Storm Orphans 1

Tuscaloosa rock band, the Storm Orphans. (Courtesy photo)

Part one of an AL.com series about Alabama bands from the '90s that never 'made it,' but packed plenty of bars and showed many fans a great time.

The guy from A&M Records showed up with a well-known blonde porn star on his arm. He'd arrived at Sunset Strip nightclub Coconut Teaszer that summer night in 1991 specifically to check out Storm Orphans, a rock band from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The band was in Los Angeles to play a couple of showcases. Including here at the Teaszer, the same venue groups like Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead and Hole would play on the way to becoming famous. Assorted Los Angeles heavy metal musicians and strippers mingled in the audience before the Storm Orphans show.

Storm Orphans' music had a heavy, alt-rock sound. The A&M Records rep described it as "a Southern version of Soundgarden" to the band's management, according to the Storm Orphans singer Rusty LuQuire.

Alas, the band wasn't destined to sign with A&M.

Or become famous.

But they were contenders, packing sweaty bars across the Southeast. For many rock fans coming of age in the Southeast during the late-80s and early-'90s, Storm Orphans were at the center of some of the best nights of their young lives.

"It's very flattering to know we did play a role in a lot of people's moments," says LuQuire, who lives in Birmingham now. "For a seven or eight year period there, we were the soundtrack a couple times, you know?"

These days, Rusty LuQuire earns a living selling furniture and doing freelance concert promotions. His hair is trimmed short. But back in his Storm Orphans days those locks were long and he frequently appeared onstage shirtless. He fronted the band at venues like Lafayette's in Oxford, Rockafellas' in Columbia, Birmingham's The Nick, Huntsville's Tip Cop Cafe and Tipitina's in New Orleans. Among many others.

Longtime fan John Elliott first saw Storm Orphans perform at Tuscaloosa venue Ivory Tusk, on University Boulevard. He was a 20-year-old University of Alabama student at the time. "They put on a great show," Elliott says. "Loud. Great music. It was just a lot of fun. A lot of dancing. They played very well together as a band and at the time there weren't many hard rock bands on the college scene in Tuscaloosa." Elliott's listening tastes also included Led Zeppelin, Motorhead and Metallica.

Zeppelin was also a big reference point for Storm Orphans. The son of a preacher, LuQuire had taken vocal lessons, aspiring to Robert Plant's golden-god vocal range. Drummer Jack Massey pounded a set of translucent Ludwig Vistalite drums, a la Zep powerhouse John Bonham. Wielding a Les Paul and Marshall stack, Storm Orphans guitarist Mark Patrick admired Zeppelin mastermind Jimmy Page, although Patrick also looked up to guitarists like Funkadelic's Eddie Hazel and Muscle Shoals session player Travis Wammack. Storm Orphans had many other influences, of course. R.E.M. Johnny Cash. Jane's Addiction. Prince. Still, LuQuire says, "No matter what other things we might have been into year to year, having long hair and playing loud that was pretty much top of the list."

A Storm Orphans publicity image. From left: Shawn Patrick, Mark Patrick, Jack Massey and Rusty LuQuire. (Courtesy photo)

Patrick's brother Shawn was Storm Orphans' bassist. The two locked-in for grooves unique to musicians sharing the same blood. The Patrick brothers, hailing from the Muscle Shoals area, had honed their chops while jamming along to cassette tapes inside an old shack near their parents' place on Wilson Lake. "The brothers' connection was a big thing," LuQuire says. "It really was." Amazingly, Mark had just taken up guitar at age 20 a few years before Storm Orphans formed. His playing, particularly solos, progressed at a staggering rate.

