𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 - 𝘄.𝗿.

iv. 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱...

THE SIX

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the six started out as a blues-rock hand called the 'dunne brothers' in the mid-sixties out of pittsburgh, pennsylvania.

BILLY DUNNE (lead singer, the six): i was seven when dad left, graham was five. one of my first memories was when dad told us he was moving to georgia. i asked if i could come with him and he said no.

but he left behind this old silverstone guitar and graham and i would fight over who got to play it. playing that thing was about all we did. nobody taught us, we taught ourselves.
then, when i got older, sometimes i'd stay late after school and mess around on the piano in the chorus room.

eventually, when i was about fifteen or so, mom saved up and bought graham and i an old strat for christmas. graham wanted that one so i let him have it. i kept the silverstone.

GRAHAM DUNNE (lead guitar, the six): once billy and i each had a guitar, we started to write new songs together. i wanted the silverstone but i could tell it meant more to billy. so i took the strat.

BILLY : everything grew from there.

GRAHAM: billy got really into songwriting, really into the lyrics. all he'd talk about was bob dylan. me, i was more of a roy orbison guy.

WARREN ROJAS (drummer, the six): a drummer needs a band. it's not like being a singer or a guitarist--you can't just perform on your own. no girls were saying, "oh, warren, play me the drumbeat from 'hey joe.'" except maybe this one girl, but i didn't meet her for a few years after i joined the six.
i wanted in, man. i was listening to the who, the kinks, the yardbirds, stuff like that. i wanted to be keith moon and ring and mitch mitchell.

at the end of 1970, the dunne brothers played a show at the pint in baltimore where rick marts, lead singer for the winters, was in attendance. impressed with their raw sound and taking a liking to billy, he offered them an opening spot on a few shows on their northeastern tour.

the dunne brothers joined the winters and quickly became influenced by the winters' sound and intrigued with their keyboardist, karen karen.

KAREN KAREN (keyboardist, the six): the first time i met the dunne brothers, graham asked me, "what's your name?" i said, "karen." and he said, "whats your last name?"
but i thought he said, "whats your name?" again, like he didn't
hear me. so i said, "karen."
and he laughed and said, "karen karen?"
everybody called me karen karen from then on. my last name is sirko, for the record. but karen karen just stuck.

BILLY: we got hired for this wedding. it was a big deal. a wedding meant we were gonna be heard by, you know, a hundred people.

we had auditioned for this couple with our best song. it was this slower, folkier song i'd written called "nevermore." just thinking about it makes me cringe. truly. i was writing about the catonsville nine and things like that. i thought i was dylan. but we got the gig.

and about halfway through our show at this wedding, i notice this fifty something guy dancing with this twenty-something girl and i thought, does this guy know what a creep he looks like?

and then i realize it's my dad.

GRAHAM: our father was there with this young girl, about our age. i realized it before billy, i think. i recognized him from the pictures our mom kept in the shoe box under her bed.

BILLY: i couldn't believe it. he'd been gone ten years by that point. and he was supposed to be in georgia. that asshole was just standing right in the middle of the dance floor, no idea his sons were up onstage. it had been so long since he'd seen us, he didn't even recognize us. not our faces or our voices, nothing.

when we finished playing, i watched him walk off the dance floor. didn't so much as look at us. i mean, what kind of sociopath do you have to be not to notice your own sons when they are right there in front of you? how is that even possible?
in my experience, biology kicks in. you meet that kid, and you know it's yours, and you love that kid. thats just how it works.

GRAHAM: billy asked a few people at the wedding about him. turns out, our father had been living a few towns over. friends with the bride's family or something. billy was boiling mad, saying, "he didn't even recognize us." i always thought that he probably did recognize us and just didnt know what to say.

BILLY: it messes with you, when your own father doesn't care about you enough to say hello. i'm not saying it was a self-pity thing. i wasn't sitting there asking, "why doesn't he love me?" It was more of a "oh, okay, this is how dark the world can be. some fathers don't love their sons."

it was a lesson in what not to be, i'll tell you that much.

GRAHAM: it seemed like he was a drunk asshole anyway. so good riddance to him.

BILLY: after the wedding had ended, and everyone was packing up, i had a few too many beers and i saw this woman working as a cockail waitress at the hotel bar. gorgeous girl. real long brown hair, down to her waist, and big brown eyes. i'm a sucker for brown eyes. i remember she was wearing a tiny little blue dress. she was short. and i liked that.

i was standing there in the hotel lobby, on my way to the van.
and she was waiting on a customer over at the bar. you could tell, just by watching her, that she wasn't taking shit from anybody.

CAMILA DUNNE (wife of billy dunne): oh my word, was he good looking. slim but still muscular, which has always been my type. and he had these thick eyelashes. and so much confidence. and a really big smile. and when i saw him in the lobby. i remember thinking "why cant i meet a guy like that?"

BILLY: i walked right up to her, in that bar, holding, you know, an amp in one hand and a guitar in the other. i said, "miss? id like your number, please." she was standing up at the register. she had one hand on her hip. she laughed at me and kind of looked at me sideways. i don't remember exactly what she said but it was something like "what if you're not my type?" i leaned over the bar and said, "my name is billy dunne. i'm the lead singer of the dunne brothers. and if you give me your number write a song about you."

CAMILA: i went home and told my mom i met somebody. And she said, "nice boy?" and i said, "i don't know about that." nice never did much for me. clearly.

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LILLY SPEAKS !

trust me, there will be very slim
chapters that focus on billy and the
dunne brothers. i just needed a few filler
chapters.

i love you all, & if i don't see ya'
good morning, good evening, & goodnight!