Dr. Steve Sudduth, University of the Cumberlands’ (UC) Director of Bands, covered the walls of his office with memorabilia from concerts and photos of his family. Strewn across the floor are brass instruments resting on their horns while mouthpieces for trombones and baritones line the bookshelf below a collection of concert CDs. Dr. Sudduth’s history and experiences surround him every day when he comes to work, a place where he has found part of his identity as a person and as a college band director.
In his nineteenth year as a college band director, Sudduth has traveled the United States for his profession, spending three years at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina, seven years at Dickinson State University in North Dakota, two years at University of South Dakota and is now in his seventh year at UC. Sudduth said it is the nature of his job to travel because he is only qualified for one job, a college band director.
“It’s nice having my son in band, it’s nice having my wife work with the band and my other two kids are in band in the high school and middle school [Whitley County],” Dr. Sudduth said. “It is truly a great place to work when your family can be involved in your work. Coming here to the Cumberlands was definitely the right choice.”
At Pfeiffer University, Sudduth had his start as a director of a college band, but then he was offered the job at Dickinson State University. During his time at Dickinson, Sudduth created their marching band from scratch and it was the only band in the entire conference because having a marching band was nearly impossible with the climate’s impact on the area. Sudduth moved up to University of South Dakota to take the position of director of bands, but it wasn’t the step up he perceived it to be.
“I work at colleges that I perceive to be bigger and better,” Dr. Sudduth said. “I ended up at the University of South Dakota and the work environment there was very strangled; it just felt like I was working in a morgue.”
Because of his unhappiness at the University of South Dakota, Sudduth started applying for a new job, but he elected to only apply to private institutions after only working at state schools. When the decision came down between UC and another college, Sudduth said he felt like UC was the better choice because of how the faculty and students wanted to be there and enjoyed what they do. As for taking a step up, Sudduth said he believes UC is a step up because of the work environment UC has rather than the physical size or popularity of the school. Sudduth credited his happiness at UC to his students’ desire to learn and his co-workers’ desire to teach.
“Coming here, I found a wonderful working relationship with the faculty,” Dr. Sudduth said. “It wasn’t always like that in other places [colleges]. Other places felt like a crosstown, but everyone here feels like your neighbor.”
As the director of UC’s band programs, he is involved in each band on campus and has to make sure everyone is doing their job. He acts as the audience for marching band during their practices, in which he has group leaders from each section of the band conducting the field. However, he takes a different approach when conducting concert band and the university band.
“Each band is like a different person with its own personality,” Dr. Sudduth said.” “I have to pick up a different role with each band since they all serve a different purpose.”
When he arrived at UC, Sudduth realized the band was disarrayed. It was in shambles because the program went through several directors in the matter of a few years. Sudduth changed that by providing stability and by creating the SUDDZ crew, which is the group of student leaders who lead warm ups in their sections and advise Sudduth in music choices. Maegan Cope, a sophomore SUDDZ crewmember, is one of the many students Dr. Sudduth has given a student leadership position in the marching band.
“He always wants us involved in making decisions to insure the season is better and more fun for the entire band,” Cope said. “If we have an idea of something we think would be cool and effective, he will take the time to consider it.”
The organization has solidified the marching band over the years because of Sudduth’s idea of mixing the training for exhibitions, or marching competitions, with the practice of entertaining the crowd at a UC football games. Sudduth does a hybrid because he has to train his music majors to be competitive. During his regular marching band practice, they’ll march and do things that they would need to know at a competition, but at the same time, he makes sure the band can meet the entertainment expectations a football crowd would have.
As for concert band, Sudduth noticed a drop in participation between marching band and concert band, which led to the splitting of concert band into the symphonic band and the university band. Symphonic band focuses on more difficult pieces and it requires longer hours of practice and dedication from students. This dedication conflicted with non-music major band students who just wanted an outlet for their craft, which is why university band was created and has been successful.
Even though Sudduth has made a lasting impact on UC’s band programs, he still struggles with common problems that affect him and the entire band. The equipment used for transporting larger instruments along the field for marching band is heavily used and worn down to a point that they need to be replaced; however, Sudduth said money is a large issue and he cannot replace everything. He often resorts to repairing the equipment himself to save money for something he can’t do himself.
“I learned a long time ago to take what you got and work with it,” Sudduth said about overcoming the struggles. “Through that experience, I became a pretty good mechanic. Now, if I could just learn how to weld.”
On top of running UC’s band programs, he participates in community bands, both directing and playing the trombone. He participates in the London Jazz Orchestra; Jazz in the ‘Burg, which is a local, once a month jazz group that plays at the Whitley County Fine Arts Extension Center in Williamsburg, Ky.; and directs the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass band, a professional concert band based in Crossville, Tenn.
“Williamsburg doesn’t have a jazz group, so we humorously put one together that meets once a month and we sell root beer and snacks because if you’re in a jazz club, you got to have drinks and snacks to sell or else it’s not a jazz club,” Dr. Sudduth said about Jazz in the ‘Burg. “It’s another environment we have to try to provide jazz, band, music and culture here in Whitley County.”
Sudduth has made an impressive career as a college band director for himself, but he credits a motto he stands by, in which is typed on a piece of paper to serve as a reminder, “Just because it failed in the past doesn’t mean it can’t succeed in the future.”
Amanda Kelly 