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In Arizona, the evening was slowly settling in as the sun was beginning to set. Having just finished a meal, Alicia Lena stepped out into her sprawling back garden high up in the hills with a perfect view looking down into the City, as the distant lighting suggested that the peaceful tranquillity high above was not replicated out there. As the firepit crackled, the RnB singer walked out into the garden with two glasses of Chateau Latour 1963 red wine, handing one to her longtime friend before sitting down herself.
“It’s crazy how close this place is to the madness of California but feels like an entirely different world.” |
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Ryan Ross Hernandez sat back while admiring the view the hills provided down into the city, deep in thought for a moment until he heard Alicia approaching, laughing softly at her comment. "I can see why you love it out here. Once you settle into this sort of peace and tranquility it's tough to step out of it for long stretches," he mused aloud, thanking her softly when she handed him the glass of wine. It was no secret Alicia was one of his longtime friends in the industry and evenings like this were commonplace in their friendship over the years.
He swirled it and took a whiff of it before he took a small sip, "Hmm, I'm certain this is a Chateau Latour but I can't place the year." Ryan was a known oenophile, his LA home having a wine cellar that housed a collection that was valued in the millions at this point. "I'm going to say this is from 1966 maybe?" he guessed before taking another drink from it. |
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Alicia smiled warmly as she sat down, taking a second to get herself comfortable. “Oh, seriously it’s way too easy to just stay home.” She says with a small laugh, it had been no secret that it had taken some time for her to figure out the right balance for her career and home life. Opting to step away from the spotlight for a number of years in order to dedicate her time to being a mother and wife in the mid-2010’s before eventually stepping back into things in the 2020’s which culminated in her first studio album in over ten years. “When I’m away for more than a couple of days, I’m just longing for the calmness of this place.”
She smiled as Ryan showed his expertise, she knew he had a penchant for the finer things in life and although she lived on that same wavelength those finer details of wine wasn’t in her repertoire. They were fully stocked in the wine cellar courtesy of her husband DeAndre Patton and she knew which were her favourites but her knowledge wasn’t so vast. “You’re right, good spot.” she says, completely oblivious to the fact that he was off slightly on the year. She laughs a little, “Honestly, if Dey was here I’m sure you guys could talk for hours over his recent wine investments. But I’m no good with that stuff, I know what I like and that’s about it.” she smiles a little, teasing slightly, “Men and there obsessions.” she says playfully, “He did leave you a couple of cigars that he’s just had imported, apologized for not being available to catch up tonight.” |
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Ryan grinned over to her, "Ellie is the exact same way. I always tell her that there are worse things I could be spending obscene amounts of money on," he shrugged with a chuckle. He was of course talking about Ellie-Grace Summers who he had comfortably settled into a four year relationship at this point. While he wasn't married or had kids like Alicia did, this was about as close to a steady home life as he has ever had. "I'll have to bring DeAndre a few bottles next time as a thank you for the cigars," he mused to her before he took another sip. "You'll probably get an apologetic text from E.G. that she didn't send me this way with baked goods or like a hand-knitted blanket for the kid or something else this time," he teased.
"Given what we do for a living, you need this oasis to escape to. It's way too easy to buy into your own bullshit in certain cities," he told her as he settled back to their conversation - no stranger to the toll a celebrity-led life can have. "I still mainly live in LA, but I'm unsure if that will be the place I want to like raise a family one day. Maybe Nashville? We're constantly out there to visit Ellie's parents and she's got a penthouse in town. We've talked about starting to look for more of a family home though," he explained. "When you first saw this place did you immediately know this was going to be home?" |
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Alicia laughs a little, “In this industry, if a wine collection is your only real vice then I think you’ve done pretty well.” she smiles, “I really don’t mind, he does all the research, discovering and locating. I just get to enjoy it.” she says, raising her glass slightly in toast before taking a drink. Although she kept a pretty low profile, she did enjoy the finer things in life and had grown accustomed to a certain way of living. “You know, I still don’t believe Ellie-Grace and I have ever crossed paths. You’ll have to bring her out here with you next time, she seems great.” she says with a smile, having seen and met a handful of Ryan’s girlfriends over the years she was glad to see him seemingly truly settled for quite some time, “Feels different this time around, huh?”
She nodded as she took another sip of her wine, “Honestly, I go back to California so rarely these days. The occasional business meeting or social event. I record here at my home studio so it’s very rare that I head back out there. Of course DeAndre’s out there a lot for work, it’s close enough but just far away enough too.” Although she was born and raised in San Diego, she had experienced both New York and Los Angeles as her home base during the early years of her career, so was fully aware of the trapping and distractions that those cities brought. She felt like she had landed on the perfect balance in Arizona.
