The STUDS Reunite

It is with great sadness The Studs must inform you that our fearless leader and brother in arms, John Hostetter passed away on September 2, 2016. He will be sorely missed.


John Hostetter and Del Appleby

Goodnight sweet prince
exit stage left




The Studs 50th Anniversary
                There are some things you look forward to every year. It could be the return of spring, a holiday parade, a birthday of someone close to you…but for a small group of friends and former band mates who met in 1964 at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., it is their annual reunion. They join for a week of fun in the sun in New Smyrna Beach, Florida and celebrate the music they played way back when. That’s right, they get to put the band back together…every year!
                This tradition started in 2008 and was such a success and balm for their collective souls that it is now that event that every year is anticipated more than all others. And the spirit this time was electric. The band was celebrating the 50th Anniversary of when they first came together and started singing folk songs, blues, and the great hits from the British Invasion bands. The family and friends that accompany the lads to town grows every year and this year there were also several folks who had been missed deeply the last few gatherings. Plus there are always some newcomers brought into the fold.
                It was an intense week with a solid schedule of rehearsals, lunches, laughter, shopping, more rehearsals, more laughter, and evening hootenannies at a different condo each night. All this was in anticipation of the Thursday night performance at Peanuts, a comfy little bar a block from the beach.
                The 50th Anniversary show happened on August 21, 2014. Outside on the closed street the 7th Annual Shrimp and Seafood Festival was in full swing…that’s right the Studs reunions and the seafood festival started the same year. And it’s been a glorious marriage of music and food ever since. The locals have taken the band to their hearts and packed the club, singing and dancing and asking for more. The sound this year was exceptional thanks to our soundman, Geo deSocio. And the extra rehearsals on harmonies paid off in some sweet moments of magic.
                John Hostetter is the front man, singing and strumming his guitar. Skip Henry plays lead guitar and is the musical mastermind that makes it all possible. Jeff Manz on the bass surprises us every year , learning whatever we throw at him. Ken Kambis lays down rhythm guitar and David Young does his usual multitasking, singing and abusing that tambourine. Robert Hudson keeps the whole thing moving back there on the drums and hands the sticks over to percussionist Leon Burleson on several songs. 
                After their triumphant performance, The Studs spent the evening dancing, and smiling and thanking well-wishers and sitting in with the house band, The Pirates. Skip’s sons, Grant and Adam, also provided some scintillating moments playing guitar and djembe with the band. Our German friend Hannes was back after a few years’ absence and was not afraid to get down with some Elvis ditties, thank you very much.
                There was only one more day to this year’s reunion to reflect on the fun and special wonder of such a unique experience. Everyone gathered for a final lunch, got some group photos and then gathered in the evening to sing a bunch more songs, kill the leftovers, including the huge picture cake that the owners of Peanuts brought in the night before, and finally get in a few more hugs and conversations before going our separate ways in the morning.
                I believe I speak for every one when I say this was the best ever…until next year.

     
 
     
 


Well folks, The Studs have done it again. Another sucessful Forty Year Reunion at Peanuts. The place was rockin'!
Click the link to view a great slide show with music produced by the amazing photographer Jeff Groves. Note - you wil first have to stop the flash music player that started automagically when you arrived at this page.


http://www.jeffgroves.com/Events/Studs-Collection/Studs-2010-Flash-Slideshow/




 

 


 

 
See the Catawba video
NOTE: Scroll down and stop
the audio player below and
then view the video


The Studs @ Peanuts, 419 Flagler Avenue, New Smyrna Beach
Thursday, August 20, 2009, 7-8 p.m.

RETURN OF THE FORTY YEAR REUNION!
IT’S ALIVE!

