Music + Culture

from Riverfront Times, March 4, 2020

by Riverfront Times

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Grown Folks Music

Drummer Grover Stewart Jr. steps out from behind the kit to sing on new electro-soul singles

Written by CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

Grover Stewart Jr. rolls into a south-city coffee shop a little later than expected on a Friday afternoon, all smiles and apologies. An in-demand drummer around town, Stewart’s day job kept him a little later than usual; since he works in his company’s human resources department, Stewart is often tasked with quelling the interpersonal squabbles and institutional fumbles that can plague the workplace.

0any ninetofiYe types haYe a dim view of HR — all those rules and trainings and memos! — but Stewart, who transitioned six years ago from finance to human resources, thrives in the role; he’s even back in school part time to burnish his credentials.

“I’m a people person,” he explains. “In HR, besides learning the policies, procedures, acts and laws, you gotta love people, because in human resources, you are a servant. I genuinely give a damn about people.”

Stewart carries that energy from his day job to his many gigs around town, where he provides the rhythmic pulse for the Brothers Lazaroff, the Mo E All-Stars, Press Play and more. And in music, where egos get bruised easily, 6tewart finds that he is oftentimes both the beat-keeper and the cheerleader from behind the Nit. Ȋ&onȵict happens in bands friction happens in bands,” Stewart says. “We all have not-so-great days — it happens. How do we coach each other along and inspire each other?

“Those transferable skills translate to both worlds,” he says of his HR background. “Being the drummer, you’re the driving force, and Veteran drummer Grover Stewart Jr. is trying something new — singing. | PHILIP HAMER

everyone is looking to you.”

Stewart credits his positive, peace-keeping attitude as well as his omnivorous musical taste to his upbringing in Kirkwood, where he was the youngest in a household of ten kids.

“My mom set the foundation,” Stewart says. “She was a classically trained pianist, but she was also a supreme vocalist. In my household it was music all day, every day.” Being the baby of family, with nine older siblings, Grover acted as a sponge and soaked it all up: gospel and big band swing from his mother, British pop and prog from an older sister and an education in KSHE Klassics — Led Zeppelin, Journey, Eddie Money — from his older brother.

His mother was the music director at church, so a young Grover gritted his teeth through piano lessons with his mom. When his older brother abandoned his drum kit to take up the organ, Stewart slid onto the stool and never left. “It was over with from there,” he laughs.

“As a kid, I’d spend countless hours at Kirkwood library, listening to records, taking them home and practicing them,” he recalls. “That’s how I discovered Steely Dan, discovered Toto. ‘Man, I can learn a lot from this!’ But trying to play like Jeff Porcoro? Forget it.”

But as accomplished as Stewart is behind the kit, in the last year he has begun releasing electrosoul singles under his own name, featuring his lead vocals and compositions.

“I vocalize what I hear in my head, and I’ll sing it out onto a vocal recorder on my phone,” Stewart says of his process. He relies on his once-hated piano lessons to transfer some of his instrumentation to the keyboard, but often he relies on a coterie of friends he’s made in 25 years of playing around town to ȵesh out the songs.

+is first two songs were produced by Andrew Stephen, whose jazz chops and house-music Nnowhow were a perfect fit for collaboration with Stewart.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Andrew,” Stewart says. “He’s much younger than us, but he’s got a wealth of knowledge.”

Stewart has been releasing one song every few months, posting them on his Bandcamp page as soon as they’re ready. Ȋ7he first song I’ve released is ‘I’ve Grown,’ and it basically speaks for itself,” he says. “I’ve grown, I’ve matured and developed through my life’s situations and experiences. This is what allowed me to develop into the person that I am today.”

Stewart says that plenty of people were surprised that the well-regarded drummer had been moonlighting as a singer, but many of his former bandmates were hip to his talents and encouraged him to step to the front of the stage.

“I was playing in Ralph Butler’s band, and I was 25 years old,” Stewart says of the long-running band leader. “Ralph would hear me sing and say, ‘You’ve gotta sing in my band.’ And I said, ‘No, I just wanna play drums.’ Ralph was a mentor and big brother to me, and he said, ‘You gotta break your fear, man.’”

Encouragement from his bandmates helped push Stewart toward the microphone. “All these people around me were saying, ‘You’ve got a voice: Use it,’” Stewart recalls. “Last year I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna break the fear. I’m gonna release this; I don’t care what anyone thinks, I’m just gonna go for it.’”

Stewart can still be found behind the drum kit more often than not, but he has no plans of stopping this new musical outlet.

“Once you start doing something, it becomes really addictive,” he says. n

More Than Enough

From NYC to STL to the Kranzberg Artists in Residence program, Be.Be is a force

Written by YMANI WINCE

AfiYeinch screen is not the most ideal method by which to enjoy a performance by St. Louis singer-songwriter Be.Be, but when she’s off making a name for herself in New York and you’re home in St. Louis, it’ll have to do.

