Stuart grew up in a musical family in North Central Montana. Interested in music at a very early age, his mother put him in piano lessons at the age of 8, playing for the first time in front of a crowd at the local County Fair. Always showing an interest in the guitar, which he began playing at the age of 14, he taught himself to play by simply listening to the music. After graduating High School, he played in bands around Montana.

In his early 20s, Stuart moved to the Seattle, Washington, area continuing his musical career playing with Far West Entertainment bands . Traveling up and down the Pacific Northwest, including Canada and Alaska, Stuart played large venues/events like The Bite of Seattle. After several years of touring the West Coast, Stuart took the opportunity to return to Montana to form the popular Groove House Band, touring around the state for a number of years. To further his musical knowledge, Stuart returned to the Seattle area to study Audio Engineering at the Seattle Art Institute. While going to school, he put together a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band called Crossfire, which later became Shades of Blue. They toured around the Pacific Northwest for some time, playing many of the popular venues. Looking for a change after finishing school, Stuart decided to move to the Austin, Texas, area for a few years, taking in all the Live Music Capital of the World has to offer.

Returning to Montana after the Texas years, Stuart put his Shades of Blue band back together playing at events like Rockin the Rivers. At the same time, he formed Shades of Blue Productions, providing the back-line for and touring locally with Hells Belles, the all-female ACDC tribute band for the past few years. Now living in Central Montana, Stuart has taken all of his education and experience and put it towards Purple Evolution, the ultimate Deep Purple tribute band and Experience !