It looks like we have created a monster! On Thursday, August 20, 2009 from 7-8 p.m., at Peanuts in New Smyrna Beach The Studs will rise again. If you were there for their fortieth reunion show last August, you’ll remember how supercharged the room was as  New Smyrna artist, John Hostetter, teamed up with his former bandmates from Catawba College. They had not played together since the late 60’s, but that didn’t matter as they instantly rekindled their old fire and the crowd bounced and boogied along to songs from The Beatles, The Hollies, The Stones, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Mama’s & Papa’s, and, of course, the always essential Louie Louie. There were even go-go dancers! It was the glory days all over again, just like back in college when they entertained at colorful joints like The Keg, The Twilight Lounge, and The Rathole. There had even been a series of gigs opening for Mitch Ryder. That was before they graduated and joined the real world.

Lead guitarist, Skip Henry, did a tour in Vietnam before settling in as a C.P.A.. Bass player, Jeff Manz, owned a printing company, did real estate sales, and now calls himself a “recovering lawyer”. Guitarist, Ken Kambis, is the chairman of the kinesiology department at William & Mary College. Vocalist, David ‘cockroach’ Young, has been a healthcare management consultant for over thirty years. Drummer, Robert Hudson, works for an EPA human studies facility as an engineering technician. And after many years as an actor in L.A., John Hostetter, settled in New Smyrna Beach to become a painter and start up a new band called The Pirates. Plus after last year’s show, Leon Burleson, their first drummer, checked in and was excited to take a break from his salesman-on-the-road gig to join the fun.
Now all grown up with families and mortgages, they are coming to the land of Ponce De Leon fame once again to find the fountain of youth that lives in the spirit of rock and roll. You know they’ll be singing ‘Do You Believe In Magic’ just like they did in the 60’s, although John has traded in his electric autoharp for a twelve string guitar.

          Be a part of history., forty-one years in the making. Happening August 20 during the Second Annual Shrimp and Seafood Festival on Flagler Avenue. The Studs will come alive again, on stage, from 7-8 p.m..



The Studs and the Stud Finders


View The Studs performing "It's A Rock Thing" at the reunion show.
NOTE: Scroll down and stop the audio player below and then view the video

It’s been forty years since The Studs have shared a stage together. But on Thursday, August 14, 2008 from 7-8 p.m. at Peanuts in New Smyrna Beach, they are going to try to recapture the magic they created in the mid-60’s. New Smyrna artist, John Hostetter, teamed up with his bandmates at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.. It was during the heyday of the British invasion bands and the blossoming of young blues artists like Paul Butterfield. They had a rich tapestry of sounds to feed their imaginations and musical talents. They gigged regularly at local haunts with classic names like The Twilight Lounge and The Keg, where college kids and factory workers came together to dance and fight. Performing songs from The Beatles to The Hollies to The Who, plus originals, blues covers, and, of course, the essential Louie Louie, The Studs played a summer at Turk’s Rat Hole in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and stole the show while opening for Mitch Ryder in Richmond in ’68. And then they went their separate ways.

Lead guitarist, Skip Henry, did a tour in Vietnam before settling in as a C.P.A. Bass player, Jeff Manz, has owned a printing company, done real estate sales, and calls himself a “recovering lawyer”. Guitarist, Ken Kambis, is the chairman of the Kinesiology department at William & Mary College. Vocalist, David ‘cockroach’ Young, has been a healthcare management consultant for over thirty years. Drummer, Robert Hudson, works for an EPA human studies facility as an engineering technician. And after many years as an actor in L.A., John Hostetter, settled in New Smyrna Beach to become a painter and start up a new band called The Pirates.

Now all grown up with families and mortgages and gray hair, they are coming to the land of Ponce De Leon fame to find the fountain of youth that lives in the spirit of rock and roll. They’ll be singing ‘Do You Believe In Magic’ just like they did in the 60’s, although John has traded in his electric autoharp for a twelve string guitar. Several of the lads have stayed active playing music, others perhaps not so much. But everyone is getting their chops back for this once in a lifetime moment.

