Eulogy for Randy Bewley
There's No Way to Sum Up a Life…

Robin Bewley, good friend and former wife of Randy Bewley, delivered these remarks at the conclusion of the "Resurrection Eucharist and Rite of Christian Burial" before a packed congregation at Emanuel Episcopal Church on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009.

There is no way to sum up a life or contain it in words, so I'd just like to share some memories of this remarkable and complex man for Blair and Adam, for Pylon and members of the other bands, his housemate Hannah, his many friends and for those who are gathered here to support us.

I've been thinking a lot about the special language that develops between people who are together for a long time. The Bewleys certainly had our share of in-jokes, and could say a single word or phrase and evoke an entire story. He shared the same kind of relationship with the other Pylons - they truly formed a family over the years. That family had a tenacity and continuity that formed Randy and them. Vanessa, Michael and Curtis were a home he returned to again and again.

From the beginning, the beautiful anarchy that was Pylon was amazing. We remember the first 40 Watt club in Curtis' - shall we say code-challenged - loft. The opening of the official 40 Watt Club, Curtis still working on the stage as people arrived, some kind of goofy sound-check. Paul had forgotten the detail of a bartender so Debralee and I drew draft beer. Over the years, they opened the 40 Watt, and opened the 40 Watt, and - wait - opened the 40 Watt in many locations. They traveled and slept, had adventures and made great music and went to weddings and funerals and fought and made up - all together. And it was good. The music was, after his sons, the thing he was proudest of.

There was never anything fake about Randy Bewley. He could not play poker, for what he thought was always on his face. When it came time to make hard decisions, he would always come down on the side of what is right, not what is profitable or what someone else thought was best.

He loved children and young people. If he was in a room that had children of any age who could walk, they would gather around him. When the boys were little and he was spending time at their school, he decided he wanted to be a teacher. So, with two small children and a part-time job, he went back to school in his late 30s. As a teacher, he was dismayed at how many kindergartners and first graders had already learned "I can't" about making art. So he would distract them from "I can't" and walk them through a drawing with little sounds that distracted them, and before long, they could. He was always delighted to run into one of his kids as they grew up and he saw them out in the world.

The young people of Emmanuel were dear to his heart. From badminton on the lawn all summer, to the infamous backpacking trip with PPP - the one where Marshall broke his nose - he was some cross between a dad and a cool uncle. He chaperoned an acolyte trip to the National Cathedral. But I think his best time with "my kids" was the trip out West with the Journey to Adulthood group. It was a landmark event for him.

Last night, many people told me of Randy's gentle and generous heart. It was important to him to help people move from a dark space in their life to one of greater light.

Randy loved his mom, and protected her from anyone who would do her wrong or upset her. Movie night with her had become as important to him as the help he gave her with errands and her health.

Now, my mom is a quiet person, and very respectful of Karen and I. But I know she was somewhat concerned about her daughter marrying some guy in a band. But that all changed the day Blair was born. Randy rode upstairs to the nursery with Blair and Nana and my mom were watching him through the nursery window, though he was unaware. He held Blair, and rocked him, put him down in the crib and unwrapped his swaddling, the baby burrito as we called it, and touched Blair's hands and feet, then wrapped him up and held him again. He did this several times. After that, his stock with my mom was never down.

As a sometimes too serious person, Randy's great gift to me was laughter. He was SO quick! He had, shall we say, his own peculiar form of organization, using the word loosely. The family joke was that he could and would fill any horizontal space with stuff, and he wasn't always good with dates and numbers and remembering. But when I took some situation or myself too seriously or worried too much, he could calm my melodrama. He would tell me he was going to do something, and when I asked him about it later he would say, "Well, I wanted to do it." And if I went to a shrewish place, he would say instead, "I wish I'd done it." The ability to make people laugh kept him out of a lot of trouble.

As Blair and Adam's daddy, Randy knew always where to go in himself to the play place, an uncanny ability he had to leave that which passes for adulthood behind and be with the boys and their friends, inventing games, building skateboard ramps and tree houses, covering the doorway with paper on Christmas Eve so they could burst through it the next morning. And he gave them music and art, his passions. He was SO proud of the men you have become, and your loving hearts.

Rest well, dear friend, and Godspeed.

