Archive: November, 2000

Acoustic Spotlight Archives
Stew Levett
by Phyllis Stark

Stew Levett is the person you would want on your team if you were playing Acoustic Music Trivial Pursuit. He is a virtual walking encyclopedia on the subject. He can tell you just about anything you’d care to know from the names of session musicians and their recording history to which artists have recorded on which labels and when. How did he come by all of this knowledge? Well, Stew has a very long-standing interest in acoustic music, an extraordinary ability to recall facts and he puts in the time to research the questions. These qualities are evident in “Stew’s Reviews,” a regular feature of The Black Rose [Newsletter & Website]. If you are like I am, you look forward to his reviews for their educational value as well as for the recommendations he makes. Stew has also launched a series of interviews with renowned artists. The first one was with Bob Ickes, world-class Dobro player for Blue Highway. Stew’s columns lend a touch of class to our humble publication, don’t you think?

Stew Levett (photo by Phyllis Stark)

In the fledgling days of the Black Rose Acoustic Society (BRAS) Stew told Charlie Hall, “Ya know, you should contact some of the acoustic labels and offer to do reviews for the newsletter.” Charlie jumped on the idea and said, “Great idea, Stew! If you’re up to the task, go for it!” That’s how “Stew’s Reviews” were born. “It took a little work to get it going, making contacts and sending newsletter samples” but, after a few months, tapes and CDs began to arrive from the record companies. Stew now reviews submissions from about five labels. “Only once did it get a bit sticky.” A Florida-based performer sent Stew a CD released by a major label and then phoned to ask how he liked it. Fortunately Stew was not at home and the artist did not call again. Stew happened not to like the CD and said as much in the review. However, Stew says “I always try to point out as many good qualities about the album as I can and remind the reader that this is only my opinion.”

Born in Chicago, Stew moved to Denver with his family at age three. His dad was a taxi driver and his mother a homemaker. He has five siblings. His parents played piano in their youth but there were no instruments in the home while he was growing up. However, the family sang together at times and listened to a lot of folk music. Stew plays Dobro and guitar. He took up guitar during the Beatles era in his early teens and Dobro in his early 20s. In Jr. and Sr. high school he played in a Peter, Paul and Mary-style band. He loved the Beatles, the Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte. Through the music of the early Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel, “the excitement of fingerstyle guitar grabbed me—something other than banging out ‘Louie Louie’ chords in a rock band. Later, I first heard the group Buffalo Springfield use a Dobro and fell in love with the sound. While I was trying to find other music that used the Dobro, I became interested in Bluegrass.” Stew has performed solo and in groups several times on the BRAS open stage. We’ll see him there again, for sure. “BRAS does a great service to both professional and amateur musicians. It has the best acoustic-friendly audience I’ve ever seen. There’s no judgment on a performer’s abilities and I’ve seen many musicians really blossom as a result.”

Stew earned a double major in theatre/speech communication and music from Adams State College in Alamosa. Work-study scholarships and many odd jobs such as paperboy, janitor, bus boy and deejay for the campus radio station got him through. He completed student teaching in 1975 at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, liked it here and stayed. No jobs were available in his field after graduation so he took a position in electronics. Stew now works at iLogistix as a customer team manager building accessory kits for electronics manufacturers. Stew met his wife, Leta, at a friend’s party. She was dating his friend’s brother at the time. Their twenty-one-year-old son, Aaron, works in food preparation at Jose Muldoon’s. He is into the music of his generation. Stew and Leta recently celebrated 25 years of marriage. They have a wonderful collection of native American art that they began purchasing on their honeymoon and Stew has his own extensive collection of dolls. Yep, you heard right. Dolls! They are beautiful wooden hand-painted nesting dolls from all parts of the globe. Stew and Leta own a Universal Kempo Karate School franchise where he teaches two evenings a week. Stew is a fifth degree black belt. He has about 40 students ranging in age from 3 to 69 and he continues to study karate himself.

Stew credits Leta with getting him back into playing Dobro after about a 20-year hiatus. A few years ago she gave him a new one for Father’s Day. Stew began to search for the “new” Dobro players to listen to and learn from. “Charlie Hall gave me Tim O’Brien’s Odd Man In CD and Jerry Douglas’ playing just knocked me out!” Stew continues to work on Dobro and on improving his fingerstyle skills. Stew and Leta are now regulars at Winfield. Once they finally went, they fell in love with the place. “Words can’t describe it. After our first time there we were sold. You can find any style of acoustic music there—jazz, blues, Celtic, old-time, country—all acoustic music. It is an incredible experience.” Stew’s dream would be to own a place like the Folklore Center. He envies people who get to build and repair instruments.

Talking with Stew, you quickly discover his genuine love of acoustic music and his excitement about the possibilities of learning more. I can say one thing. It sure is great to have Stew on the BRAS team!

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