The cause Great White’s Jack Russell talks about trying to help the Station survivors BY BOB GULLA

Through the end of November, Jack Russell and Great White will hit stages across the country on "The Station Family Fund Tour: Help Us — Help Our Own!" The tour will contribute all of its net profits to the fund, which in turn will benefit the victims and survivors of the Station fire.

Last Saturday, Great White performed a Station Family Fund benefit show at the Sterling Hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The band hosted approximately 25 survivors and family members for a night of rock ’n’ roll. The night proved to be a watershed event for the group, and the fund itself.

Two vans from Rhode Island pulled up to the Sterling just in time for a private meeting with the band. For many it was their first trip away from home. "It was a very emotional time for everyone," says Russell. "We saw a lot of our friends. It was very therapeutic for all concerned. This is a time for healing." Linda Fisher, a burn victim who met with Russell, went on stage to perform with the band. The evening’s receipts pushed the total funds raised to more than $50,000.

With eight months having passed since the fire, we spoke with Russell about GreatWhite’s efforts to help the victims of the tragedy.

Q: What kind of shows are you doing and what sort of reception are you getting?

A: It’s a regular Great White show we’re doing right now, but it’s been overwhelming. There are people coming out of the woodwork, donating money, buying T-shirts. It’s really restoring my faith in humanity. I was cynical for a while, with all the bad news you get on TV. Then you tour and tour to make a living and something like this happens. The worst possible thing happens. You come out of this, dust yourself off, and find yourself a cause. The work for the Station Family Fund is the most important thing Great White will ever do.

Q: How have you been personally the last few months?

A: I’ve spent months visiting shrinks, psychotherapists, pastors, and priests. I’m always asking myself, "What can I do? How can I go on? I lost so many friends. Why me?" You can’t question the will of God or whatever you want to call it; the universe, the way life works. I don’t understand it. Then it comes down to what do I want to do about it? Sit and sulk, or help somebody. A lot of people need help here.

Q: Have you learned anything about yourself since the fire?

A: Of course. Now I feel it’s really about living each day like your last. I’m savoring every second and things that weren’t important are important now. Things that were important aren’t like cars and shit. Now it’s really about friends and family, spending more time with my mom. You never know when those moments are gonna be over. Even when I’m onstage, I try to sing every note like it’s my last. I’m like, "Thank you, God, for the opportunity to do this one more time."

Q: How do you put the fire into any kind of perspective?

A: You can’t. Think about the incredible loss of life. Think of one person dying, and the ripple effect that happens. One person dies and it affects hundreds of people, maybe thousands. Multiply that times a million when 100 people die and the people who were injured. It’s horrifying. Even if we weren’t playing at the Station that night and it happened to somebody else I’d still feel tremendous grief. It’s an unbelievable human tragedy.

Q: Why have you chosen the Station Family Fund?

A: First, I want to explain that this has nothing to do with Great White; it’s about the Station and fellow Americans that need our help. Whether you think I’m a piece of crap or I’m the best musician you ever heard, I don’t care. I’m not running for public office. I’m promoting this fund. There were 56 children who lost one or both parents in the fire. We’re taking care of everybody else’s lawn these days, all these people in the country who nobody’s heard of. But how about we take care of our own back lawns? Let’s take care of our backyards and pick our own weeds.

Q: What’s the difference between this fund and the others?

A: Others charge a 15 percent administration fee, and then they’ll put the rest in a college fund or something like that. What good is that with a huge skin graft bill and mortgages to pay and school clothes to buy? Victoria Potvin puts this fund together with some survivors and victims family members and it gets money directly to the victims. Nobody has been turned down. It pays phone bills, house payments and they’re volunteering their own time. It’s a truly philanthropic thing.

Q: You’ve said that it has restored your faith in humanity. Why?

A: The people I’ve come in contact with are wonderful. The rock community to me—with their long hair and tattoos—are the most compassionate, giving people I’ve ever had a chance to meet. I’m so proud of my fans. They’re so willing to help out their brothers and sisters. Here are these folks who generally don’t make a lot of money, blue-collar people, who reach into their pockets and give ’til it hurts. It’s touches my heart. It really does. I auction off my T-shirt. One night I got $350 for my sweaty T-shirt. Some people are paying $1000 for a ticket. I’m telling you, these are blue-collar guys doing this. Where are all the guys who make a billion dollars? Haven’t heard from anyone like Mr. Trump.

Q: How has this whole thing affected your songwriting?

A: I haven’t touched a pen. I’ve been so focused on helping these people out, getting through each show, pushing T-shirts, pumping up the fund. It’s no time to write, really. People need help.

And besides, we don’t need a bigger name for ourselves, not at this cost. I’m O.K. with just making a modest living. I’ve had my limousine days and first class hotels. We’re riding in a van for the first time in my career taking nine-hour drives crammed on top of each other, and staying at cheap hotels at the end of the trip. It’s O.K., because it’s about a greater good. This is about those people, and it’s the right thing to do. Now if I spend a dollar I feel guilty. All the profits from this tour go to the fund. Hey, I’m 43 now. I’ve got my lovely wife and two dogs and my mom, that’s all I need.

Q: There were problems with people who had trouble with you playing a show nearby. (A proposed Great White concert at Odyssey in Weymouth, Massachusetts, was cancelled after considerable negative public response. Concerts in Fitchburg and Leominster were called off earlier in the summer.)

A: Yes, a few families were upset, and said there would be people picketing the show. I understand, so we just cancelled it. The last thing I want is to have my fans fighting picketers in the parking lot. It would so sad. This is not what it’s about. It’s about helping and healing. Whatever it takes. Some people don’t get this. I’m sorry it happened. I don’t understand why somebody would stand in the way of us helping people that desperately need our help.

Some survivors came down to the show in Virginia. It was very emotional; we hugged and cried. It helped with closure. I can finally look into their eyes and say, "It’s O.K." They were all our friends and family. After 20 years on the road you get to know them by name.

Q: What can you take with you now, Jack?

A: You know, you hope time heals all wounds. But the scars on the soul never fade. You just get up and go through each day. You give thanks to God that you’re alive. Life is so fragile. It’s so short as it is anyway. I’ve also been thinking that this whole thing may actually be the reason Great White was put together in the first place. I don’t know why it happened; I don’t know why anything happens. But I’ve thought recently that God might have had some other plans for Great White.

Listen, I’m the kind of guy who cries at a sunset. I love chick flicks. So there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t shed tears. I mean, there are 100 people who aren’t here to appreciate a beautiful sunset with me.

Great White and The Station Family Fund encourage significant participation by survivors and family members. The interested public is encouraged to contact The Station Family Fund through its web site at www.stationfamilyfund.org . Contributions may also be sent to The Station Family Fund, 300 Quaker Lane, P.O. Box 214, Warwick, RI 02886.