‘My heart wants it,’ Lincoln musician plays birthday show after house fire

On Friday night, Duffy’s Tavern had a crowd full of cheers and laughter, homemade cupcakes on a table and one woman on stage the entire night. This atmosphere made it difficult to guess what happened to musician Lexi Storm less than a week before. 

In posts made on her Instagram on March 22, Storm shared how her parents lost everything in a house fire, including multiple pets. Even so, Storm still took the stage to celebrate her 30th birthday. 

“It's something I've always wanted to do, and I think my heart wants it (so) much that I'm not going to let even something like a house burning down, (this) big tragedy prevent me from doing something like this,” Storm said. 

Storm is a completely self-taught guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer. She is a Lincoln native who plays with multiple local bands in the area. 

Storm's love of music started when she was born into a family of musicians. This passion spans back five generations, to her great grandfather’s polka band, Storm said. 

“When I was as young as a toddler, I would love dancing to whatever music my mom would put on whenever she would clean the house,” Storm said. “Eventually, as I got to middle school, I jokingly say this, but it's kind of true, I was tired of playing air guitar, and so I decided that it would be time to start learning an instrument.” 

Storm was drawn to the guitar after attending a church camp, when one night the setlist strayed from the typical worship songs to rock music instead. She’d never seen a show like that and asked the guitarist afterward if she could try out his guitar. 

“It was after that night I was really inspired to play,” Storm said. “The next week, I asked my mom if I could go out to Guitar Center and get a guitar and just started noodling from there.” 

In 2010, Storm attended Academy of Rock, a non-profit focused on allowing K-12 students to pursue their musical interests. Through that program, she started her first band, Alter Ego. 

Storm joined her next band in 2012, The Rewind, where she was the lead guitarist. It was during her time in The Rewind that Storm met her lifelong friend, Brett Lowe. They met after Lowe saw an ad on Craigslist that the band was in need of a drummer. 

As the band worked on becoming more animated while on stage, Storm had the hardest time breaking out of her shell, Lowe said. Even so, as the years went on, Storm and Lowe’s friendship blossomed as Storm began to find herself. 

When the band had a falling out in 2022, Storm and Lowe remained close friends, now living only four blocks away from each other even though they don’t play together anymore. Storm has found a spot within the Lincoln music community. 

“I'm so thankful to have been raised in Lincoln, around this music community (and) to have the opportunities that I've had,” Storm said. “I've done my due diligence playing in a band where we played at three people, when we worked really hard to get anybody to come out. (Now) it seems easy to pack a venue, and that's never forgotten.” 

Currently, Storm plays with three bands: Estrogen Projection, 9-5ers and Thirst Things First. In each band, Storm takes on a slightly different role: songwriting for Estrogen Projection as compared to learning the songs and playing them with Thirst Things First and the 9-5ers. 

Storm’s 30th birthday, dubbed “Lex Fest,” featured all three of her current bands on Duffy’s stage. 

“I thought, ‘wow, how cool would it be to celebrate my 30th birthday and play something ridiculous, like 40 to 45 songs,’” Storm said. “The joke behind it is like, ‘well, I better do it while I'm 30 before I can't play with three bands in one night anymore.’” 

Storm also played some of her solo music live for the first time at her birthday show, including her newest single, “Dear Adora.” Throughout her set, Storm explained the way she writes songs to help cope with struggles in her life.  

Storm told the audience about how her parents’ house burned down, and how despite everything, she knew she still had to play her birthday show. She wouldn’t let her 30th birthday be remembered only in pain, but also in the joyous celebration of music. 

“I know that music is the one piece of her life that is a constant, which is why she's in so many bands,” Lowe said. “She loves it so much. She's so good at it, and so I'm glad that she opened up, and I'm glad that she's doing really, really well.” 

Published in the Daily Nebraskan, read here.

Lexi Storm performs with Estrogen Projection at Duffy's on Friday, March 28, 2025 in Lincoln. Photo by Izzy Lewis.