She smiles as Ryan talks openly about the desire to search for a family home with Ellie, “I think Nashville would be perfect, there’s enough going on in the City to keep you entertained, but it’s far enough out there to keep you away from the chaos. I can see you guys in a big country house with acres of land.” she gently taps his arm, as if to say she’s proud of where he’s at right now. “There was no doubt about this place for me. DeAndre still had a preference to remain in California. But I got my own way, of course. It was more important to raise Rocco away from that celebrity world that you get sucked into in California.” |
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Ryan chuckled, "Really? We'll have to set something up. I honestly think you two will get on great. It seems only fair that one of my long standing friends meets the woman I'll be engaged to by the end of the year," he gave her a sly smirk, taking another drink of wine. "It does feel world's different. I know everyone sort of assumed I'd be this forever bachelor, which I didn't think so, but I heard it so much that I began to more or less expect my life to go that way," he shrugged, "Now with Ellie is the first time in my adult life where I don't feel like I am in any sort of celebrity relationship or caught up in any selfishness. The focus is entirely on each other and building out this really beautiful life together."
He nodded, "Yeah, this seems like the ideal homebase for you two, close enough for DeAndre's work and travels, while you have all you need here to make hit records still," he teased her. "I still have my place in Montana which remains a nice escape but it's a little too remote for me. I rather have a balance. I'm forty-seven and I've been living mainly in LA or NYC since I was twenty. That's a really long time to be in that vicious cycle," he mused, looking off to the skyline and sipping on his wine.
He smiled at Alicia tapping his arm, "Nashville has become a bit of a second home already. Hell, it's inspiring my next album and I'm probably going to record it all in the city. It feels well calibrated to where my life is right now." He set his glass down, nodding along at her words. "Yeah, that's understandable. I wouldn't want to raise a kid in that cesspool," he agreed. "We've been talking about having kids. Ellie definitely wants to be a mom and for the first time in my life the idea of me being a dad doesn't scare me. I'll take that as a pretty good sign." |
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She nods, attempting to recollect any previous chance meeting but isn’t able to pinpoint one, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Which is crazy given how long we’ve all been in this business. But I can’t wait to meet her, she seems great, seems very grounded.” Alicia smiles at the mention of a possible engagement, whether he was joking or not, she shows her enthusiasm, “There were times when even I thought maybe the whole bachelor thing was your destiny. I think when things didn’t work out with Nadia I sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t ever get to play piano at your wedding.” she says, slightly tongue-in-cheek at the idea of her playing them down the aisle. She lets out a big smile, “It sounds like you’ve finally found something built to last.”
Alicia listens as she takes another sip of wine, “I think you’ve got to have a link to either California or New York just to maintain a career in the industry. But it’s been nice to find a way around that and sort of get the best of both worlds.” She shrugs, “You still get recognized and all of that sort of thing, but I feel like I can live a semi-normal life out here.” she laughs a little, “Even at the time I thought Montana seemed a little too drastic.”
She nodded in agreement at the idea of Nashville being a home to Ryan, “Honestly, I think it fits you perfectly. And a record inspired with it’s influence all over it is something that sounds like a perfect fit. You know I love bluesy Hernandez but I can get on board with cowboy Hernandez too.” she says with a slight giggle before stopping in her tracks as he casually mentioned that he and Ellie have talked about having kids, “Fuuuuck, really? I knew it was serious but I had no idea you guys were at that point already. That’s amazing that you’re both in that mindset. I think you’ll be a great Dad and I’m pretty certain Ellie already has that Mom instinct.” she says as she finishes her glass of wine. |
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“I don’t blame you for thinking as much. I didn’t exactly give off serious commitment vibes to anyone back then,” he told her with a smirk, knowing all too well the life he used to lead and bouncing between relationships and flings casually. “Can you imagine that? Walking down the aisle to the Alicia Lena? I’ll have to ask for your wedding playing rates soon,” he winked teasingly her way, certainly thinking it’d be a special moment to have at a potential future wedding.
“You know me, I tend to go for extremes, especially at that time. It felt like I was public enemy number one and I wanted to get away from everything, so I bought a big hat and wore plaid and became a Montana guy,” he joked before he finished the rest of his wine. “My main studio is in Los Angeles so I probably can’t ever fully leave that city behind but coming out here and experiencing this makes me want something of this sort myself too. It makes me happy to see you with Rocco and DeAndre - this whole life you’ve been able to construct,” he admitted.
