Graham Hudspeth has been a mainstay in the local music scene since the 70’s yet in the last few years has been more actively pursuing his musical interests than ever before.

In 1965 at age 9 Graham spent his only six months in formal study, taking guitar lessons from Dr. Tim Hulsey, then of Royal Music. He felt he improved more while playing with others, a technique which seems to have worked as Graham is now proficient not only on the guitar and bass, but he has also learned the mandolin and more recently the bouzouki. Being hooked early on jamming with others lead to the formation of his first band The Raiders when he was ten and Graham has continued to have at least one band affiliation almost constantly since that time.

The Raiders were a cover band made up of Graham Hudspeth, Jimmy Thomas, Bernie Steen, Steve Hanson and Gordon Johnson. They played selections from Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Beatles and the Monkees. Around his Freshman year of High School Graham (lead guitar), teamed up with Bill Lloyd (drums), David Surface (bass) and Bernie Steen (rhythm guitar) to form Bad Wine. The band confined itself to the garage, playing Led Zeppelin, Creedence and covers from other groups.

By Sophomore year Lloyd and Hudspeth were ready to get serious and formed the working band Say Yes. Playing with two other college students the group became the house band at the Kentucky Bell restaurant playing three nights a week for a whopping $65 each. The band continued for several years playing Creedence, Grand Funk and Three Dog Night for the college crowd. During this same period Graham also played guitar for Tongue along with David Surface (bass), Randy Goodman (drums) and Mark Keen (keyboards). They started out playing covers from groups like Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Yes but between their Junior and Senior year they were ready to move in a new direction.

The band reconstructed itself as a progressive rock original group and redubbed themselves Avian. David Surface was the primary songwriter, who according to Hudspeth “[would present] the skeleton and we’d put the meat on it.” The group enjoyed regional success, playing small concert venues such as David Lipscomb College, Centennial Park and warming up for Doug Kirshaw. But the dynamic syncopated music was not suited for dance clubs and the recordings with which they shopped where not seen as commercial enough. Nonetheless, Avian remains one of the groups remembered from the local music scene’s golden age and was on the bill (with Marc Owens filling in for Randy) when Tony Lindsey formed the SonRhea Foundation and organized the first Jambodians Holiday Bash which features groups of the era to raise money for the organization which provides band instruments to area schools. Avian has been unable to attend the annual events regularly though as the members have moved out of the area: David Surface working as a teacher and writer in New York, Randy becoming the president for Disney’s country label “Lyric Street” and Mark Keen teaching as a professor of microbiology at NC State.

Graham himself is a regular for the jamming part of each Jambodians bash and both he and wife Dory serve as regular volunteers at SonRhea productions, supporting the organization whenever possible. After school Graham married his first wife and moved to Louisville where he didn’t get much chance to play except at the music stores where he was employed. When things did not work out for him, he decided to return to Bowling Green and by the mid 80’s once again was a regular fixture in the now struggling music scene. Live band clubs seemed to be a thing of the past in the early 80’s and venues supporting particularly original groups became few and far between.

The only buzz was talk of how good things use to be, when in 1987 a little club called Mr. C’s breathed new life into the college scene with a flexible format from hard rock to bluegrass and others soon began to crop up again. Hudspeth was a part of two bands who were favorites at Mr. C’s, Surface Tension (Jimmy Raley, rhythm guitar; Bill Henshaw, drums; Bill Miller, bass; Graham Hudspeth, lead guitar) and The Alvaton Garage Band (Bhrett Puckett, Jimmy Raley, Mark Owens, Graham Hudspeth). Surface Tension continued to play classic rock covers regularly for three or four years and still occasionally reunites for special occasions.

In the late 90 ¼s Graham joined the Outskirts who had been together for several years and already released two albums. During this time the group consisted of Susan Morris, Ruth Burch, Graham Hudspeth, Alice Templeton, Steve Groce and Bill Henshaw. The Outskirts played mostly original music and had a unique “bluesy, folk, jazz” style that made them a perennial favorite at many area festivals.

After the Outskirts, Graham took a hiatus from professional involvement with music and only jammed at informal get togethers as his day job at BGMU demanded more of his time. 2002 brought retirement from BGMU and afforded Graham the unique luxury of being able to pursue his musical appetites without regard to the time or profitability involved. Graham and Bhrett Puckett began playing Fridays at 440 Main under the moniker All About Syd. The acoustic duo later added Webb Hendrix (percussion) and Bill Henshaw (percussion) as regular guests.

