No Depression wrote that “Steve Conn may be the best singer you’ve never heard.” But for those who have paid attention to his career for the past half century, Steve has been the benchmark for honest and soulful music. His lifelong search continues — poignant, humorous, and even heartbreaking at times — and we all get to listen to the unique rhythm he hears as he bares his truth for all to witness and invites us to join him in singing his song.

Raised in Pineville, Louisiana, the son of Roy “Peanut” Conn — a renowned singer and swing jazz violinist — Steve taught himself to play piano and started writing songs in junior high, as he says, “. . . trying to figure out what I’m doing here.”

As a literature student at LSU, Steve met Michael Doucet, a young fiddle player from Lafayette, who introduced him to the music and culture of Acadiana. After college, Steve moved to Colorado, where he met Sonny Landreth, another Lafayette musician, whose lifelong friendship and artistry continue to influence him profoundly.

After a summer of playing music with Sonny in the mountains, Steve returned to Pineville, where he built a recording studio in his back yard and kept writing songs, including “Love Is The Word,” which was recorded by Miss Louisiana in 1976, and “Atchafalaya Basin Homegrown Two-Step Boogie,” a regional dancehall favorite. 

In 1980, Steve returned to Colorado and was soon touring with blues great Albert King and fronting his own popular New Orleans funk band Gris Gris. Six years later, he moved to Los Angeles and worked with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, and Nanci Griffith. In 1991, he returned to Colorado again, this time as the musical director for eTown, an NPR show where he played with major musical artists like James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Pops Staples, and hundreds more.

Two years later, Steve moved to Nashville and continued honing his songwriting while playing piano, organ, and accordion on hundreds of albums, twelve of which received Grammy nominations, including one as recently as 2024, Tracy Nelson’s Life Don’t Miss Nobody.

It’s obvious that he has the chops and soul to be sought out by the preeminent musicians of our time, but that’s not what drives him. “Man,” he says, “those gigs have always been a great way for me to pay the bills, but I’ve always wanted nothing more than just to get home so I can write another song.”

Steve Conn finds himself most at home in the songs he writes, inhabits, and performs. He’s carved out an undeniably distinctive niche, making it impossible to pigeonhole his music. Throughout his work, there’s a pop sensibility with catchy hooks that have a way of sinking their barbs into your head and your heart for weeks on end. But unlike today’s pop music, his work is free of all artificial sweeteners. Every ounce of sweetness is derived solely from pure heart and soul. Even when Steve’s songs are laugh-out-loud funny, they’re still deeply personal. Boulder Weekly has noted, “He’s unafraid to climb inside hard emotions of mortality, depression and hope and emerge with four-minute classics. . . .” 

In 1984, he released his first album, Heart Full of Blues, which included “The Rain,” later recorded by legendary a cappella group The Persuasions. In 1994, he released River of Madness, which contains “The One and Only Truth,” a live show favorite featured on Sonny Landreth’s 2017 Grammy-nominated Recorded Live in Lafayette. In 2003, Steve released his self-titled album, which featured “Beautiful,” a haunting ballad later recorded by Bonnie Bramlett. He released Beautiful Dream in 2011, with classics like the title cut, as well as other evocative numbers like “Easier Said Than Done,” “Let The Rain Fall Down,” and “Thinking in Tongues.” Blues Blast called his latest album, Flesh and Bone, “. . . a rare shining gem of a recording. Combine a super-talented keyboard player with the heart and soul of a poet and this is the masterpiece you get.”

At the age of 19, Steve penned one of his classics, “Louisiana,” which still resonates today:

I keep thinking back there
to the land where I was born,
asking myself why did I leave? 
It all looks so good now
I’m 2,000 miles away
I’m wondering if the problem might be me.

Now living in rural Tennessee, it’s a question he’s still asking and answering with his music. For more than 50 years now, Steve Conn’s songs have chronicled a lifetime spent watching, listening, and singing his way through uncertainty while finding beauty along the way. He’s a soulful master at the pinnacle of his game, and his stories, wit, and talent continue to enchant us while illuminating the hassle and joy of this crazy world.

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