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Maureen McLaughlin
Lifelong friend of the band and Athens trial consultant

Many people knew Randy Bewley as the reticent Pylon guitarist: the shy guy who let his music speak for him. In fact, Randy was a complex, multi-talented individual who lived by a righteous personal code. He was a loyal friend, an expressive artist and an unexpected joker - a lover of plastic Japanese robots and toy monkeys. To say that he was devoted to his sons, Blair and Adam, would be an understatement. He also maintained a deep affection for Robin, the mother of his sons, even after they were divorced. At the time of his death, he was living with Hannah Jones, his best friend and fellow bandmember in Supercluster and Sound Houses.

Randy was born in Bradenton Beach, FL on July 25, 1955. His father was an interior designer and moved the family between Florida and Washington, D.C. a number of times. It was not unusual to see the Bewley family home featured in newspapers or national magazines. While experiencing this richly innovative environment, the Bewleys settled in Sarasota, FL, where Randy graduated from high school. From there, he entered the University of Georgia art school and met his future Pylon bandmates, Michael Lachowski, Curtis Crowe and Vanessa Briscoe Hay.

Michael Lachowski remembers Randy as always being “the instigator” in Pylon. It was Randy who first had the idea of starting a band in 1978. Pylon broke up twice: first in 1983 and again in 1991. They reunited for a third time in 2004 after Randy approached Michael at a Lachowski art opening.

It took Randy’s death on Feb. 25, 2009 to dissolve the life-long musical partnership that bound these four quirky, energetic friends together. With Randy’s passing also came the end of Pylon. Along with everyone else who knew them, I will be mourning these two sad losses for a long, long time.

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Hugo Burnham
Gang of Four

A piece of my heart has always been in Athens. I can - and do - count some good, good friends there; no lesser the friendships for having long gaps in between visits over the years.

Four particular friends came bursting back into my life when they asked me to write something nice for Gyrate Plus in 2007. I was honored… it was easy. These fabulous people who introduced me to the bourbon that I had been searching for in vain, that my fellow Englishmen swore never existed. When we first met… my first thought was “God, they’re tall!” And then I thankfully saw Curtis. But my, those boys with guitars swinging low in front of them… at around my head-height - so very, very good. We thought we had THE guitar-player in Gang of Four… the ONLY guitar-player; but Randy quickly put such thoughts to rest, and we loved him and them and their noises. They had That Essence Rare. He was Cool. It was all great Entertainment. Randy seemed relatively quiet, but only in terms of the competition. Late nights with us on the road, hiding in hotel closets squeezed together, laughing like mad buggers. We were very young. (And he was so, so, SO tall… dammit. And good looking, too! How is that fair?)

And now we feel very old.

That piece of my heart is now broken, and the rest of it is heavy. But I will hold up my old head and think fondly and lovingly of Randy today; my body in Massachusetts - but my heart with you all down there. And I will finish my last bottle of Rebel Yell, laughing and crying for you all as only a 5’ 7” Englishman can do.

God Bless, Randy.

My love and thoughts are with Randy's family, and with my dear Pylon.

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Bill Cody
Athens, Ga/ Inside-Out, Producer

When I got the news that Randy had passed away this week, I was stunned.

It seems like just yesterday I was standing in the Echoplex, a club in Los Angeles, watching Pylon play. I was never there at Pylon’s early shows, but I can’t imagine they played any better than they did this night. To say the band was ON would be an understatement. They hadn’t played Los Angeles in a number of years. This was a really special treat.The crowd was incredibly young (I’d say the average age was 20 or 21) and they knew the words to almost every song. They kids danced, sang and sweated. When the show ended (and we did think it was over), the audience erupted. They demanded more. The kids wanted an encore and they weren’t going to stop cheering until they got one. 

Me - I had a big smile during the entire show, the kind of smile that overwhelms you and makes you glow. 

I said goodbye to my friends as I left the club and made a mental note that I would have to go see them again… right away. I wanted to stay longer and visit, but I had to go to work the next day. You know how it is. I figured I’d be seeing them all again very soon. We always think we are going to have enough time to do these things later. That was four months ago. 

To say I was saddened when I heard about Randy would be an understatement. It was the kind of news that you just don’t want to believe is true. 

We will miss Randy as a musician, no question. But, the most important thing about Randy Bewley is that he‘s a genuinely good person. He’s the kind of person that makes the world a better and more decent place just because he’s in it. Randy made us all feel so good. And that is what I think we’ll miss most of all. 