Ryan laughed and clapped his hands at her reaction, not as he expected Alicia or anyone who has known him for this long to hear him casually mention the idea of having kids of his own. “I’m pretty sure you’re the first person I’ve told that to myself,” he grinned, running a hand through his hair and letting out a content sigh. “I am a bit of traditionalist. I think I want to have the whole engagement and marriage thing first before we have kids, but it is something we have discussed. I know E.G. will be an amazing mom, I’m not sort about me as a dad but I’ll figure it out,” he crinkled his face and laughed softly. “An engagement ring may or may not be getting designed as we speak.” |
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“Well I’m glad that your in a different mindset these days.” she says with a friendly smile before laughing slightly at the comment about her wedding rates, “Oh, I’m not sure you can afford me.” she says jokingly, knowing that if that were ever something that was requested of her she knew there wouldn’t be a charge for her services, given her long-lasting and enduring friendship with Ryan.
She laughed at the phrase ‘Montana guy’ before nodding, “Aww, thank you Ryan. It’s a beautiful thing to see people you knew in their younger days in a place of happiness and contentment. It’s a lot of walking down roads you think are the correct paths only to discover dead ends, but when you realise you’re finally on that correct path it’s a beautiful thing.” she smiles warmly, “I can definitely see that you’re on that journey now too, I’m so happy to see you on that path.”
She smiles, eyes widening in surprise at the fact that she’s the first person he’s said it out loud to, “I love that. I always believe it’s important to make that commitment to each other before you decide to bring a child into this world. Doesn’t guarantee anything, but I feel like it just builds a much more solid foundation for them to thrive fully knowing that complete love is all around them.” she smiles, in all the years she’s known Ryan, it’s the first time they’ve ever really went into this deep a conversation about love and relationships. “It’ll always take some adjusting and figuring out, but you’ll be amazed at how immediate it comes to you. I’m always on the other end of the phone to help guide you along.” she nods playfully, “Yup, like a guardian angel.” she says with a small giggle before standing to her feet and grabbing the two empty glasses, she briefly makes her way back inside to refill their drinks. |
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“R-R-H talking about wanting a wife and kids. If people hated my last album just wait until they hear the music I’ll make at that point,” he joked with a laugh and eye roll. “I always had this irrational fear that if I did find stability in a relationship and wrote from a happier state of mind that somehow would hinder the music I was making and the stories I was trying to tell,” he explained to her. “Now I instead see it as the natural progression in my career. And I see people in my life such as yourself who have these things I longed, and for still be able to excel at their craft while being in a marriage and being a parent - not needing to sacrifice anything.”
He laughed, “Oh, you say that jokingly now but just wait until I am calling you at like three in the morning with some ridiculous question or at the brick of a nervous breakdown,” he teased. Ryan stood up soon after Alicia went inside to refill their glasses, digging his phone out of his pocket and responding to a text from Ellie who was just checking in. “I just remembered you two can finally meet at the UMAs coming up soon! We’ll be out there for the weekend,” he called out to Alicia while he responded to the text message. “Technically that will be our first official outing at any sort of event as a couple. Probably a safe bet to do after four years.” |
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Alicia nods, ”It took a couple of years to figure out that balance and there were times where I thought the whole music thing would have to be the sacrifice. But I feel like I have a much more deeper appreciation for making music now, having stepped away from it for so long.” She smiles, “You’ll figure out a balance that works for you and I guarantee the stories you tell will benefit from your newfound perspective. I truly believe that.”
She laughs at the thought of the cool and composed Ryan Ross Hernandez calling her in the middle of the night in a complete fluster, “Once you join the parent club, you’ll realise that those early morning phone calls are just part of the unspoken code. We advise, calm and reassure, it’s what we do.” she says with a laugh. Returning outside with two full glasses of wine, she makes herself comfortable again. “Of course, it’s the perfect opportunity to finally meet Ellie, I hadn’t even thought about that. I can’t wait to finally meet her. I’m heading out to California for rehearsals on Friday, it’s came around so quickly.” she says as she takes a sip of her drink. |
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He smirked, “It does seem long overdue that you two meet. You’re going to love her. You’ll quickly realize how she’s the glue in our relationship. She keeps me from getting too caught up in here,” he said while tapping the side of his head. “I do appreciate the future parental advice. I see you with your son and it is sweet. It feels very natural with you and I admire that,” he complimented Alicia with a smile.
“I do think I’m getting closer to the end of this ride than the start of it, speaking about my time as a recording and touring artist,” he tells her after he sits back down and takes a sip of wine. “I don’t see myself as Dylan or Parton or Springsteen, I’m not going to be doing this into my sixties and seventies and beyond. I always have seen fifty as perhaps the age where it all winds down. I don’t want to use the term retirement, but…” he shrugged over to her. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I’ve been lucky to cross off about everything that I could’ve asked for in this industry and it’s given me a wonderful life. Anything left in the bucket list are personal goals, which I am even more excited about than whatever I can say I’ve done professionally.”
