Kaleb Stewart

Kaleb Stewart (June 9, 1975 – March 25, 2021) was an American musician, vocalist, songwriter and former skateboarder.

Originally from Talkeetna, Alaska, he moved around in his childhood before settling in Tampa, Florida as a teenager, and later made his home in Gainesville, Florida.

Kaleb Stewart was born Caleb Benjamin Stewart in Talkeetna, Alaska on June 9, 1975, to Michael Leon Stewart and Mary E. (née Ferguson).

He had five siblings: older brothers Justin and Levi, younger brother Seth, and younger sisters Lydia and Essie.

He grew up in a religious environment, with his parents and grandparents working as missionaries.

As such, his family moved to various locations when he was a child, first to Hillsdale, Michigan in 1982, then to Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1990, and finally to Tampa, Florida in 1992.

Stewart was introduced to music by his maternal grandparents, Milton McNeil Ferguson and Elizabeth Anne Elliott, who lived in Hillsdale, Michigan and brought him to country gospel music concerts at their local religious venue, The Gospel Barn.

Stewart later noted the Bill Gaither Trio as the first band he remembered seeing live.

His father also listened to blues music and introduced him to Lead Belly; Stewart would later name his solo project Grey Goose, after the folk song made famous by Lead Belly.

While living in Hillsdale, Stewart and his siblings attended Lenawee Christian School in Adrian, Michigan.

In 1990, his family relocated to Cochabamba, Bolivia, as part of their missionary work, before returning to the United States and settling in Tampa, Florida in the fall of 1992.

Stewart and his younger brother Seth began skateboarding during high school and quickly became part of the local Tampa, Florida skateboarding scene after moving there in 1992.

Already in his senior year, Stewart attended Gaither High School in Tampa, graduating with the class of 1993.

While in high school, Stewart began spelling his first name with a "K" instead of a "C", as "Kaleb".

In a retrospective interview, Stewart singled out a Nirvana concert from November 28, 1993, at the Lakeland Civic Center, in Lakeland, Florida, as the best show he attended as a teenager and an influence on his starting to write music.

In early 1994, Stewart was noticed by a representative of New Deal skateboards and received a sponsorship.

He moved to Los Angeles, California (where his older brother Justin was based) and joined the company's professional skateboarding team, competing in local and international competitions.

Stewart traveled to the United Kingdom and Europe in July and August 1994, to compete in international skateboarding competitions, including the 13th edition of the Münster Monster Mastership World Cup 94 in Münster, Germany.

By the end of 1994, after suffering a knee injury and being disenchanted with the professional skateboarding society, Stewart returned to Tampa.

Back in Florida, Stewart formed his first band, taking up lead vocals in the Morrissey-influenced post-punk band The Sarx.

In 1996, Stewart formed a new punk rock band, Southpaw, which included drummer Greg Drudy, bass guitarist Paul Dryer and guitarist Chris von Spiegelfeld (with Stewart still as lead vocalist).

Stewart moved to Gainesville, Florida in 1997 to be closer to his girlfriend, whom he had been with since high school.

During this period, Stewart dedicated much time to his guitar and recording original material on a Tascam four track cassette recorder, often collaborating with friends.

In June 1997, he joined established punk rock summer band Sissy (formerly Tiger) as its new bass guitarist, replacing Jason Szrom.

The band then also included vocalist Jeff Kissinger, drummer and roommate Garry Gillooly and guitarists Dave Rohm and Brian Wysolmierski.

In November 1997, Stewart became Gainesville-based melodic hardcore band Hot Water Music's roadie and road manager, starting with a month-long tour of the East Coast and Midwest United States shared with Elliott and Beta Minus Mechanic.

He continued to tour with Hot Water Music and related side-projects for the next several years, whenever As Friends Rust's schedule allowed it.

Coincidentally, Hot Water Music's bass guitarist Jason Black had first been approached for the position in June 1997, and though he showed interest, he never got around to practicing with the band.

While in Gainesville, he notably played bass guitar and provided backing vocals in the melodic hardcore band As Friends Rust from 1998 to 2000, and in the hardcore punk band Bridgeburne R from 1999 to 2000 (both with lead vocalist Damien Moyal).

Stewart joined As Friends Rust as its bass guitarist and backing vocalist in March 1998, when lead vocalist Damien Moyal reformed the band with a new line-up in Gainesville, Florida (the band had previously existed from 1996 to 1997 and was originally based in Davie, Florida).

This included a two-week tour shared by The Blacktop Cadence and Jejune up the East Coast and Midwest United States in March 1998, and a nation-wide, two-month tour during which Hot Water Music was billed with Sick of It All, AFI and Indecision from October 6 to November 21, 1999.

Following his time in As Friends Rust, Stewart played guitar and provided backing vocals in the punk rock band The Sheryl Cro(w) Mags (later renamed Cro(w)s), with his best friend Chris Wollard (of Hot Water Music), which was sporadically active from 2000 to 2004, and sang in the acoustic folk duo Goodnight at the End of the Tunnel with Moyal in 2005.

He began performing solo material under his own name in 2000, but by November 2001, his project had taken up the moniker Grey Goose.

After recruiting several band members, including his brother Levi Stewart, Grey Goose evolved into a proper post-hardcore band.

Following Grey Goose's hiatus in 2005, Stewart returned to playing solo material under the short-lived project Bread Riot.

Stewart took part of As Friends Rust's reunion in 2008, and remained with the band until 2019.

Prior to joining As Friends Rust, Stewart had a short-lived professional skateboarding career, and sang in the post-punk band The Sarx and the punk rock band Southpaw (both based in Tampa), and played bass guitar in the Gainesville punk rock band Sissy.

Stewart resumed his solo career in 2015, altering between bookings under his own name and as Grey Goose.

By mid-2017, he had abandoned the Grey Goose moniker and steadily performed under his own name.

He prolifically recorded a series of solo albums and EPs over the next three years and promoted the releases with five European tours before passing away in 2021.