It’s February 12th, 2020 on the Las Vegas strip and the desert air, filled with cigarette smoke and mixed scents from buffets and all-night diners, travels upwards alongside the noise from the casinos and the crowds surrounding them. The strip is packed, as it always is, or at least now, as it always used to be. Above all of the chaos, Derek Frank relaxes on the top floor of the lounge of the Cosmopolitan, which is positioned across the strip from Zappos Theater, where he just performed with Gwen Stefani as part of her Vegas residency. We sit together in the packed bar sipping on whiskey, talking about his next two years in Vegas being fully booked between performing with Stefani and Shania Twain—two longtime gigs he’s been happily holding down. He explains how lucky he is as a musician to have such secure positions and a calendar booked full for years to come. Being not so far from his home in Los Angeles, he explains that he can head back on his off days to spend time with his wife. For Frank, life is very good. Fellow musicians, dancers, and members of Stefani’s entourage pop in and out of the lounge, excitedly embracing him and talking briefly about the great energy of the night’s show before heading off to their respective corners of the club. The mood is celebratory, and we sit until the late hours of the night discussing the latest bass gear that was just released at NAMM, which young players are coming in hot, and about how sometime soon, when he eventually gets a break, he’s going to finally work on his sophomore solo album. For Frank, and all of us, this now feels like a lifetime ago. In the weeks to come, the Coronavirus rapidly hit the U.S., and like every musician on the planet, Frank started getting word that the concerts he had coming up were postponed, rescheduled, and eventually cancelled. By March, the Vegas strip was entirely shut down, leaving the casinos, bars, and buffets vacant, and the strip eerily quiet and dark, with no bright lights illuminating the night. The world was in shock, fear, and disbelief, and as musicians began realizing the implications of this global pandemic, panic kicked in. With everyone shut in their homes with no tours, shows, or recording sessions in sight, the forecast looked grim for even the most optimistic of players. But for the ever-resilient Derek, he realized what this time meant for him: it was finally the opportunity he needed to create his album. Quick to pivot, Frank finished song ideas he had written in hotel rooms and on tour busses for the last several years, and he found a rush of inspiration while many were at their breaking point. Soon he had the body of the record done, and thanks to his home studio and some remote and distanced recording from some of his friends, the project was completed way ahead of schedule. Eleven Years Later doesn’t feel or sound like a quarantine