But at least three or four nights a month, he sheds his professorial persona, and becomes the leader of the Randy Hughes Band, totally immersed in playing "Music for the Fun of It." That is the motto of the group that plays regularly at the May Street Market and at Shucker's Oyster Bar in Southern Pines.

The band features the acoustic guitar and vocals of its leader. Randy Hughes spent 18 years as a full-time entertainer on the East Coast music scene before moving to the Sandhills in 1990. Performing with various groups throughout his career, he opened shows for such bands as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Pure Prairie League, The Outlaws, and for performers like John Sebastian and Liv Taylor in locations ranging from Boston to Atlanta.

Hughes is a native of State College, Pa., the home of Pennsylvania State University, where his father taught at the university.

"That's where I went to school," says Hughes.

He keeps his ties to State College alive by returning every summer to play in a Penn State music festival. "The members of the band that I played with 20 years ago all get together, and with a couple of days of rehearsal, we turn back the clock and bring down the house," he says.

Hughes had visited Southern Pines in 1974, when his touring band, Morning Star, played at the old Dockside. However, his move to Moore County, and his transformation to teacher, resulted from his pursuit of the love of his life. He married her and settled down, for awhile leaving the music business behind. Then, an old friend moved to town and opened The Picnic Basket on New Hampshire Avenue, and encouraged him to start playing again.

A Greek restaurant now occupies the space, but for three years, the Picnic Basket was the scene of lively Friday night jam sessions, launching Hughes' local musical career. It was also the place where bassist Mark Hawkins and percussionist Raul Recio joined the band.

"With close to a combined 100 years of musical experience, the five members of the band have played more tunes than can be heard on the average radio station," says Hughes.

Hawkins, best known as the co-owner of Hawkins and Harkness Jewelers in Southern Pines, rivals Hughes in longevity in the music business. As a teenager, Hawkins first gained success as a musician in California.

Recio, a New Yorker and veteran of the 82nd Airborne, stayed in the area after his military service, and plays with a Fayetteville-based group as well as with the Randy Hughes Band.

Pinehurst merchant Tom Konold adds instrumental depth on mandolin, and local attorney Mike Newman balances out the quintet on Martin guitar.

"Recently we changed our musical style to an Americana acoustic sound with more emphasis on vocal harmonies," says Hughes. "We used to play a lot more rock 'n' roll when the band had an electric guitar player. In order to give him the backup he needed, we had been concentrating on a technique that was a bit more boisterous. Our fans say our new direction is great; they can hear their own conversations. People like to rock, but at the same time they enjoy hearing a more laid-back sound, and we all get a chance to do more vocals."

The band always opens with one of two John Prine songs that are among Hughes' longtime favorites -- "Spanish Pipe Dream" or "Paradise."

Playing an eclectic mix of popular music from the 1960s and 1970s, the band performs tunes like the folk rock classics of James Taylor and Jim Croce, Motown standards of the Temptations, some of the Beatles' best-known songs, and occasionally surprise their audiences with a Calypso or Cajun tune, a little Delta blues, or even an old jazz number.

Although Hughes makes up a pre-arranged song list, he is always attuned to what the crowd wants -- what kind of mood they are in.

Opening it up for requests is another method he uses to please the audience. His standard line, which always brings a laugh, is, "We take requests, although we probably don't know the song. However, I'll put it on the list and we'll learn it some day."

Good songs, with good melodies and good harmony structure -- that's the trademark of the Randy Hughes Band.

According to Hughes, at the May Street Market or at Shucker's, the atmosphere is definitely upbeat. "People eat, drink, sing along, hoot and holler and dance a little, if they can find the space," he says. "Our job as musicians is to help people come together and promote new friendships or renew old ones. If we can look out around the room and see the crowd having as much fun listening as we are in playing, then it is all worthwhile."

Mary Elle Hunter is a Pinehurst freelance writer. She may be reached at mehunter10@hotmail.com