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Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts
Jacksonville State University to honor Pi Kappa Phi country music superstar with state-of-the-art performing arts center by Arthur Beal III
Randy Owen, Delta Epsilon (Jacksonville State), a 1983 Pi Kappa Phi Hall of Fame inductee, is known for topping the charts with the band Alabama.
Rolling Stone and Billboard have ranked Randy among the top 100 country singers. Today, he serves as an at-large member of the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, which is poised to create the state-of-the-art Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts.
The Early Years
Music, family and education have always been part of Randy’s life. He first picked up a musical instrument at the age of six. After dropping out of high school in ninth grade, he re-enrolled with his sights firmly set on higher education. By the time he graduated from high school, Randy had formed a band with his cousins, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook. As a back-up plan in case the band didn’t work out, Randy attended Northeast Alabama Community College before matriculating at Jacksonville State.
Randy majored in English at JSU while becoming a founding father of Delta Epsilon Chapter. Everything he did was strategic in his quest for stardom. Randy would perform at several venues on weekends and between classes, and he chose to major in English to supplement his songwriting abilities. "It helped me understand that a kid who was very poor and grew up in the sticks … that it's OK to speak your vernacular," Randy said in 2009.
The band began to take off by booking a summer gig at The Bowery, a beloved Myrtle Beach bar, in 1973. A few years after Randy’s graduation in 1975, the band was signed by RCA Records in 1980.
One of Alabama’s early concerts was quite near to the fraternity’s heart. A P.U.S.H. (now named The Ability Experience) fundraiser was set at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. For Randy and his crew, the concert was accepted with no hesitation. Executive Director Emeritus Durward Owen (no relation to Randy) jokingly credits himself as one of the first ambassadors at the band’s first major performance.
Durward recalls it being rainy on the day of the fundraiser, but people gathered to support Randy and the efforts of P.U.S.H. Some wondered if the band would still perform in the rain. As Durward fondly recalls, Randy replied with “They came here for music, so we’re going to give them music.”
“It was never a surprise to see Randy on stage with a Pi Kappa Phi shirt,” Durward reminisced. Randy even included Pi Kappa Phi apparel in Alabama’s album cover for “Just Us,” released in 1987, which charted number one among Billboard Top Country Albums and reached number 55 on the Billboard 200.
The Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts
The $15 million-initiative was given by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey in hopes of allowing young musicians better opportunities than Randy and his peers had. Schematically, the ROC was created to become one of the campus’s unique attractions. It has been described as “the creative hub of the community with limitless potential to reach JSU students, alums, faculty, families and many other creative minds in the 11 surrounding counties.” The multipurpose venue has several features to ensure it continues Randy’s legacy. The building bears his name not only because of his success, but because of his commitment to education and JSU.
It will include a 1,000-seat concert hall and auditorium as well as a recording studio for musicians along with separate spaces for other vocalists. With the students in mind, an indoor rehearsal space for JSU’s band, the Marching Southerners, will be included with multi-purpose rooms for educational use and an amphitheater.
The ROC is designed to commemorate the legacy of both Randy Owen and Pi Kappa Phi. The fraternity has been included with a room dedicated to Delta Epsilon Chapter. It is set to be an exhibit space designed to keep the fraternity legacy alive on campus.
An Exclusive Guitar for High-Level ROC donors
A Rendering of the ROC at Jacksonville State
Interested in supporting the ROC? Email Rusty Fuller, Delta Epsilon, fuller.rusty@yahoo.com