Be a part of history. It’s happening during the First Annual Shrimp and Seafood Festival on Flagler Avenue, which starts at 5 p.m.. The Pirates will be covering Thursday at Peanuts as usual from 5-7 p.m. and 8-11 p.m. But live on stage from 7-8 p.m. The Studs will relive the joy of making music together and make forty years disappear in a song.

The Studs @ Peanuts, 419 Flagler Avenue, New Smyrna Beach
Thursday, August 14, 2008, 7-8 p.m.


View slideshow of photos (with original audio) from this historic show!  Note: Click on the "One Night Only" sign to begin show.

The Studs - 1965 to 1968

John Hostetter and the boys rockin' the night away

View The Catawba Studs YouTube video

The following is an article that appeared in the UNC-Charlotte newspaper in February 1966.

Hostetter, Studs Mesmerize Students

    The Studs, a rather new combo on the rock 'n roll scene, will entertain students here this Friday night, February 24, in the Union cafeteria.  Student admission is free.
    John Hostetter, the group's lead singer, is a junior here.  He plays guitar, harmonica, autoharp, melodica, tambourine, and maracas.
    Other members of the four-man group include Skip Henry on lead guitar and vocals, Jeff Manz on bass guitar and vocals, and Robert Hudson on percussion and vocals.  Both Henry and Manz are students at Catawba College while Hudson attends Davidson County Community College.
    "The present members of the group, having been together for approximately one year, we are quite tight," said Hostetter.  "We know what each of us is thinking on stage.  Unfortunately, no one else know what we are thinking or if we are thinking at all."
    Describing the type of performance for which students are in store Hostetter said, "Orpheus' feat of charming the rocks from the fields is overshadowed as the audience is mesmerized by the inexplicable sights and sounds of the Studs."
    Audiences mesmerized by the Studs in the past have included those attending the Catawba College Junior Class talent show.  The combo captured third place in that event in 1965 and a year later copped first place honors.
    "With a heavy reliance on the British sound," said Hostetter, "we are usually booked as a novelty act in the South.  Our repertoire is quite variable so that if a person stays for the whole dance, we will eventually play something he likes."


This band formed at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC in the mid-sixties for a campus talent show (which we won).  Later, we changed our name to The Minority when the manager of the Pavilion at Myrtle Beach, SC refused to book us under our original name. We performed on the "Campus Talent 1966" TV show where we met The Virginians who were, oddly enough, from the University of North Carolina.  With their help, we were able to 'open' for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels on several occasions.  The Virginian's lead singer was William Oliver Swofford who later recorded the hit single "Good Morning Starshine" under the name Oliver.

Read this article about The Studs from the Salisbury Post 11/13/65

John Hostetter - Lead Singer, Harmonica, Guitar, Melodica, Autoharp
Skip Henry - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Jeff Manz - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Robert Hudson - Drums, Vocals

Ken Kambis - Rhythm Guitar
Claude Darling - Piano
David Young - Vocals
Leon Burleson - Drums


Where Are They Now?

John Hostetter was a very successful actor.  He was in at least 10 movies and played the stage manager in the TV series, "Murphy Brown".  He has also been in numerous other television shows.  While living in Los Angeles, John was also in the the a cappella doo-wop group "The Mighty Echo's."  John retired from acting and moved with his wife Del Appleby to Florida.  He became a painter and formed the band "The Pirates"
Click here to visit John's webpage.
John passed away in September 2016.

Jeff Manz was a lawyer in Naples, FL for many years and is now in real estate.

Skip Henry is retired and lives in Wingate, NC.  He also plays guitar and mandolin in a Gospel bluegrass band.

Robert Hudson is retired and plays with 2 bands in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Visit his website.

Ken Kambis has retired from teaching at William & Mary and lives in Williamsburg, VA.

David Young lives in Southern Pines, NC.

Leon Burleson lives in Charlotte, NC.

Claude Darling passed away several years ago.

    Go to the main page.