The University of Northern Iowa campus will be overtaken by “beard pop” at this year’s Homecoming Bash when The Pork Tornadoes perform their take on current music hits. Not only are The Pork Tornadoes “the Midwest’s favorite party band,” but two of the four bandmates are proud UNI alums. Jerry Lorenson and Cory Talbot are 2010 psychology graduates, and fondly recall the early days of the band playing at smaller venues on The Hill and downtown Cedar Falls.

“The nostalgia of being back on the grounds is always great,” said Lorenson. “There's some magic there. Those places were so important. So we are pumped to be back and bring our best show to the student body and the community that supports it.”

For the upcoming Homecoming Bash, guests can expect an action-packed show.

“We do not stop,” said Lorenson. “Once the music starts, it keeps going until the show is over. Our drummer always says The Pork Tornadoes are like the Iowa weather. If you don't like the song, just wait five minutes. It'll be different.”

The journey to creating The Pork Tornadoes was a bit of a winding road. For Lorenson, the first moment the performance bug bit him was when he played the piano at a high school talent show. Classmate and future fellow Pork Tornadoes member Mike Schulte was on drums. 

“I remember after that thinking, ‘I have to do this all the time,’” said Lorenson.

‌After high school, Lorenson took his love of performance on the road. He ended up touring for several years in a band where he first connected with Talbot, and singer Mason Greve.

Eventually, Lorenson took a break from touring to focus on his education and career. It was then that he enrolled at Hawkeye Community College as a non-traditional student, which then led him to the University of Northern Iowa.

While Lorenson took his break from music, Talbot pursued his love of bass and became a founding member of The Pork Tornadoes. The group started as a duo with Talbot and Greve, with Talbot juggling his studies at UNI with band gigs.

Even though he was pouring so much time into music, it never occurred to Talbot that he could pursue music full-time, especially with a cover band.

“I'm quite the realist,” he said. “It was always just some best friends playing songs we loved and never taking ourselves too seriously. I think that really came through in our shows, and people could see we were having a good time, and that was contagious.”

The band officially got their name in 2008. On the way to a gig, they heard about a tornado hitting a pig farm on the radio, which the announcer dubbed a “pork tornado.” They thought this would be the perfect name to fit their quirky persona. 

Fast forward to today, and you can find the band in front of large crowds at festivals and events across the Midwest most weekends.

“Success took a lot of deliberate hard work,” said Talbot. “Each person owned a segment of the business. This allowed us to grow Pork Tornadoes while the majority of us had full time jobs. Eventually, it turned into something that could be a standalone income.”

It’s Lorenson’s belief that The Pork Tornadoes have succeeded because of the relationships in the band. 

“If you're going to work to be an entrepreneur, be your own business, you need to be doing it with people you like and trust,” he said.

If you want to see the camaraderie of The Pork Tornadoes in person and sing along to your favorite songs from Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Beyonce and more, you’ll have to come to the Homecoming Bash. You can register for the event online.