Leaving Normal: The day after the day you get signed

FOR A band at the top of the local ladder, it's the best of times and the worst of times. It's when the answer from a major label is yes at last. It's when the band can finally hope to get their music out of the boondocks and into the car radios of America. It's when success is only one of the many lurid temptations suddenly at the doorstep, among them praise, money, a new haircut and group sex.