It's hard to become a successful rock 'n' roll band in the 1990s. Most of the good names have already been used by somebody else, and regardless of how long one's hair grows, recording contracts are as hard to come by as cows on roller skates.
But this is America, and miracles still happen. If you don't believe it, just ask Firehouse, a hard-rock quartet that will be sounding sirens Tuesday at the Salt Palace at 7:30 p.m.Firehouse's story sounds like something Hollywood could have made up, but the cameras weren't rolling when, once upon time, two rivaling bands were playing all over North Carolina and vicinity.
Rivaling doesn't mean they engaged in jousts, but they did watch each other's acts carefully. Eventually, so the story goes, guitarist Bill Leverty and drummer Michael Foster from the one band teamed up with vocalist C.J. Snare and bassist Perry Richardson from the other.
"We would watch their band," Leverty said, "and say, `Oh! Their bass player and singer are stars.' "
They decided to call themselves something outrageously original and went for White Heat. However, they didn't get famous right away. First they had to do something sneaky.
One night, Bon Jovi came to town, and all the White Heat members got backstage passes and visited with Jon Bon Jovi and the rest of the band.
But they also brought along their own demo tape, a single they had pressed, a live video and a bunch of T-shirts. Somehow, Jon Bon Jovi managed to carry all that stuff to his hotel room, listened to the demo and said, "Wow!"
That profound statement was enough to convince Bon Jovi's tour management to take White Heat seriously and start managing the foursome. Additionally, Jon Bon Jovi sat down, watched the guys perform and gave them a friendly and constructive critique.
Things started rolling, but they still hadn't hit it big. So one night, when Leverty was working for a catering service - most aspiring rock stars moonlight in one way or another - he had the good fortune of having to wheel caviar to an after-concert party for Slaughter.
So he did something unusual: He smuggled a White Heat demo tape, a single they had pressed, a live video and a bunch of T-shirts into the room and left it with Mark Slaughter.
To make an incredibly long story short, soon thereafter White Heat flew into Los Angeles and started recording a professional demo. They knew right away that was it, because now they shared a one-bedroom apartment with about 10 other long-haired guys, with sleeping bags all lined up in a row on the living room floor.
Then they had to change their name, since there was another band from Canada that had already used the White Heat name. So they brainstormed for about two seconds and came up with the unique name Firehouse.
Enough said.
Now the band is running up MTV's Top 20 countdown ladder, currently taking a rest at No. 11. What's amazing about these guys is that as they tour the country they actually sing, and their songs make you want to sing along.