It was the night of Nov. 21, 2003. Five friends were piled in an SUV and roadtripping to Denver to see the last-ever performance of their favorite band, Five Iron Frenzy.

About six hours into the drive, loud music and the powerful sound of air roaring through rolled-down windows were what kept ISU students Caleb Mackie, Brian Alsbury, Grant Lovin, Dustin Murrell and Sam Mortvedt awake after growing weary and bored on a desolate Interstate 80.

Murrell, senior in religious studies, was driving Mortvedt’s parents’ sport utility vehicle and decided to take off his coat, passing the wheel to Mackie, unaware that this decision would forever change the course of their lives.

Mackie hadn’t taken into account how touchy the steering was and the vehicle started to swerve.

“Caleb [Mackie] over-corrected the wheel and kept over-correcting until we rolled,” Murrell said. “We rolled through the median, past the other side of the highway and landed on the other shoulder.”

The vehicle was crushed. Murrell flew through the front window, enduring a severe concussion and going into seizures. Mortvedt wasn’t as lucky.

“Sam [Mortvedt] went through the back window and basically the back of his head just crushed,” Murrell said. “He passed away instantly.”

Three of the five passengers were flung from the vehicle, and everybody was injured – some worse than others.

“Caleb [Mackie] was the only guy that wasn’t injured that badly, and when I came to, he was trying to flag someone down so we could get an ambulance,” Lovin said. “We found Murrell, – Caleb [Mackie] was looking out for him – but we had no idea where Sam [Mortvedt] or Brian [Alsbury] were.”

After ambulances arrived, the boys were separated from each other, taken to hospitals in a rush of terror and adrenaline.

When Murrell finally woke up, it was several days later and he had been relocated to several different hospitals.

He had been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, which he said is similar to the one endured by “Superman” legend Christopher Reeves.

“The first few days are kind of a haze; I was on a lot of morphine,” he said. “The doctors said I was really lucky because I could have had very serious brain trauma since I had such a bad concussion.”

The aftermath

Three years later, Murrell is confined to a wheelchair and is a sixth-year senior finishing up his religious studies degree at Iowa State.

Despite his disability, he has overcome the loss of a dear friend and persisted to pursue his love of music.

He helped co-found and run Iowa Rock Productions, an organization originally bent on spicing up Iowa’s lifeless music scene.

“There wasn’t really much music [in Iowa]. Frank’s House of Rock [in Des Moines] was like the only cool place I knew, and they closed. Blinks in Ames was just beginning to be talked about,” he said. “I just wanted there to be something.”

Murrell developed a passion for music in high school, when he found himself a part of “grunge” culture.

He said his musical interests flourished more in college after being introduced to a lot of new artists – artists that seldom – if ever – came through Iowa.

Lovin, junior in construction engineering, said Murrell used to talk about starting something similar to Iowa Rock.

After the accident, his passion appeared to grow and his inability to do other things left him with the time to finally pursue the idea.

Iowa Rock started as Murrell e-mailed bands he enjoyed and tried to convince them to play in Iowa. It quickly flourished into an organization that has revitalized music culture in Des Moines and Ames and has given local artists the venues and opportunities needed to succeed.

Iowa Rock’s first big show was headlined by Roper, the new project from Five Iron Frenzy frontman Reese Roper.

“I went back to a hospital in Denver for a while after the accident,” Murrell said. “My sister called [Roper] and told them that I was on my way to their concert and that they were my favorite band so they should come see me.”

The band agreed to headline Iowa Rock’s first big show at the Seven Flags Events Center in Des Moines.

At first, it was hard work finding bands to play and organizing shows.

But after garnering a reputation as a credible production company, Murrell said he is now hounded with more requests than he could ever want.

Chris Ford, drummer for Des Moines band Stuck With Arthur, said Iowa Rock has been crucial in getting the band to its current level.

“Murrell has helped us so much – he’s incredible, really. I think there’s no way honestly that we could be where we are today without him,” he said. “He’s always taking initiative to do stuff for us and he’s helped us out so much.”

Stuck With Arthur is one of numerous Iowa bands that accredits Iowa Rock for helping them build and maintain large, enthusiastic local followings.

The future

With plans to graduate this summer, Murrell said he has gotten used to living on four wheels.

“I’ve had to get much more schedule-oriented. I always have to schedule taking my medicine, I have to schedule going to the bathroom – I don’t really know when I’ll have to go, but I’ll schedule it like every four hours or something,” he said. “It’s very limiting, but the more I do it, the more I get used to it.”

Murrell hates sympathy. He said he’s resorted to being rude or cocky on several occasions to keep people from being sympathetic toward him.

“I want to be able to do everything for myself, but when I’m at the top of a flight of stairs, I don’t really have much choice,” he said. “Or if I want something at the top shelf at a store, I’ve got to ask somebody.”

After graduation, Murrell said he wants to see how far he can go with Iowa Rock.

Although he schedules and sponsors numerous smaller concerts in Iowa every week, he said he’s getting close to taking everything to the next level.

“I’ve been making the connections and getting really close to getting some much bigger acts,” he said.

Such acts include popular entertainers Hawk Nelson, Relient K and Eisley.

“Eisley is on a huge agency – they’re like one of the smallest bands on the agency – but I’ve met them through mutual friends,” Murrell said. “Their agent, who also happens to be their dad, was telling me that he’s all for the underdog and the small guy. That sort of thing.”

Eisley’s agency books larger acts such as Avril Lavigne and P.O.D., so realistically, Murrell said, Iowa Rock is on the verge of really taking Iowa’s shows to the next level.

Regardless of what happens, Murrell said he is very content doing what he’s doing.

“I definitely want to work in the music industry full time,” he said. “My degree from Iowa State is basically a degree in nothing, but Iowa Rock has gotten me experience and helped me get my foot in the door in a lot of ways.”

Despite losing the ability to walk and having to cope with the loss of a dear friend, Murrell said he has come to peace with the night that forever changed his life.

“You only live once and a lot of people have it worse off than I do,” he said. “I’ve been pretty blessed.”