He leaned back, crossing his arms and letting the glass sit between his legs. “I’m not much for award shows these days but it’ll be nice to see you on stage among a few others. There’s always a some people you don’t get to see much outside of such settings. It’s a lot less pressure being more of a guest at one of these things this time rather than a focal point.” |
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Alicia smiles, “I’ve always admired her despite never meeting, she carries herself very well. I always felt like she was very unproblematic and level-headed, it’s a great set of traits to have and of course an incredible talent too.” she says, relaxing back into her chair, “I mean it when I say whenever you need to make that phone call. Those initial months are pretty tough because you really don’t have any idea what to do, but everything starts to come natural after that. I feel like we’ve been pretty lucky with Rocco, of course he’s six now and the typical rough and tumble boy but he’s incredibly polite and caring.”
She takes another drink of her wine and nods as Ryan talks about his long-term career plans, “You’ve got a couple of years on me there, but it’s something that’s crossed my mind, how long do you do this for?” she says with a smile and a shrug, “I understand that, everything we do is such a big commitment. Having a set date to hang it up makes so much sense to me. My only worry is that the wisdom we’d have between fifty to seventy would lend itself to some of our best work.” she says with a slight laugh, “I feel it would be sort of like figuring out all the answers you’ve been searching for your entire life and not sharing them.”
She nods as Ryan talks about the different feeling awards shows have on him these days, “I agree, I go there now with the feeling that this is something for the younger generation, of course performing this year will give it a different feeling but at this stage of our careers it feels like we’re the veterans. I love seeing the new generation of artists getting their first taste of that industry respect and it’s so nice when they come up and ask for a photo together. But it feels more like a spectator thing for me now, I feel like the industry is in pretty good hands though.” |
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Ryan nodded and grinned, “Yeah, Ellie is pretty incredible. I mean, she was able to tame the seemingly forever bachelor right here,” he joked with a soft chuckle. “I think this is the first time in my life where it feels like every aspect of it is exactly where it should be. I’m happy and comfortable with her and there’s no cynicism behind the why she might be with me or anything of that sort. It all feels so pure,” he explained to his friend before taking a drink from his glass.
“I will be sure to utilize the lifeline when I need it. I trust and value your advice. I’ll have the perfect partner to do all this with but it’ll be nice knowing I have a friend to reach out to,” he told her sincerely with a smile. “Granted, still have maybe a few years before all this were to happen. I’ll continue to take notes and learn as much as I can from everyone I know who is in that place of their lives,” he mused. “I am an elder statesman here, fully aware of that, Alicia,” he teased her and chuckled under his breath.
“Maybe it will be something where it will simply take longer for me to release records when I’m at that point of my life. I’m not sure how that will all look,” he said openly as he thought aloud, “We’re mapping out a tour for this summer and the plan is to play fewer cities but more shows wherever I go. I feel like that’s what is best for me physically and mentally. I’ve constructed some consistency in my life that I want to protect. I hate the idea of being in a new town every other day.”
He sipped on his wine and nodded while she spoke about their status in the industry and her outlook for the younger artists. “It’s funny because I’ve been around so long where I remember you being that fresh face at award shows,” he laughed softly and shook his head. “We’re beyond those days, but it’s an honor to still have a seat at the table so to speak,” he told her. “I agree with you though, music is in a very strong place right now. I have a lot of respect for the young artists who are coming into this world and able to keep their head above water.” |
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Alicia nods along as Ryan beamed while talking about Ellie-Grace, “I guess some people would even say she’s somewhat of a miracle worker.” She says with a slight chuckle, “People have always used that phrase ‘you’ll know when you know’, I kind of always thought it was just a meaningless quotation but maybe they were right all along. It certainly looks like that may have been the case. Honestly, I’ve never heard you talk this way about anybody before. It’s beautiful to here.”
Alicia considers what he’s saying about figuring out how an active career would look at that stage of their careers, “Honestly, I think it’s good to have a basic idea of what that future looks like. But I think it’s one of those things that you’re better off figuring it out when you reach that point. You really don’t know how you’ll feel at that stage, you may feel like you’ve got more to say than ever before.” She laughs slightly at the touring aspect, “I’m already at the Vegas residency stage of my life. That was done purely because a world tour while having a five or six year old at home wasn’t really an option. The close proximity to between Nevada and Arizona just worked so beautifully that I think that may be a reoccurring routine.” She pauses slightly, “But I really do hope to have at least one or two more world tours on the horizon, if it can work logistically.”
She laughs as he mentions how he saw her come through as one of the newbies, “Wow, I consider myself a veteran now, but it’s crazy to think you were already well into this career when I debuted. That’s crazy, how does that make you feel?” she playfully teases her friend. “Seriously though, it’s kind of beautiful to have been around long enough to have witnessed a couple of little rebirths in this industry. I’m pretty excited to see where things go next.” |
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