About this episode
At the age of four, Steve Nieve drew pictures of piano keys and pretended to play them. He joined Elvis Costello & the Attractions when he was 19, the start of a life that involves having to find a flight case for a Steinway Grand. He talks to us here from his Paris apartment about Stiff package tours, recording remotely, his upcoming shows with the French singer Kessada and … … being a teenager as fond of Stravinsky as Alice Cooper and the Carpenters … playing in a mid-‘70s Top Forty covers band … the ad for a “rockin’ pop combo” that changed his life … touring with Costello and Ian Dury and how he got his stage name … playing the Thunderbirds theme as a chat show bandleader on the Last Resort … a giant Klavins piano “that has stairs leading up the seat” … working on Morrissey’s Kill Uncle … the 40,000 audience that watched his online Lockdown shows … unreliable stage pianos and the story of Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert. Tickets here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/westhampsteadartsclub/2059256 The “About Love” album: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/about-love/1834791707 Steve’s new album: https://stevenieve.hearnow.com/piano-night-2026 Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steveprofessornieve/ Kessada’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkessada/ www.stevenieve.comwww.kessada.comHelp us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.