Culture
West Virginia Music Hall of Fame honors Daniel Johnston’s enduring legacy
By: Emily Votaw
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CHARLESTON, West Virginia (WOUB) – Before Daniel Johnston became an underground musical cult icon, he was a wildly creative youngster growing up in New Cumberland, WV—drawing superheroes and eyeballs, writing confessional songs on chord organ, and dreaming of epic artistic greatness in a world he didn’t quite understand—and that didn’t quite understand him.
This weekend, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame will posthumously induct Johnston into its 2025 class, honoring a native son whose tender songs found their way into the hearts of listeners around the globe and forever nudged the heart of popular music toward something true and profound.
For Don Goede—Johnston’s former tour manager, longtime friend, and collaborator—it’s not only a symbolic homecoming. It’s a personal chance to honor the man and the music that changed his life.
He recalls hearing Johnston for the first time: Yip/Jump Music flooding out of the cassette player in his Datsun B-210—a revelatory experience.
Goede wanted to learn everything about these songs and the man who made them. But instead of remaining a devoted listener from afar, his passion pulled him directly into Johnston’s chaotic, magnetic orbit. A few short years after discovering Johnston’s music, Goede seized the chance to give something back—to support the artist whose songs had reshaped his world.
Don Goede became one of Daniel Johnston’s closest companions—booking shows, managing the pandemonium of touring, and, just as importantly, being a trusted friend.
“My big job, my claim to fame, is that I was able to get him out all over the world to his fans in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Goede says. “And I was able to prove that we could go out on the road. It was sustainable. It was profitable.”
They spent “thousands of hours on the road together,” bonding over deep conversations about music, God, and the nature of evil. But some of Goede’s most cherished memories are much quieter: just “stopping to eat was so much fun,” not to mention shopping – Johnston loved shopping – whether for socks at Wal-Mart or for comic books.
“We were part friends, part bandmates, part travel companions,” he says. “But I was also the guy who made sure we got to the gig, made sure he took his meds, made sure he didn’t blow all his money on comic books. He needed a buddy, but he also needed someone to toe the line.”
That line wasn’t always easy to walk.
Part of Goede’s caretaking involved managing Johnston’s intense and often chaotic inner world.
Diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia and exhibiting symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Johnston frequently struggled on a day-to-day basis. But rather than seeing these challenges solely as obstacles, Goede framed Johnston’s internal world differently.
He compares it to something powerful and unpredictable, like a “tornado or a dust devil”—not always destructive, but always present.
“Daniel had to deal with it all the time, and he was constantly expressing himself—through art, through music, through journaling, through sketching,” Goede says. “The whole time, I’m realizing: this dude, this incredible man whose music I already loved, needed all these creative outlets just to function.”
Although Goede recalls plenty of “intense moments,” he speaks with intense gratitude for having been part of Johnston’s journey.
“I can count on one hand the musicians who truly changed my life,” he says. “So to work with one of your favorite songwriters—to get into his head a little bit, to goof around and be silly, to have fun, and to get the work done—was a dream come true.”
“I can count on one hand the musicians who truly changed my life. So to work with one of your favorite songwriters—to get into his head a little bit, to goof around and be silly, to have fun, and to get the work done—was a dream come true.” – Don Goede on working with Daniel Johnston
Today, Goede remains a dedicated steward of Daniel Johnston’s legacy. He hosts Bloody Rainbow: A Podcast Dedicated to the Life of Artist and Musician Daniel Johnston —helps manage the Johnston estate and maintains close ties with fans, family, and longtime collaborators.
A recognized expert on Johnston’s life and work, Goede is also the co-author, alongside Tarssa Yazdani, of Hi, How Are You? The Life, Art, and Music of Daniel Johnston. In addition, he owns a substantial collection of Johnston’s original artwork, some of which he has curated for a special exhibition at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame: Blue Skies Will Haunt You From Now On: A Mini Retrospective of the Artwork of Daniel Johnston.
Everything Goede does is in service of honoring Johnston’s legacy—an artist whose raw emotional honesty resonated deeply with fans and fellow musicians, including Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, who will take part in this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony.
In addition to Johnston, members of the Hall of Fame’s 2025 class include The Valentinos/The Womack Brothers, Jeff Stevens, and Cameron LaVelle Mullins. Special guests include Ann Magnuson, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Cox (of Hendrix fame), Kathy Mattea, and Charlie McCoy.
Goede says Johnston’s induction offers an opportunity to celebrate the artist’s roots in the Mountain State.
“(His) friends and family in West Virginia were important, very supportive of him, and he loved his family,” Goede says. “They knew he was different, and (…) they knew that he had all of these challenges, and they did their best, but they just wanted him to have a steady job. They wanted him to go to church. They wanted him to go to school. No different than any parent might. They didn’t understand what we know now. But I look back on it personally, honestly, I think they did an amazing job.”
Though Johnston was born in California, he spent many years in West Virginia—surrounded by comic books, cassette tapes, art supplies, a loving (if sometimes concerned) family, and a tight-knit religious community. While Austin, TX, would later embrace him as a local legend, Goede says Johnston never stopped identifying with the hills and hollers of his youth.
“I get that he had his own adventures, without his family and friends, that he had to go live,” Goede says. “But don’t forget West Virginia. Don’t forget his roots.”
The 10th West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Induction happens Saturday. Find more information on the Hall of Fame’s website.