Stephen Fitch Hubert
Update - It has now been over three years since Steve's passing (now May 2008). Recently my wife and I visited with Susan Campbell, Steve's widow in Montana where she is happily living on a ranch with her horses. She is doing well and we got her to go skiing with us at Whitefish Mountain. We also visited with Steve's second wife Robyn in Sandpoint, Idaho who had also visited with Susan earlier this winter. One fact we all could agree was Steve's gift to us was to bring people together and that many of us would not have met or been brought together if not for Steve. This was perhaps his greatest gift. To this day, I still meet people who knew Steve For example - on Thursday night Ace the bass ie. Anton and I went to the Zoo Bar in D.C. and I met harmonica wizard Pierre Beauregard. So Steve's spirit is still with us. With sadness I wrote in 2005 that Stephen Fitch Hubert aka "Stevie Guitar Sparks," age 54 - entertainer, composer and friend, passed away on Thursday, January 20, 2005 at Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains, Montana. His wife Susan, his earth angel, was by his side as he quietly left this earthly plane of existence. God Bless you and keep you Steve.
Stevie was a Poet, Singer, Songwriter, Bandleader and former Troubadour from the Washington, D.C. area. He also lived and worked in Hollywood, Maui Hawaii, Vancouver and Banff Canada, Sandpoint Idaho, and Austin Texas.
Steve was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrigs disease in March 2002. His strong will to live and his wife's Susan's courageous caregiving kept him with us longer than we could have ever expected, and with very little time in the hospital.
Stevie was multi-talented, playing guitar, piano, bass, and drums and a great singer able to reach into a beautiful high falsetto when the song called for it. Born in Washington D.C.and growing up in Chevy Chase, MD, Sparks' was recognized early as having talent, and he was privately tutored by Dr. Wilfred Briggs, choirmaster for The Landon Boys School, Bethesda, Md., and All Saints Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase, Md. In the 1960s, Sparks played with popular local bands The Vagrants, The Resumes, and Stillroven in the DC metro area and in the “live music days” of Georgetown.
Stevie grew up in the DC area and was friend to many of the DC area finest musicians. Stevie had moved back to the DC area in 2000 after spending much of his career living and working as a musician in Maui and in Canada (especially the Canadian Rockies (British Columbia and Alberta) and also in Sandpoint, Idaho. The ALS first caused Stevie to lose strength in his arms and hands and his voice. After months of tests he was finally diagnosed in March 2002 with ALS with an estimated average of 18 months to live.
In July 2002 an All Star Aloha Benefit for Stevie was held at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA. At Stevie’s benefit to perform were an all star cast of friends: Bobby Radcliff (Ewan), Bruce Ewan, Steve Wolf, Robbie McGruder, Mac Walter, Tom Lepson and SOUL CRACKERS, Mark Wenner, Big Joe Maher, Mary Ann Redmond, Jon Carroll, Peter Bonta, Ronnie and Louie Newmyer, Brett Littlehales, Steve Jacobs, Chris Watling, Tom Wisner of Chestory fame, Joe Triplett & ROSSLYN MT. BOYS and many others. Some were reunited to play together again for the first time in over 20 years including Stevie’s early guitar teacher Eddy Becker who performed with Choo Choo Charlie and the Spitfires. Stevie called it the “party I always wanted to have”. As the neighbor to Bobby Radcliff, he gave blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff his first guitar lessons. Bobby credited Stevie at the State Theater benefit with providing him the inspiration to play guitar and pursue a musical career. Steve’s old friend Nils Lofgren was scheduled to be in rehearsals with the Boss but invited Stevie over a few weeks before the benefit to autograph one of Stevie’s guitars for the silent auction.
A classic Stevie anecdote from his younger days in the late 60’s: “Nils Lofgren called Stevie to drive him to New York to see "his friend" Jeff Beck at the Fillmore East. When they arrived Beck had canceled, and their trip seemed to be ending curbside. But Stevie noticed a guy with long white hair talking to someone at the box office and said "Hey Nils, I think that’s Johnny Winter." Nils leapt out of the car and the next thing he knew Stevie was driving Winter, Tommy Shannon and Uncle John Turner to their hotel at Central Park. They were the replacement act, sharing the bill with The Savoy Brown Blues Band, and Stevie and Nils were the guests of the bands. After the closing show, some suits from CBS records filed into the dressing room... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Benefits for Stevie were also held in Maui in 2003 and also in Sandpoint, Idaho (Steve Sparks’ NORTH WOODS REVUE) at the historic Panida (panhandle of Idaho) Theater whose stage had been graced by such legends as Will Rogers and Woodie Guthrie. I was fortunate to travel to Sandpoint with my wife Mary to perform for that Sandpoint last benefit in late 2003. Steve’s friends and esteemed guitarists Professor Mac Walter from Baltimore and his John Cronin from Annapolis but longtime resident of Invermere, BC also performed. After the benefit we had a Maryland reunion dinner with Stevie’s Canadian and Idaho friends exchanging our Stevie stories as Stevie held court sipping his beer through a straw. Even as his capacity to move diminished he planned every detail of the benefits - almost driving us crazy :-)
I was fortunate to have played and recorded 8 x 10 club in Baltimore for legendary bluesman James Cotton and for the Baltimore Blues Society Alonzos Memorial show. Steve was a great guitarist who could play blues as well as authentic Hawaiian music, acoustic or electric, beautiful ballads or rock and roll, pop and rhythm and blues with a touch of jazz and island sounds. In fact at one fund raiser show in Baltimore, Stevie performed beautiful Hawaiian music during the band break – a surprise treat for all.