Storm Orphans had risen from the ashes of LuQuire's former group, a jangly combo called Western Decadence. The frontman had previously seen the Patrick brothers perform in another band, and, remembering that chemistry, decided to seek them out. Before the days of social media and widespread public internet or cell phones, this was not so easy. LuQuire tracked down the Patricks' home Shoals address in the UA student directory, wrote Mark and Shawn a letter and mailed it to them. In the letter, LuQuire outlined his plan to play music along the lines of Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and early-Aerosmith. The musicians made plans to meet up a few weeks later. The first song they jammed on was Zep classic "Rock and Roll," LuQuire says. They picked their band's name from a legal pad of possible monikers, and other names considered included Frontier Jimmy and Tumbleweed Express.

The first ever Storm Orphans gig was opening for White Animals, a Nashville band with a strong Southeast following, at the Ivory Tusk. "The place is packed to the gills, there's a line all around the block," Mark recalls. "We play a good show. People are bouncing off the walls and stuff and right after we're done playing the fire marshal comes in and shuts the gig down. It was one of those things where almost immediately the word got out. And we just kind of built up from there."

Eric Stock, of Tuscaloosa indie band Club Wig, was Storm Orphans' original drummer. But after Stock finished school at UA he left town and the band, LuQuire says. "That was a thing about college rock bands," LuQuire adds. "Every year your commitment to being in that band was always tested. It really made people weigh up. Do I want to be a lawyer and move to City X or do I want to stay here with these guys and rock out in this Dodge (van)?"

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://jackmassey.bandcamp.com/album/storm-orphans-promise-no-parade" data-mce-href="http://jackmassey.bandcamp.com/album/storm-orphans-promise-no-parade"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;STORM ORPHANS - Promise No Parade by Jack Massey&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Enter, Jack Massey. He left the popular local college-rock band The Hitchcocks to join Storm Orphans, and began rehearsing daily with the Patricks and LuQuire in a loft downtown, shirts off, sweating and putting together new songs. The group's first release was the six-track "Promise No Parade" EP, recorded at the iconic Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. The 1989 disc evokes R.E.M., particularly on the chiming title track.

Cover art for the Storm Orphans albums "Promise No Parade" and "Wasted Nation. (Courtesy photo)

An "airwaves only" single, "Greenwood, Mississippi," with a relentless Chili-Peppers-meets-Stooges groove, was already getting spins on college radio station WVUA. A song previously recorded by Little Richard, "Greenwood, Mississippi," was also Storm Orphans' set closer for years. But at an outdoor 1988 Radio Free Tuscaloosa IV concert in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000, the band opened their set with that song. "That was a real pinnacle night," LuQuire says, "not just for our band but for the scene that was around Alabama at that time. It seemed like every college town in 1988 was hungry to have a college scene like the ones they'd been reading about, whether it was punk in New York and London or college rock in Athens or Austin or Chapel Hill."

Storm Orphans' sound would become increasingly heavier as time went on. And tighter. "They were a different band at that point after Jack joined," says fan John Elliott, now 49 and working in human resources in Louisville. Elliott's opinion can probably be trusted here as he's seen more than 50 Storm Orphans shows and owns various releases from the band on CD, cassette and vinyl. The band's early-90s releases "Wasted Union" and "Sin Souls in Hell from Sex" were particularly metallic. And produced standout cuts like "Wasted Union," "Torch" and "Crossover Dream."

Storm Orphans appeared on an episode of MTV's alternative music program "120 Minutes," during host Dave Kendall's report from Atlanta's New South Music Showcase. "Around '90,'91 was when it was really firing on all cylinders," Massey says. "Doing the showcase thing, the MTV, going coast to coast (touring). That really felt like, 'OK, this snowball's rolling downhill, something's about to happen.'"

They showcased in Nashville. Played South By Southwest, twice. During another showcase, Storm Orphans performed at legendary New York punk venue CBGB, unfortunately, some day-drinking derailed the band's performance. Although Storm Orphans played many triumphant gigs over the years, showcases often weren't among them. At that 1991 Coconut Teaszer show, they had to use some equipment that wasn't theirs and the band didn't play well. According to LuQuire, that porn-star-dating A&M rep did eventually offer Storm Orphans "what would be called a development deal or a demo deal. Where they want to try four or five songs and see if something can happen and then that's contingent on getting you a bigger deal. That was a story we ran into a lot."

