Gary Friday, a duplicitous government agent who has been helping exploit third world countries for years, goes through a one hundred and eighty degree change when a tribesman in Peru (whose people he is supposed to kick off their own land,) takes him on a journey through the unknown, introducing him to a wild psychadelic plant and changing him so completely that he decides to resign from his career and stay in the jungle. His switch to writing and confessing his past crimes is of grave concern to the federal government who insist on trying to silence him. In an effort to keep track of his whereabouts, they begin spying on his children, all of whom want nothing to do with the rigid military lifestyle he has spent his whole adult life trying to escape.
They begin focusing on his son Jimmy Friday, who is the singer for a Rock and Roll band called jaw2jaw. He is a believer in peace and inspired by musical leaders whom he believes have made a difference in the world such as Joe Strummer, bob dylan, Eddie Vedder, etc. In an attempt to forget his troubled past, Jimmy has developed into a Rock and Roll personality and pursued his dreams fronting a band that has enjoyed modest success. After disbanding the project due to fears that certain band members are becoming overly ambitious and wanting to change the creative process through what he labels ‘selling out,’ he goes on the lookout for a new bass player and guitarist. His Drummer, lifelong friend Johnny 2 times, is kept on in the project.
Officers who are desperately trying to discover more ways of keeping up wth Gary Friday decide that the change of band members presents the perfect way to keep a dossier on their favorite man’s son: plant moles within his band who keep track of his every move. This includes band manager Cadence Miller, who although being an experienced double agent with many years of experience, also has a past career as a songwriter in Nashville with many connections to the music business. This gives him a legitimacy and credibility that Jimmy buys hook line and sinker.
Ziggy Prague is the pseudonym given to guitar master and CIa agent Martin Siegel. Able to play just about anything by ear and the graduate of the prestigious Berklee school of music, he’s A frustrated talent who has given up his dreams for a real living as a government agent. When he is called upon to be a mole in Jimmy’s new band, he realizes it’s a plan drawn straight from Hades – he must betray the singer he idolizes in order to play with him. He is given orders from on high to spy on him and document his every move, even recording conversations with him where he is told what to say to help bring out information about his father, even using psychological methods such as Neurolinguistic Programming to draw out trust from his band member. Although Ziggy has been trained in the art of government deception, lines become blurred as he becomes emotionally drawn to his new friend and his allegiances switch, showing us that friendship is often more powerful then political obligation.
Tina Dahl, the hot bass player who becomes Jimmy’s love interest, is a government agent whose skills in the espionage department are so hot that even though she is not a musician, she is given crash courses in bass playing just so that she can keep Jimmy in line as well. She forms an inside alliance with Cadence and Ziggy that becomes compromised the more she realizes she actually enjoys playing rock music.
Johnny 2 times, the drummer, has no political connections, he’s just a great drummer with a naïve streak to the craziness around him. The sole survivor along with Jimmy from Jaw2Jaw, he is naïve at first but slowly starts to pick up on the conspiracy within his band thanks to his girlfriend Sheila, who can’t help but notice something is fishy. Cadence Miller is the ringleader, who can’t help but understand Ziggy and Tina’s eventual unwillingness to follow protocol when fun gets in the way. He soon realizes that trying to maintain his authoritarian position and keeping everyone on track becomes impossible, and can’t help but sympathize when his younger cohorts begin failing to do their job. They’re doing what he always wanted to. How could he possibly begrudge them of that?
What happens when Tina and Ziggy are supposed to continually deceive Jimmy but they grow to bond with and love him? Are they able to continue spying on him and using him as their means for livelihood? Are they tempted to move on from their government jobs when success in the music industry that so many covet comes knockin’ at their door? Will they eventually choose the music? Join us on a rock and roll journey and find out.
