Armed with razor-sharp wit and a knack for mellifluous pop melodies, the singularly named songwriter Stew formed the Negro Problem in California in the mid-’90s as a collaboration with friend and fellow musician Heidi Rodewald. In 1997, the pair released the cleverly titled POST MINSTREL SYNDROME. Over the next decade, Stew and Rodewald would alternate between TNP and other projects, like the avant-garde, eponymous side group Stew, and the hit musical PASSING STRANGE, for which Stew received a Tony Award. However, they collaborated on three acclaimed full-length albums through 2002, all of which represented a cross-section of classic rock, psych-pop, and R&B influences.