It sounds like something that could happen only in the movies: a rock guitar hero from Los Angeles who has sold millions of records falls in love and marries a girl from Sunset, Utah.
But for Mark and Bridget Kendall, the fairy tale-like story is not fiction.
Mark Kendall has been the lead guitarist for Great White for more than two decades. In October 1998, the band was in Salt Lake City to play two nights at the old Holy Cow club near 500 East and 100 South.
Bridget Valerio-Carlin, who grew up in Sunset, went to Fremont Elementary and graduated from Ogden High, reluctantly agreed to go to the show with her friend Tammy.
"I was a new wave preppy girl. Tammy was my rocker friend. Everything was Bon Jovi and Metal Edge and Great White," she recalled in a recent interview with the Deseret Morning News from the Kendalls' home in Los Angeles.
Through Tammy's friends, Bridget ended up helping with the band's merchandise booth that night. After the show, Mark met Bridget and struck up a conversation.
"It was kind of weird. I was a little nervous at first," she said.
Her nerves may have been on overload when Kendall invited Bridget back to his hotel room. But contrary to the wild exploits of many other L.A. rock bands, Bridget said Mark sat on one of two beds in the room, she sat on the other, and they talked.
"We just talked for six hours about everything. About faith, children, marriage, life," she said. "He had such a gentle heart."
The next morning, Mark called Bridget at work and invited her to dinner that evening, which ended with another six-hour talk in the hotel room. "Pure innocent greatness," she said.
Since then, a day hasn't gone by that Mark hasn't called Bridget. She eventually moved to California and the two were married. It's the second marriage for each.
"He's such a sweet person. I couldn't ask for anything more," Bridget said.
Bridget will be with Mark when he and the rest of Great White return to Salt Lake City tonight for a show at The Whiskey. Visiting her home state is a treat for Bridget, who says she gets to indulge in things like scones, honey butter and red cream soda that aren't found in Southern California.
For Great White, tonight's show kicks off its annual summer trek, which has taken on new meaning since the tragedy at The Station nightclub in Warwick, R.I., two years ago. One hundred people died, including GW guitarist Ty Longley, and another 200 were injured when an onstage fireworks fountain ignited highly flammable material that the club, unknown to the band, illegally used for soundproofing. The club's owners and the band's former tour manager were later charged criminally.
As news of the fire was breaking, it was initially reported that Kendall was the guitarist killed. Bridget, who was picking up a friend at the airport that night, said she got home and there were several voice-mail messages from Mark. The first said there had been a small fire and not to worry. But Bridget said she could hear the panic in Mark's voice in the second message, when he said the situation had gotten "really bad."
Members of Mark's family started calling Bridget, telling her that the media was reporting he was missing. Bridget said that's when she began to wonder if Mark had gone back into the building or if he had really left the messages on the phone.
"I was like, 'Was it him? Was it Mark?' I just had to sit for a minute," she said, before eventually convincing herself, "I know I talked to my husband."
That was the most difficult time in her life, she said. The friend she had just picked up from the airport ended up answering 98 phone calls for her that evening at her home.
Even though Mark survived physically, "A part of my husband died in that fire also," Bridget said. "I just think that anyone who witnesses something so horrible . . . it's going to affect them. Spiritually, emotionally, I know him. There's something missing."
The tragedy did not stop the band from touring. It was the only way they knew to raise money for the families of the victims and for the survivors in the form of The Station Family Fund.
Mark Kendall, who also spoke with the Deseret Morning News from the couple's home, said that for him and lead singer Jack Russell (the two founding members still in the group, and the only members of the classic lineup from the late '80s and early '90s), touring still has a purpose, but it has become fun again.
"After Jack and I are home for awhile, we almost simultaneously call each other and say 'You ready to go?' You can only fish and golf so much," he said.
In addition to his duties with GW, Kendall has just released his first solo record, "2.0." For Kendall, the chance to do a solo project gave him opportunities that aren't possible with Great White.
"Being in a band format, you compromise a lot because everyone has ideas and input, so you're not always getting your way," he said.
Each member of Great White is different, Kendall said. Russell was heavily influenced by acts such as Led Zeppelin. Kendall's musical influences came from people like bluesman Johnny Winter.
If you go . . .
What: Great White
Where: The Whiskey, 7 E. 4800 South
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $17
Phone: 262-7428
E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com