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“Killian flips theood Really good You – ’ and he points to Ryan – ‘are technically excellent You just need to get et spiritual with it Let the ot that ‘soer You just need to stopthem Find your own voice It’ll take awhile, but if you do it, you’ll be unstoppable’”

It was actually really good advice It put a finger on the one thing I’d noticed subconsciously about the songs: Derek sounded like himself… but he also sounded like a couple of other, better-known singers He didn’t quite sound… unique, if that made any sense

Derek continued, “Then he smiles and shakes our hands and says, ‘That was a pleasure, ain sometime’

“And I say, ‘When he gets better at feeling the music, and I find my voice, I want you to be in our band’

“And he laughs and he says, ‘You do that, both of you, and I will definitely leave this shitty outfit, or whatever outfit I’m in, and I’ll back you’

“And then he waves goodbye and walks out into the night stru away in the night air”

I could see it in ht, his trench coat swirling the fog behind him

“From that moment, I was hooked,” Derek said, his eyes on fire “I was ato find o deeper and do whatever the fuck he needs to do, and we’re going to get Killian Lee to join the band, and we’re going to be fucking famous”

The certainty and the passion hich he said it sent a shiver down my spine

“Wow,” Shanna said, entranced

“He didn’t lumly