During his too-short life, Stephen Gudis amassed a long list of job titles including music promoter, production manager, tour manager, stage manager, and road manager for live concerts and TV shows. He was also a long-time member of the Parnelli Awards Board of Advisors and a stage manager for the gala for over a decade. While he passed suddenly back on Jan. 6, 2020, friends, family, and admirers finally got the opportunity for an in-person celebration of his life and legacy. The event was held April 8 at, appropriately, at the Country Music Association Theater in Nashville.
Gudis was associated with many acts of different genres, but perhaps he was endeared himself to the Charlie Daniels Band. Manager David Corlew gave perhaps the most emotional talk of the evening, speaking eloquently about how Gudis was in the business from the earliest days, and is part of the foundation of what live concerts are now. He remarked how Daniels died a few months after Gudis, and “I imagined when Charlie went straight to heaven, Gudis was there with a flashlight to guide him to the stage there.”
Gudis’ wife, Beth Anne Musiker, served as host for the event, which was livestreamed. “Faced with Stephen’s untimely passing, which was quickly followed by the pandemic, I sorted through all the contents of his collections,” said actress and arts educator Musiker. “And I discovered a treasure trove of artifacts that not only told Stephen’s story, but also a fascinating story of American music history across genres, eras, and people. I am so grateful to know that his legacy will be shared for a long time to come.” She donated Gudis’ collection from his four decade-plus career to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and its First Library Archive. The Stephen T. Gudis Collection includes his touring road case, concert jackets and shirts, tour program books, posters, work calendars, and more.
Opening the show was Ketch Secor, Grammy winner and front man for the Old Crow Medicine Show. While strumming chords he told jokes and stories of the man everyone in this business knew as “Gudis.” “I’d like to think of this as a retirement party,” he quipped at one point. He told of Gudis’ beginnings, coming from Morristown, TN, the “son of an entrepreneurial and enduring Jewish family … I felt a kinship with him because I was the only kid who wanted to be a hillbilly at the prep school [I attended] in New England.” He ended his opening singing, appropriately, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Many who couldn’t attend in person sent in videos, including the Oak Ridge Boys. The band’s William Lee Golden recounted that their friendship started back in the 1970s and they all had many memories of working together. “Everyone will mention he’s a good man, an honest man, and very good at what he did,” added Joe Bonsall.
Gudis had much to be proud of, but it was said several times that evening he was most proud of his work with Farm Aid. The staff from Farm Aid sent in a note which Musiker read.
Country Artist Jamey Johnson also sent in a video, telling of a 2008 Farm Aid show when prior to performing he had gotten some “special kind of brownies” that were maybe stronger than he thought. “I can’t remember much about that performance, but I remember walking up the stairs to go on and there Steve took one look at me, and then went to the mic on the stage and said, ‘ladies and gentlemen – 420!’”
Country artist Charlie Worshem closed the evening. “He saved my a– big time at a CMA Festival,” he recounted. He and his band had been scheduled to play three nights at a bar and, well, after the second night, “we had been a bit rowdy” and were kicked out. Gudis, seemingly out of nowhere, came up with another venue and stage for them to play that third night. Worshem then performed his song, “For the Love.”
The lyrics go like this:
If I was in it for the money
I’d have a mansion on the hill by now
If I was in it for milk and honey
I’d have honeybees and a cow
If I was in it for the fame
You’d already know my name
I’ve only ever been in it for the love
Here’s a video of the full event:
For Gudis’ full story, here is the original obituary.
