Jo: The After School Special

There I am, running late to the recording session, trying to put on make-up in the car. It happens too often. I know. It's dangerous. I've stopped. It was seriously, like brushing my teeth in the morning for a while. I'm late to a lot of things. I have a hard time with time. I'm constantly setting clocks ahead by ten to fifteen minutes to fool myself into thinking that I'm on time. I know it's a bad habit, and one I've worked hard to break since the show. At some point, I realized I definitely didn't want to be an after-school special. I'm not the best role model when it comes to driving with my hands at ten and two. But I'm getting a lot better.

This is a nerve-wracking episode for me. I didn't expect to have to sing on command, right there in the living room, but as a performer, you have to do it. You have to be able to drop what you're doing, and so I gave it my all. And it's awesome to play with Gavin. He can play anything. The kid is a natural. And he's never been trained.

Everything he does is by ear, and he should go to Juilliard. He taught himself the piano, the guitar, the drums, everything on his own. He's a sophomore in high school. He joined the choir last year, and it's something we really bonded with — I was in the choir in high school, as well. I go to his solo performances now. His vibrato is amazing. Very John Mayer-ish. He loves girls. And MySpace. He's awesome.

As for recording the demo — it's really intimidating being in that recording studio. First of all, it was my first time. Second — I didn't get to go to Starbucks that morning. Which is a travesty. I don't function without Starbucks. And the third thing is that when I walked into the studio, I thought it would be me, Bob, Won-G, and Slade. And oh no. There are engineers, there are people — a lot of people. I was very thrown. I had to suck it up. I was really nervous, but I figured it out. Come on, the Beach Boys recorded in that room, and once I got my feet planted in that room, I felt like it was second nature. I took a couple beatings first. And it slips out that I was a cheerleader. For nine years. I got a scholarship for it. I cheered for a pro team after college. I was a Long Beach Jam Girl. But I finally hung up the pom-poms. They're in a box far away now. Well, until next week, that's all for now.