Randy is and was a truly special man. He will be sorely missed.

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Kay Stanton
Supercluster bandmate and friend

Randy Bewley, we love you.

 It's been a very difficult week, but the Cookies spent practice remembering what a wonderful person and influential guitarist Randy was. Mostly known for his work as Pylon's guitarist, Randy also played in Athens bands Sound Houses and Supercluster. He was also a fabulous artist and friend. I was lucky enough to play with him for almost two years in Supercluster. Not only was I honored to be in the presence of such an amazing an innovative guitarist, I got a chance to know Randy as a person. He made it easy to forget that he was an icon by being so down to earth and just an all around sweet person.  

Randy would crack this quirky little smile that just made you think he knew a little more about everything than you possibly could, and that he knew that, too, but that it was absolutely cool. I was always amazed at how good his ear was. His guitar tuning was atypical, but when Supercluster would start to jam, he'd jump in there with some amazing lick or texture that really made the whole thing gel. And for anyone who's ever seen him on stage with Pylon, they know how great he was.  I don't know if he really thought about just how much he influenced musicians everywhere. He influenced people who probably don't even realize they were influenced by him. It's so easy not to notice, because in Athens, even giants are demure. 
There is so much more to say about this wonderful person, Randy Bewley, but all I can say now is you will be missed greatly.

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Jacob Hunt 
Flagpole contributer and local musician

I'm certain that so much of the music I love would be non-existent today without Randy. My experience living in Athens wouldn't be nearly as singular and textured without Pylon's echoes throughout this town's entire cultural scene. Music would not be music. Athens would not be Athens. The reunion show at Little Kings in 2004 will always be one of my most treasured concert memories. Much to my good fortune, Randy's son had recently joined my band for a six-month stint drumming, so I caught wind of that surprise gig. I had never even heard Pylon's songs before; my recognition and appreciation of their significance was still dependent upon hearsay. The crowd was so dense and the stage so low that the view was terrible. But that didn't matter one bit: Pylon was pure energy electrifying the crowd, like they were made for nothing else. The music was perfect: Randy's every note and chord interlocking perfectly with the bass and beats and shrieks. When my band had the occasional practice at the Bewley house, I had no idea I'd later come to view Randy as an icon, a living rock and roll legend. Good thing, I guess; I might've embarrassed myself. Now I can hardly believe I got to meet him.

Thank you, Randy. Sorry about breaking Adam's curfew for our gigs.

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JoE Silva
Flagpole contributer, Host of WUGA's "Just Off the Radar"

I am standing in the wings of the Morton Theatre watching some band work through its set when my friend Erwin lets me know that someone from Pylon is in the house. In fact, he’s been right next to me for the majority of the show, quietly helping us shift cables and instruments on and off stage between acts.

Younger than Randy Bewley by a decade, I was a touch startled at first to have him in such close proximity without any warning. As a wannabe new wave kid, I had learned his parts to “M-Train” from a cassette recording I’d made when the song had been played on New York’s WNYU. The strings on my cheap bass guitar were a good half inch off the fret board, but when I nailed the catchy, muscular riff a couple of days later it became one of those strongly imprinted DIY moments that makes musical believers out of acne-plagued teenagers in tiny bedrooms.

You can YouTube videos of Pylon’s Melting Point performance during the fall of last year, but it was another thing entirely for me to have been there and re-connected with the same sort of fizzy energy I’d first come across years earlier. His epic, wiry guitar lines filled with all those elegant spaces were a joy to witness in person again. It was only the second time I’d seen them perform, and as it turned out…the last.

Having heard about Randy’s accident, I went online to look for a picture of him to attach to a tweet I’d written. The best one I came across is a black and white shot from some point in the '80s which was taken of him in mid-air. His body is half-torqued from the front of the stage and the headstock of his Mosrite is blurred. That photo of an otherwise placid guy enlivened by those urgent sounds will remind me of Randy for quite a while.

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Bob Hay
Local musician and lifelong friend

I have been acquainted with Randy for many years and have always admired his guitar sounds. Since Supercluster former, I have had the honor of playing in a band with him. I was really impressed with his ability to develop a guitar part for songs in a variety of styles. I think the last thing I said to him was at our last practice together on Feb. 18 after we played the song "The River" which was written by my daughter Hana. This song is a slow 3/4 time ballad and is really unlike anything that Pylon played, but Randy adapted to it and developed a beautiful high slide guitar-style part for it. After we played it, I turned to hm and said "Good job!" I am sad that no one will ever hear how he played on that song.

