Mark Kendall (Great White) Interview

Great White is back on the road to raise money for victims of the tragic fire at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island. 100 people died and 56 children were left without one or two parents as a result.

Great White performed here in Rapid City, SD on August 7th. After the first song, Jack Russell spoke at length about the tragedy and how the band was trying to raise money to help the families. He also asked for 100 seconds of silence in memory of the victims.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and the band had to leave the stage after just a few songs because of high winds, lightning and rain.

Before the show I spoke with guitarist Mark Kendall. Because of the pending legal actions and investigations, he could not talk about what specifically happened that night in Warwick, Rhode Island. He could talk about the fundraising and how they are dealing with the tragedy.

Chad Bowar: On this tour you've been raising money for the Station Family Fund. Talk a little bit about what the fund is and what you're doing on this tour.

Mark Kendall: We've been donating all the proceeds to the families of the victims of the Rhode Island fire. The foundation was founded by the victims themselves who were there that night. There have been problems getting the money to the families from other entities. We heard there is 3 million dollars being held up because of the ongoing investigation. They take half the money for administration and then all they can do is donate the other half to scholarships 20 years from now.

We wanted to find a way to get the money straight to the victims because there are a lot of people who lost parents. There are school clothes, mortgages and things like that. We wanted to get out and help raise money for those people and try to get other outside people involved. It's been great. A fan called in and donated $4000 for 4 tickets. Anybody can send money through http://www.stationfamilyfund.org Every little bit helps, and since there was no one else really getting involved, I was really quick to jump out and get on the stage because of this fund.

I understand firefighters have been getting involved at the shows, too.

It's been great. All the fire marshals and firefighters have been passing around the boot. I love to see everybody get involved like that because these people really, really need it. Great White has always been involved in charity benefits, anyway. Obviously this is a bigger magnitude. 100 people lost their lives. It's an American tragedy. Whether I had been there that night or not, I definitely would want to get involved.

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