Hubert Rabon

KEYBOARD

Hubert began taking classical piano lessons at age six. “I had an older, old school piano teacher. She used to rap the back of my fingers with a conductor’s baton when I would not strike the keys properly.” At 13, Hubert quit formal lessons to start playing Rock ‘n Roll. He also played drums in the local school band program. Playing through his teens in various bands with childhood friends, he also learned jazz chording from local piano great, Jim “Pop” Stack and church organ from his church’s music director.

In his early 20s, Hubert joined several friends in the “Other Place Jam Band,” a Grateful Dead cover band. When “Other Place” broke-off into several sub groups, Hubert played with “The SunTanz,” a progressive jazz-rock band that played mostly original music and was a monthly regular at Charlotte’s “Double Door Inn.” “The Sun-Tanz included one life-long friend on fretless bass, another on guitar, a drummer we met in the Charlotte music scene, and a trumpet player who was almost three times older than the rest of us and had played with Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra.”

When “Tans” disbanded, Hubert rejoined some of the “Other Place” crew who introduced him to Sandra, who sang with the new band, adding some Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and other songs to the Grateful Dead and related covers. He married Sandra within a year, and both (in effect) left music to engage in Christian ministry. In 1984, they moved their family to Kansas City, MO to attend seminary and work with an international relief and development organization for the next 12 years. Hubert became an ordained minister, continuing to play music in churches and with local groups grinding-out tunes from the quickly growing Rock-oriented Christian music industry.

Returning to Monroe, NC with their family in the mid-90s, Hubert was asked to play keyboards with some of the same lifelong friends in the band, “Nth Degree.” “Nth included several members of ‘The Other Place Jam Band’ and covered the Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, The Band, Clapton, etc., had about 20 original tunes, and soon became one of the best known Grateful Dead cover bands in the Southeast. We soon met and played often with David Gans, founder and host of public radio’s ‘Grateful Dead Hour’ www.gdhour.com. David introduced us to the Dead’s original piano player, Charlotte resident, and Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer, Tom Constanten www.tomconstanten.com, with whom we played in concert several times.”

Hubert left “Nth Degree” in 2005 to devote more time to his family (now with six grand-children) and re-enter ministry full-time as worship music director and pastor. Hubert plays on occasion with childhood friend and “Tanz” guitarist, Mike Capps’ Christian Band, “G2BA.” He now enjoys playing with the immensely talented members of “Outta The Blue Band” to bring live, quality classic rock to Charlotte and surrounding areas.