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Ed Morales
Red and Black Editorial Advisor

A couple of months ago I headed down to the Melting Point to see Pylon, that venerable pop band kicking around Athens for three decades. While getting a beer a little before the show, I bumped into an old friend who recently moved back to town after two decades away from the Classic City.

"When's the last time you saw Pylon,' I asked. "Last time was my first day in Athens - at a frat party," he said. It was nearly 25 years ago, and one of his great memories about the town.

I was jealous. Despite being a Pylon fan for many years, I only saw them for the first time in December 2007 at the 40 Watt in what proved to be a memorable night. How can a band be so good for so long, I wondered, watching in amazement.

I would guess many people met up with old friends that night at the Melting Point, dancing in glee as the four friends on stage powered through song after song. It was another epic performance. I'm sure it never occurred to anyone it would be the last show of the four of them together.

The death of Randy Bewley is more than a loss of a loved one to family and friends, it's a tremendous loss in the vast musical fabric making Athens what it is. While the B-52s were the first and R.E.M. was the biggest, Pylon is the band Athens can wholly call its own. Its members founded the 40 Watt, influenced hundreds of bands (and even discovered Danger Mouse), entertained thousands all while living and thriving in our little city.

Around town I get star struck in the weirdest ways, like the time I yelped when bumping into Fred Schneider at a Robyn Hitchcock show, or when I almost crashed my bike after seeing Michael Stripe driving by (Michael Stipe drives? Who knew).

I remember the first (and only) time I ran into Randy. I was in Earth Fare looking for some odd ingredient my wife needed.

"Can I help you? You look lost." "Yeah," I looked up. "I'm looking for... hey you're Randy Bewley from Pylon." "Umm, yeah," he said, the name Randy attached to the nameplate on his shirt. "Can I help you?" I was a bit flustered. It happens when I confront people who's talent I admire. "I... I... need some nutritional yeast, for tofu, like at the Grit," I stammered. "Right this way." He pointed me in the right direction, then headed off to help someone else. I watched him go, thinking over and over: "You're so awesome."

The Randy Bewley. In Earth Fare. Wow. And that's the way it is with Pylon. Vanessa is out at shows, all the time, moving all over the dance floor. Early one Halloween night, while I was holding my baby girl (wearing her little costume) Vanessa walked up and smiled.

"She makes the cutest ladybug," she said. "Yeah," was all I could muster. As she turned to leave, I looked at my daughter with envy: "Only a few months old, and you already met the lead singer of Pylon."

Michael Lachowski lives in my neighborhood, I see him all the time. Every time I see him walk by, I return to the same thought: "I live in the same neighborhood as Michael Lachowski!" I don't see Curtis too often, but I've taken yoga classes taught by his sister Rhett, which practically makes me and Curtis related.

I know this makes me sound pathetic and geeky, but it's one of my little joys of Athens. We can't help what we love, and the music and people of Athens is the main reason I've wanted to live here since the mid-80s, when I was a Florida high school student listening to a tattered cassette copy of Gyrate.

And today I am sad, because an important piece of that world is gone. Thank you Randy, for all your hooks and artistry I've enjoyed throughout the years. Athens is just not the same without you.

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Gregory Sanders

I met Randy when we worked together at Earth Fare. Having been a Pylon fan since I was a kid, I was kinda anxious to meet him. We immediately bonded as kindred spirits and this giant idol of mine quickly became a friend and mentor. Never have I known such a hugely influential artist to be so approachable, down-to-earth and unassuming. I was just over at his house at the end of January taking pictures of him playing with his crazy collection of vintage toys, making plans to help him build shelves to display it all. I hope when I'm fifty-something I'll still have the wide-eyed youthful enthusiasm that Randy did. It was truly his gift to still have the kid in him and yet be such a mentor.

I love this picture (http://www.flickr.com/photos/xenophotos/3325804854/). We were out in the shop behind his house looking through boxes of his toys, and he would take one out and play with it like it was the Christmas morning that he first got it.

Randy was, at 53, the kid I wanted to play with AND the man I wanted to grow up to be.

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If you would like to add to our tribute page, please e-mail your photos or letters to music@flagpole.com