know someone who has been in a Rock & Roll band? Wanna visit or revisit the 1970s? Read Getting In Tune.