Brianna Elise “Be.Be” Brown had been posting for more than a month about a February performance at the legendary SOB’s music venue in NYC. If social media is to be believed, she spent the day of the event hanging out with friends, taking picturesque photos with nostalgic filters and generally enjoying all that New York City has to offer.

But when it came time for her performance, Be.Be brought the house down. Dressed in a white off-shoulder top and matching bellbottom pants, she took to the venue’s small stage to deliver a performance that was utterly captivating, even through a tiny phone screen. And to think, this was the career that might not have happened.

Born in New York but raised in St. Louis, Brown was a child who always knew she could sing. She loved performing miniature talent shows for herself at her own birthday parties and for anyone who was around. Once she expressed a desire to be a singer, Brown’s mother placed her into piano lessons.

“I started taking piano lessons when I was eight,” she says. “I was always doing the music stuff in school. I found out about my high school, Central Visual Performing Arts, through my piano teacher.” Brown’s path to music has been a series of highs and lows, with the lows ultimately leading her in the direction that would bring future success. When it was time to go to college, for example, she auditioned at several schools for musical theater tracks, only to be denied each one. But at Webster University, Brown was given Be.Be used to sneak into choir classes at school just to get a chance to sing. | JESSICA J. PAGE

a scholarship to attend and study Ma]]. ,t was a fit that proYed that when one door doesn’t open, it’s best to keep knocking.

And that’s been the theme of Brown’s musical career. Her mother initially didn’t want her to be just a singer — hence the piano lessons. But Brown found herself sneaking into choir classes and joining chorus groups. It’s not quite the storyline of Lauryn Hill’s character Rita in Sister Act II, but in any case, Brown found a way to get her voice heard. And now, even Mom has come around.

“My mom is my biggest supporter,” Brown says with a big smile. “All of that turned around in high school when she came to a concert and saw me singing in the choir.” After that, Brown says, her mother began managing her budding career, even taking free music management courses — proving she was all in.

By the time Brown graduated high school, she’d gained the connections she needed to release her first proMect, which led to her creating a band and further developing her sound. Be.Be’s music has all the inȵuences of Ma]], funN, soul and R&B. She has a powerful voice that is equal parts bodacious and sugary sweet. It’s a

“ What I’m doing is this whole dream I’ve followed since I was a kid. Holding on to that and following through with that is very important to me.”

sound that’s reminiscent of Chrisette Michelle’s earlier years, but it’s also a style that’s all her own.

Brown says being featured on a track with local favorite KVtheWriter was the turning point that convinced her to put out a proper project.

“I started pulling together old songs that I knew I wanted to record that I hadn’t put out yet,” she says. “The songs followed me through a season of finding myself in and out of a relationship.” The result is a six-track EP titled Is That Alright? It’s funky. It’s soulful. It’s current, with just enough nostalgia, primarily delivered through the cover art and Brown’s sense of style and aesthetic. Accompanying the project is a gorgeous music video for the single “I Wantcha.” It features a stunning Be.Be at the roller rink clad in warm hues, with friends in similarly retro clothing — big hair, disco vibes and fringe all accounted for.

After garnering buzz in the city for her work with artists including TreG and TLT Productions, along with performances at weddings and teaching music to young students, Brown had a question.

“At the beginning of 2019, I put a post on Facebook that said, ‘I’m interested in doing a show at the Dark Room. How would one do that?’” she says.

The post received dozens of responses, and Chris Hansen, executive director at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, was tagged in the post by a commenter. He was interested in Brown’s music and moved forward with getting her booked for a show. When it came time for a new class of applicants for the Kranzberg Foundation’s Music Artists in Residence program, Brown applied and got in. Through the successes and failures, Brown says it’s most important for her to hold on to the dreams she had as a child.

“My whole point in doing what I’m doing is this whole dream I’ve followed since I was a kid,” she says. “Holding on to that and following through with that is very important to me. Don’t let any kind of perception or what anyone else thinks stray you away from that. If you feel it, do it and dig in.”

Fighting for her chance to sing was a struggle that keeps Brown’s dreams alive. It’s what continues to fuel her passion as a vocalist and pianist, and it’s what keeps her motivated. She wants to remember the girl who snuck into choir classes against others’ advice.

“I want to shout out my dad,” Brown says with a grin. “He’s in New York, and has always been instrumental, and sent love from however far.”

As she begins to travel and take her music beyond St. Louis, reaching the masses is something Brown doesn’t take for granted. She’s fascinated with connecting with the audience at her shows. It’s a far cry from being shut out from collegiate programs that wouldn’t allow students to perform outside of the university.

Most of all, Be.Be’s journey proves that if you want something, all you have to do is ask. n

MAR 7