Cootie Brown is a good time band formed in 2002 that continues to command choice gigs at clubs like the Brewing Company (Jan. 28) and State Street Pub (Feb 11) as well as Iron Skillet during the summer months, playing Classic Blues Rock and having a blast doing it. They promote themselves as playing the songs they love to hear like Allman Brothers, Neil Young, CCR, Clapton and the Stones. Cootie Brown is Mark Casey (drums), Graham Hudspeth (bass), Mike Clark (guitar), Joe Roberts (guitar), Bhrett Puckett (guitar) with all of the latter four singing. Though a recently formed group Cootie Brown has also been featured in December’s Jambodian Holiday Bash due to the longstanding stature of its members in the local music scene.

In September 2003 Graham hooked up with another notable musician and became part of the Kyle Daniel Band (Kyle Daniel, lead guitar & vocals; Jarrod McGahan, drums and Graham Hudspeth, bass). The group was selected as the winner of the 2004 SKY Blues Blues Challenge and went to Memphis to the 20th International Blues Challenge, ranking in the final nine of over seventy bands from around the world. They play a mixture of cover and original rocking blues in the vein of Stevie Ray Vaughn or Johnny Lang. More recently the group reorganized to include Kyle Daniel (lead guitar), Kenny Lee (keyboards), Bill Bitner (sax), Jason Gregory (drums) and Graham Hudspeth (bass) and has taken a slightly more traditional, though still electric direction. Graham actually quit playing as a regular last summer, however he still frequently sits in with the Kyle Daniel Band for local gigs and will be performing January 15 at Ellis Place for the newly reformed SKY Blues Society and as the society’s representatives at the 2005 Memphis International Blues Challenge.

The summer of 2004 also witnessed a new collaboration, between Artie Johnson (guitar, vocals), Nathan Green (guitar, mandolin) and Graham Hudspeth (bass). Featuring original folk ballads by Johnson, the group is currently working on a recording. A prolific wordsmith, Johnson is having the unusual problem of narrowing the list of pieces to be on the album. Hudspeth has also spent recent years exploring Celtic traditions. Though his father’s ancestry is Welsh and his mother’s Scotch/Irish, the talents of Skip Cleavinger were one of the primary draws to the genre. Skip (guitar, futes, uilleann pipe) and Graham (guitar) played for a fundraiser for the Louisville Pipe & Drum and several gigs at Java City on Western’s campus after Graham’s retirement.

Graham also recently recorded bass on four tracks and guitar on three tracks of songwriter Jack Montgomery’s release Everywhere I Look. Hudspeth and Lost River whose members (Jack Montgomery, Susan Morris, Janine Keirnan, Molly Kerby) were also featured on the album performed the unique music which Hudspeth terms “Celtic fusion” at the CD release party last month at JT’s. Inspired by his Celtic collaborations Graham has recently turned his attention to penning his own project. When asked if writing was a new endeavor Hudspeth responded “Only recently have I become less critical of myself”. The album’s title, A Yank and a Prod, takes its name from an accolade bestowed upon him during an Irish Arts Week when a new mate exclaimed “you’re alright for a Yank and a Prod” meaning a US born Protestant. The project will include traditional and original material as well as a cover of the Avian song Crusader and will feature Skip Cleavinger and Jim Raley as well as other special guests. Hudspeth hopes that members of Avian will lend their talents to the Crusader cut.

With his diverse experience in the musical heritage of the area over the past few decades, Graham has developed a deep appreciation for the talent in the area. As a result he lends what he can to efforts such as the SonRhea foundation events as well as endeavors by fellow musicians, whether it be playing or acting as roadie or caterer. His wife of 23 years, Dory who is a prominent local writer also shares his enthusiasm in pitching in. Most recently the two have lent their energy to a project spearheaded by Jack Montgomery and Dory Hudspeth and working in conjunction with the Kentucky Libraries, called SKYMAPP or the Southern Kentucky Music Archive and Preservation Project. The public service project has as its goal the archiving of the musical culture of the region (from Hopkinsville to Burkesville and North to Munfordville) in the form of a permanent museum exhibit and associated publications. Graham has served as a starting point for the project, providing contacts from various bands he recalls who will receive the initial survey in the next couple of weeks and be asked to forward it to others creating a ripple effect (to receive the survey email skymapp@yahoo.com).

Graham Hudspeth serves as a good starting point to network with the area’s talent. He claims to be “blessed to have a group of friends and brothers to fill in for or throw together a band” and undoubtedly many of the areas musicians know they are likewise blessed to have Graham.

This article original ran in January 2005.