The passing of Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley

Randy Bewley, the guitarist for the band Pylon, has died. Randy’s music has been incredibly influential in my life, and my thoughts tonight are with his family, and his Pylon bandmates, Vanessa, Michael and Curtis, who released the following statement earlier today:

We love Randy

This past Monday evening, Randy Bewley had a heart attack while driving his van on Barber Street in Athens, GA. He was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center. Today, our bandmate and brother passed away at a little before 5 p.m. with his family and friends at his side. He will be missed, even as we celebrate his life and creativity. His guitar sound was as special as he was and always will be. Randy’s guitar work defined not only a generation of sound but Randy himself. His visual art, painting and photos, combined with his signature sound formed a loose set of boundaries that helps understand him. His quiet devotion to family and friends will become a benchmark for those he leaves behind.

In memory of Randy, I won’t be posting anything else tonight…

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4 Comments

  1. Oliva
    Posted February 26, 2009 at 10:20 pm | Permalink

    Lovely tribute. Thanks for posting it–

  2. Deadhand
    Posted February 28, 2009 at 10:08 pm | Permalink

    He’s probably a big part of why the MPT even exists, right? Now that’s a legacy.
    Man, they were great in both NYC and Ann Arbor when you and I saw them. Was it he whose one leg fell through the stage but finished the song when we saw them in NYC? Or was it the bassist?

  3. Posted February 28, 2009 at 10:28 pm | Permalink

    Yup. “Athens GA Inside/Out.” I saw it three days in a row at a little theater in Washington, DC. (It’s now a Walgreen’s.) It was 1986. The part of the film where Michael talks about getting guitars without knowing how to play, and then just figuring it out, really excited me. So, yeah, you can trace the band – or at least my participation in MPT (Monkey Power Trio) directly back to that film and Pylon.

    And I can’t remember who fell in the hole, but I think we touched on that when I interviewed Vanessa and Michael for Crimewave. I’ll see if I can find that old issue.

  4. Anonymatt
    Posted March 2, 2009 at 2:30 pm | Permalink

    This obituary says that Chomp is being reissued later this year.

    http://idolator.com/5160620/randy-bewley-rip

    That’s the only bit of goodness I’ve seen in with the coverage of Randy’s death.

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