STEWART
LEWIS
Singer
Songwriter and Novelist
by Diane Anderson-Minshall
When Stewart Lewis is crooning “I
Will Take You For a Ride” in your ear, it’s
hard not to swoon a little bit. Even if you’re
a lesbian. Lewis, the openly gay singer, songwriter,
and novelist, probably has a built-in dyke audience
already. His mix of soulful folk and pop rock have garnered
him the opportunity to open for a bevy of famous female
artists like Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin,
Paula Cole, and Roseanne Cash. At the same time, Lewis’
songs have become hits on television, showing up on
TV series as diverse as Ghost Whisperer, The Biggest
Loser, and everyone’s favorite MTV hit, Laguna
Beach. Recently, Stewart became the first artist signed
to the here! TV Network and Regent Entertainment’s
new music venture, here! Tunes. “I’m so excited
about this opportunity to partner with a forward-thinking
organization that allows me to do what I do best—make
music!”
His first CD under the new label, In
Formation, was released in May. He didn’t have
much time to celebrate though, because in July he released
his second novel, Relative Stranger, a follow-up to
his semi-autobiographic debut about a closeted rock
star called Rock Starlet.
How this sexy dad (daughter Rowen is
two years old) manages to juggle a relationship, parenting,
and multiple careers, and still perform in places as
far away as Hong Kong, London, New Zealand, and South
Africa, is anybody’s guess.
You grew up in a pretty musical family.
Yeah, my parents were in a bluegrass band and we
had sort of a Partridge Family kind of life. My earliest
memories are my parents singing four-part harmony in
the living room with the Labradors sleeping by the fire.
So being a musician and being musical was not a question
of whether or not I would be—it was in my blood.
I started playing drums when I was four and then picked
up a guitar at 10 or 12, and just kind of went from
there. My parents would have these big outdoor parties,
and it was like Woodstock, and all these bands would
play. It was kind of a crazy environment to grow up
in, but it was fun.
You’ve been on Guiding Light,
released two albums, and written your first novel. Is
your creativity limitless or are you still finding yourself?
I’m still finding myself. It’s funny
you say that because my second novel started out as
a screenplay, and I now want to make a movie. So it’s
still evolving. There are some people that can only
work in one medium and one thing, but for me, if I’m
immersed in making a record, I think I’ll want
to change and work on writing. I think the more I can
expand my creativity, the better each is going to be.
Some people would say, “Oh no, that’s not
true, you should focus on one thing,” but that’s
not how I work. I’m hoping now that I’m signed
to a film company I’ll be able to make a movie
as well, which would be a platform for my music, which
would be great.
Your first novel, Rock Starlet, is
semi-autobiographical. Just how thinly-veiled was it?
About half of the story is true. I had a management
deal in LA with some pretty big, high industry people
and they were gay (it was a gay couple), which is ironic
because they wanted me to be straight when I went to
these meetings or when I went to sing for these different
label heads. I kind of understood where they were coming
from. That was six years ago or something. Now, I think
it’s a little different. In some ways being gay
is cool now. I think even more, today’s young people
don’t really care if you’re gay or straight.
I think it’s just about whether or not they like
your music. So it was about half autobiographical. In
the book the character is a total rock star that travels
around the world. I have traveled around the world,
but I was never playing stadiums. I’ve had moments
opening up for [larger acts] for 10,000 people, so I
had little glimpses of that. In the book I completely
blew it up and the character becomes this huge rock
star, which I never was.
Your songs have appeared on a number
of TV shows. Do you ever run across a rerun of Dawson’s
Creek or Party of Five and think, wow, that’s my
song, or is it just another day’s work at this
point?
No, no, I completely think, This is my song! I still
think that it’s kind of surreal. I mean, there
are people that get so many placements that it’s
nothing to them. But for me, even though there’s
been a handful of shows, I feel very grateful that that
happened. It’s an amazing feeling when I do see
it on the TV, [I’m] just like, Wow! Sometimes it’s
a very poignant scene or something, and it brings tears
to my eyes, because I’m just like, Oh my God, that’s
my song! I still feel that way.
 Your
music is featured pretty heavily in the new gay film
Shelter. How did that come about?
Brian Goldman had sent me this script because he
wanted me to write a song for it. I looked at the script,
and I saw John Markowitz, and I was like, Oh my God,
I know him. Cause he’s a friend of mine from Colorado
from years ago. So I called him up and talked to him
a little. It turned out the song that I wrote for it
was way too on-the-nose. He was interested in a little
more subtlty—so they ended up using this song,
“Time To Time,” that I had written with my
brother. In the movie it’s just sort of a little
clip, but in the trailer it’s used heavily and
it works really well because it’s kind of a rocker.
So, yeah, it was exciting to be a part of that.
Tell us why you chose here! Tunes.
The fact that they’re a film and TV company
is great because they can sort of use that as a platform
to get my music out there. I also want to be more involved
in filmmaking, whether it be making music or trying
to sell them the screenplay of my second book [laughs].
I think it’s really cool because it’s a great
company and they put out great films. Hopefully using
that medium of film and TV will help them take my music
to another level.
Continued
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