Steve Poltz

Steve Poltz (born February 19, 1960) is a Canadian-born American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in San Diego, California. He is a founding member of the indie-rock band The Rugburns and is best known for co-writing the #2 Jewel song "You Were Meant for Me". He appeared in the video, and has worked with Jewel on many occasions, such as tours, her platinum and diamond albums, and singles.

As a solo artist, he often performs acoustic-only "good old-fashioned sing-along" shows. His songs feature simple, poignant melodies and quirky, satirical lyrics.

Biography

Poltz was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and later immigrated with his family to Palm Springs, California. While attending the University of San Diego, where he received a degree in political science, he met guitarist Robert Driscoll and formed The Rugburns.

Poltz and his bandmates developed a local and national cult following by playing coffeehouses and bars. While performing dates at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in San Diego, he formed a professional and personal relationship with Jewel, frequently opening for her on tours, co-writing songs, and appearing in her music video for "You Were Meant For Me." Poltz has also done live renditions of some Jerry Hannan songs at live gigs.

In 1998, Poltz released his first solo album, "One Left Shoe" for Mercury Records. A disagreement in the artistic direction of his material led to him leaving the label and forming his own company, 98 Pounder Records. Five years later, he recorded "Chinese Vacation", an album heavily influenced by the events of September 11th and the murder of one of his closest friends.

Poltz also collaborated as a songwriter with A. J. Croce on Croce's 2004 album "Adrian James Croce".

Trivia

* "Answering Machine" is a self-released album composed of 56 separate 45-second songs which Poltz recorded as outgoing messages on his telephone message recorder while he was on tour. Reportedly, it is one of Neil Young's favorite records.

* According to his website biography, he considers "Everything About You" to be the favorite among his own songs. It appears on the soundtrack album to the movie Notting Hill.

* During a radio interview and performance on the Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw radio program, he performed a "male" version of You Were Meant For Me. During the bridge, he went on a 5-minute rant on David Cassidy and assorted stories in Las Vegas, including one that led to the album name "Chinese Vacation". It's been rumored that he was experiencing a hangover during the interview. Poltz also performed the song on the Bob and Tom Show and included the David Cassidy/Las Vegas story during the bridge.

* He was awarded the title of “San Diego’s Most Influential Artist of the Decade” at the 2000 San Diego Music Awards.

Albums

* "One Left Shoe" (Mercury, 1998)
* "Conversations Over a Cerveza" (Mercury, 1998)
* "Answering Machine" (Scam-o-Rama Records)
* "Live at Largo" (98 Pounder, 2000)
* "Chinese Vacation" (98 Pounder, 2003)
* "Answering Machine, Version 2.0" (TBA) (Scam-o-Rama Records)
* "The Barn with Songs by Steve Poltz", children's album credited to "The Barn" (98 Pounder, 2007)
#"New Friends" (story and songs) 15:52 (this track also features Jason Welby, Scott Fisher, Linda Welby, Jerry G. Bishop, Michael Ari Wulffhart, Mike O'Brian, Randy Cox)
#"Thumb on My Finger" 03:25
#"Beep, Beep, Beep" 2:41
#"I'm Happy" 02:44
#"Barn Theme" 01:11
#"I'm Not a Marsupial" 02:31
#"Spider and the Bumblebee" 2:08
*"Traveling/Unraveling" (98 Pounder, 2008)

Singles

* "Silver Lining" (Polygram, 1998)

References

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:ntn8b5z4nsqj All Music Guide entry]

External links

* [http://www.poltz.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/StevePoltz Steve Poltz collection] at the Internet Archive's live music archive