The Piano Tuner's Tale

Life Changing

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 735 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1977, Ed Stewart was a happy-go-lucky teenager with his whole life ahead of him. With a new engineering job, a girlfriend and a motorbike, life was good. But when he dropped in on a friend’s party, a violent row with another teenager - who was carrying a shotgun - turned Ed’s whole life on its head.

Ed had to learn to navigate the world in an entirely different way, but he made a success of it - becoming a piano tuner to the stars and counting Jools Holland and Brian Ferry as his customers. Despite a life of adversity, he tells Dr Sian Williams how not just one, but two Life Changing moments led him to be what he refers to as a “glass-three-quarters-full” kind of bloke.

Producer: Tom Alban

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.7	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.
0:08.4	I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading journalists, experienced
0:12.2	pundits and the biggest sports stars.
0:14.3	Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the player's mouths.
0:19.1	But the best thing about doing this at the BBC
0:21.6	is our unique access to the sporting world. What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that
0:27.3	create a real connection to dedicated sports fans across the UK. So if you like this podcast,
0:33.0	head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:40.3	You're about to listen to the latest series of Life-Changing.
0:44.3	Episodes will be released weekly wherever you get your podcasts,
0:48.3	but if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episodes first on BBC Sounds.
1:02.4	Hello, my guest today is a piano tuner who counts Jules Holland and Brian Ferry among his clientele.
1:06.3	He's got a thriving business that's been running for more than 30 years.
1:10.2	But a life in the music industry wasn't always his ambition and the blinding, life-changing flash
1:12.8	that led him to this quite niche career. Well, that's something Ed Stewart will have to tell us
1:18.4	about. And he joins me now. Hello, Ed. Thank you very much for getting in touch with life-changing.
1:25.0	It's good to hear your story and we'll get on to the life-changing moment in a minute.
1:28.9	But piano tuner first.
1:31.0	What makes a good piano tuner?
1:33.4	A good set of ears, I suppose.
1:36.1	You don't have to play the piano.
	...

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