Bandmates mourn loss of local musician

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Sometimes the soundtrack of life plays a song of sadness. Then all you can do is keep listening and hope the next track is happier.

The final bars of Charles McCarty's life were written on the side of Johnstown Road Tuesday night, where a car hit and killed the mechanic, musician, and family man while he was riding his bike.

"Just getting through it," paused McCarty's son, Chris, "I mean, he's up in heaven with God right now probably telling him how to run things up there."

His bandmates gathered for a final rehearsal with the man they knew as Jay.

"It was a crowd of people in front of him and he stuck his leg up on the rail and the whole spandex split," laughed Jennifer Jones.

Jay always sat towards the back of the stage playing keyboard, but his voice brought him to the front.

"We'd give each other a certain look and we knew exactly what he meant. We knew we'd been playing together for so long," said his best friend and bandmate, Scott Amone.

The two saw each other minutes before the crash. They talked of biking together and the band's new direction.

"I sound pretty relaxed right now, but I just have no answers right now," added Amone.

Now it's difficult to imagine a band without him, because it's so easy to remember the laughter with him.

"He saw the good in every situation," said Jones, "and he never got mad. He laughed all the time."

The friends find comfort in each other, knowing Jay's music will keep playing.

Police say Sarah Magnolia Perry, 21, of Chesapeake was driving under the influence when she hit and killed Charles McCarty, Jr.

Perry bonded out of jail Thursday morning. Her next court date is scheduled for December 7.