by Cammie Jones February 2, 2023

The Show Must Go On. Although neither Joe nor Emily Stevenson of Gluestick Music said this out loud, their actions said it all. Rock Fore Dough’s annual concert that is held the Tuesday of Masters Week every year (except for Covid), was again in jeopardy due to Mother Nature in 2022. As they watched the weather days before the event and were in direct communication with the Columbia County EMA, pulling off this outdoor event at the Columbia County Amphitheater was definitely looking grim. 

Since 2007, Gluestick Music has been creating unique events and bringing live music to the Augusta community. At Gluestick’s inception, the thought was to just bring music to Augusta. The company has since evolved into creating unique events, focusing on music-related fundraising. They’ve been pretty successful too, helping to raise millions of dollars over the years for worthwhile causes. “Being able to take music and use it to create and build something that raises money for good causes is rewarding and something not a lot of people do,” says Emily. “The artist wins, the community wins, and the organization wins.”

When asked about the 2022 Rock Fore Dough, both Joe and Emily feed off one another in their explanation of events. They do not ever take credit saying the show happened solely because of their hard work and dedication. They credit relationships with the artists and all the forces involved from the ticket company, sponsors, to the venue operators all working together to make it happen. As for canceling the event due to bad weather, Joe simply says that was not an option. “Everything was built out and ready to go,” he adds. They’ve dealt with questionable weather before. In fact, it plainly says, “Rain or Shine,” on all promotional materials. The difference with this year is that the forecast was not moving. The behind-the-scenes phone calls, emails and decisions that occurred the day before allowed Emily to confidently tell the artists, “We are having the show, get in your buses, and load in is still in the morning as usual.” 

The show did go on but was a scaled-down version of the usual outdoor festival. Joe and Emily decided to move the show inside to the Columbia County Performing Arts Center. Since less attendees could fill the center, the decision was made that all sponsors and VIPs would attend as well as anyone who bought a “pit pass” and anyone who purchased a regular admission ticket the day the tickets went on sale. “We were able to cancel and refund a certain amount of tickets and determine how many seats we had and who could come in,” says Emily. There was a lot of time spent on this —Joe and Emily said about as much time as it took to figure out the new venue and work out the show’s details. 

They sent emails to everyone who purchased a ticket, made calls and explained what happened. For the most part, the news was well received without a lot of complaining or backlash. The communication was comprehensive with the same message coming from the ticket company, Gluestick and social media. Their social media person had her thumb on any comments posted on social media and responded to every single one almost immediately. Those who had their tickets refunded were given the option to instead donate the cost of their ticket to First Tee, and many did. 

Joe and Emily say they were able to stay calm during this craziness because of the experience they have doing this event (the 19th annual show will be in April 2023) and the relationships they have formed with the various companies and sponsors throughout the years. “If we didn’t have that experience and if we didn’t have the relationships with the band, production companies and everyone involved, it probably would have been a different story,” says Joe. 

Rock Fore Dough has raised $1.7 million for First Tee of Augusta over the years and has done a great job of also creating awareness for the program. Joe and Emily are proud to be part of such wonderful events, and the future of the company is looking bright. In addition to planning the 2023 Rock Fore Dough, they are also revamping the 12 Bands of Christmas and doing consulting work in Augusta and all over the country. Looking forward to see what’s in store for  Gluestick Music in 2023!