WVU faculty member, alum turning up volume in music business

Ross Justice serves as front-of-house engineer and production manager for Charles Wesley Godwin - and brings that touring experience back to his classroom in the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media Music Business and Industry program. (WVU Photo/David Malecki)

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If you've seen Charles Wesley Godwin's live show, you've heard Ross Justice.

As front-of-house engineer and production manager, the West Virginia University alum and faculty member is the conduit between the band's onstage energy and what the audience feels in the room.

"My job is to translate Charles' music - and the energy of the live show - to the audience," Justice said. "Then I handle the unglamorous stuff, too, like the logistics that make the show possible."

Justice's path into the music industry runs straight through WVU.

Ross Justice, WVU alumni and Music Business and Industry program instructor (WVU Photo)

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He teaches in the WVU College of Creative Arts and MediaSchool of MusicMusic Business and Industry program, where he brings nearly two decades of industry experience into the classroom.

He's also came through the program himself. He earned his master's degree in Music Business and Industry with a return to college that, he said, reset his confidence and sharpened his skills.

"WVU connected the dots for me," Justice said. "There wasn't a music business program when I first enrolled years ago. Finishing my undergraduate degree through the Regents program and then completing my master's degree made the industry feel accessible - like something you can actually do, not just dream about."

Justice (left) is a WVU alum and faculty member who brings real-world touring experience into the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media Music Business and Industry program. (WVU Photo/Matt Sunday)

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It's the same message he brings to his students in the classroom now. He tells them to network relentlessly, show up prepared, be selfish in your motives, but not in your actions, and seize opportunities without sidelining others.

The University connection is personal, too.

Justice grew up in Morgantown in a family steeped in WVU, with parents who worked at and graduated from the University. He started guitar lessons at the Canady Creative Arts Center before kindergarten, later switching to percussion and playing through adulthood.

He and Godwin played in the band Union Sound Treaty together from 2014-2018 and, more recently, stepped back into the same circle when Godwin called Justice to help at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.

Justice's career path runs through WVU - from student to mentor - showing students how to turn opportunity into a profession. (WVU Photo/David Malecki)

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What started as a short run kept growing - a few shows, then festivals - until it became full-time by summer 2024. Once the train left the station, he said, "I thought, 'Well this is a cool job.'"

Justice's dual life - road and classroom - clicked into place when he realized sound engineering is an instrument, too. He treats the console like musicians treat instruments. WVU students see the same discipline in class that crews see at load-in - prep, professionalism and the steady calm of a production manager who knows the show will go on.

In April 2025, the College of Creative Arts and Media recognized that impact, naming Justice the recipient of its Adjunct Faculty Award of Excellence - formal acknowledgment of an educator who turns touring miles into teachable moments.

In April 2025, the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media recognized Justice with its Adjunct Faculty Award of Excellence for his hands-on work with students in the Music Business and Industry program. (WVU Photo/Brian Persinger)

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Life on the bus feels like home because, in many ways, it is. Justice describes the crew as family - literally and figuratively. On a recent run, four of the 12 people on the bus had WVU ties, with extended family stepping in around the edges. The Mountaineer mentality - do what's right, take care of people, give your all - sets the tone.

"We kind of live in that underdog mindset," he said. "We're going to show the world what we're capable of."

He also laughs about the "tour life" stereotype.

"This camp runs on coffee, early mornings and outworking everyone in the building."

Home is also, simply, home. Justice still cheers wins against Pitt, still loves lifting off from - and landing back at - the Morgantown airport, and still feels that quiet exhale when U.S. 19 gives way to the hills.

Justice regularly works with students during recording sessions in the Mon Hills recording studio and is able to expand their experiential learning with his real world knowledge. (WVU Photo/David Malecki)

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"Being all over the world, there's nothing like coming back here," he says. "This is the place for me."

As for what's next, Justice sees the band's trajectory a lot like Mountaineer sports - earn it. Technology and distribution have flattened the map, he said.

"You don't have to live in a major market to build a major career," he said. "The industry rewards people who show up, do the work well and keep a great attitude - habits you can learn in Morgantown as surely as in Nashville or New York."

Back at WVU, Justice keeps translating those miles into mentorship - an instructor who teaches exactly what he does and does exactly what he teaches.

-WVU-