At age 18, he flirted with celebrity in Hollywood before moving to Maui, Hawaii, where he became house entertainer at world-famous resorts such as The Royal Lahaina, Kapalua Bay Hotel, and The Hotel Hana Maui. In 1971, Sparks was initiated into a local Hawaiian cabaret and was adopted into the island music scene by "Dottie and Her Maui Polynesian Revue." Sparks was the first "haole" (Caucasion) to play exclusively local nightclubs and local and traditional-style Hawaiian music. In 1997, they released the single "Aloha Nahiku," written by Sparks and sung by Kumu Hula Kamalu ("Dottie") Kaho`okele Kekahuna, which aired on Hawaiian radio stations. Sparks was the first white songwriter to break this barrier.
I was able to perform with Stevie on a trip to Maui and honored when he took my wife and I to a native Hawaiian cultural center. This is where the native Hawaiians teach their children their culture and where the chanting, drumming, music and hula dance were taught. This is where I met Dottie Kekahuna and I must admit at first I felt awkward being there as a non-native. It was apparent they loved Stevie and welcomed us with open hearts because of him.
Stevie for awhile lived in Hana, a very remote area of Maui, also where George Harrison kept a house and had performed with Willie Nelson at Charlie’s on the north shore of Maui. He had also toured for a period as the bass player for Canadian music legend and songwriter Ian Tyson.
Stevie’s last album TWANGED!, was recorded in Nashville with some of Nashville’s finest session men helping him and his album prior was Flight of the Magic Tortoise recorded in Maui. Other more recent albums included Diplomatic Immunity and In the Blink Of An Eye Sparks received recognition for his songwriting in prestigious national competitions, and recorded nine independent collections of songs. He was a national finalist four times at the prestigious Kerrville "New Folk" Songwriter's Competitions ("The World Series Of Songwriting" - and won two Mid-Atlantic Song Contest awards, the only time he entered that competition. He was also a popular music columnist, contributing to a number of newspapers and magazines in the United States and Canada. A published Journalist for over 20 years, Stevie had interviewed scores of influential personalities - from Bruce Cockburn to George Benson, David Crosby to Leonard Orr, and followed Hawaii's Sovereignty Movement, weaving keen insights on music and native culture into his stories.
He is survived by his wife, Susan Campbell-Grey, of Hot Springs, Montana, his children, Jeremy Baker Hubert and Elizabeth Leilani Hubert of Vancouver, Canada; his parents Faye F. Delaney of Sun City, Arizona, and Earl Nelson Gray of Tampa, Fla.; his adoptive brother George Lawrence Hubert of Bethesda, Md.; a half-sister, Dawn Gray of Germantown, Md., and five half-brothers in Ohio and Arizona. Stevie changed his name to Stephen Mark Grey after finding and communicating with his birth parents.
An advocate for Hawaiian indigenous rights, Sparks requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to support the Kingdom of Hawaii, P.O. Box 2845, Wailuku, HI 96793, HYPERLINK http://www.freehawaii.org
I also support the National Capitol Region ALS Chapter - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. HYPERLINK http://www.alsa-ncac.org/index.html
If you wish to learn more about Stevie and his music, please visit his web site and leave your condolences in the guestbook of his website HYPERLINK "http://www.stevieguitar.com/index.php" http://www.stevieguitar.com
A memorial service was held Thursday, Feb. 17 at 4:00 p.m. at the National Presbyterian Church chapel, Washington, D.C., with a reception following at Armand's on Wisconsin Avenue, Washington D.C. graciously hosted by Ronnie and Louie Newmyer. Many memories and pictures were shared. His ashes will be laid to rest on the island of Maui on the anniversary of his passing, Jan. 20, 2006.
I will always remember the beautiful day Stevie shared with us on my wife’s 50th birthday in Maui. He shared with us all the sights, sounds, and rainbows on the road to Hana. We stopped at an old country church and Stevie played and sang “I am Hawaii” for my wife Mary. It was a very touching and spiritual moment with an audience of two. Stevie gave what he had to give to those he loved and was a gentle soul, full of energy and with great musical gifts! He loved life. I miss you my friend but am relieved you are no longer in pain and suffering. May you continue to play and sing and keep “jamming the airwaves” with the angels.
God Bless you Stevie.
Choo Choo Charlie Williams
Clarksville, Maryland