An advertisement listing upcoming bands appearing at legendary New York punk club CBGB, including Storm Orphans. (Courtesy photo)

Storm Orphans were unusually business savvy for a young band. At the time, the Patricks' stepfather was a session musician, who advised the band to own their publishing rights. "It was one reason why the labels didn't want us," Massey says. "Nothing for them on the bone and they couldn't screw us like so many other bands." Over the years, labels also told Storm Orphans more than once that their sound fell in between commercial radio and college radio. They weren't Mudhoney. And they weren't Guns N' Roses either.

Storm Orphans put most of the money they made from the band back into the band and released their albums via their own label, Low Rumble Records. They lived on $50 a week, as well as a small per diem. Since many of the band's friends worked at local bars and restaurants they often ate and drank for free, which helped stretch their funds. They lived in two sketchy houses behind separate Tuscaloosa convenience stores. On tour, they often slept on floors or couches.

By 1993, Storm Orphans had enough. "At that time about half the band was ready to be settled and off the road and half the band still kind of wanted to go kick it," LuQuire says. "We were together seven years but about five of those years we would play 15 to 20 shows a month. These aren't elite tours where you stay in hotels or everybody is in a nice bus. We had a couple of vans we went through and I remember a couple of those summers being without air conditioning. It was a ton of fun. We went places we never imagined we'd go, but it was tough touring."

Mark adds, "Another thing about it is we were all real good friends and still are. We felt like what we had there was better than going down that road where everybody starts hating each other." Massey says, "We just ran out of gas. We'd been doing it for so long and had so many lights at the end of the tunnel or possible deals and I think we finally decided, 'Look this just isn't going to happen.'"

In a cruel twist of fate, alternative rock was completely exploding in the mainstream.

Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots were becoming massive stars. The airwaves were flooding with Bush, Silverchair and Candlebox songs. One day, Shawn called up LuQuire to ask him if he'd heard the new band Ed Roland, the Georgia musician who'd recorded Storm Orphans' "Sin Souls" album in his basement, was in. The band's name was Collective Soul. "Shine," Collective Soul's debut single, was rising towards the top 10.

"That brass ring never fell in our pocket but it might be a blessing in disguise as well," LuQuire says now with a laugh. "We might not have been the next Stones."

Following the demise of Storm Orphans, the Patricks and Massey started an outlaw country band, The Inlaws. LuQuire worked for an entertainment agency, booking bands. He's currently involved in the management of local indie hip-hop/R&B singer Joell Regal. Mark opened a Tuscaloosa record store, Whirligig, which he ran until 2000 to move to Birmingham, where he still resides with his wife and two daughters.

For the last 10 years or so, Mark's been operations manager for Alabama Symphony, overseeing all production and technical aspects, including audio, lighting, staging and coordinating with venues. He still has that Storm Orphans era Les Paul. He plays Thin Lizzy covers in occasional gigs with his band Jake Brake, while his daughters find amusement in old Storm Orphans videos on YouTube in which their dad sports long, rock and roll hair. Shawn does some production work at Fame Studios and has gone back to school at University of North Alabama. Massey worked in public radio for a while and is once again a full-time musician, based in Atlanta and playing with bands including indie combo "The Ladies Of ..." and '70s covers act Housebroken.

Storm Orphans did a few reunion shows. The first one, about 10 years after they parted ways, took place at The Nick and was "a great night" Massey says. However when the band regrouped in later years, he says it "just didn't feel right. We weren't up to it physically or mentally. I'd rather just leave it the way it was than keep coming back as old men trying to relive our youth."

The erstwhile Storm Orphans still keep in touch, through texting, social media and significant others.

They shared too many miles and memories not to.