Steve Poltz: The Boy is Back in Town

A NEW AGE

Steve Poltz. Photo by Dennis Andersen.

It’s a new page, a new chapter, a new age, in the ongoing, free-flowing Steve Poltz road show. We’ve had the coffeeshop period, the Rugburn epoch, the Nashville era; we’ve had chapters on growing up in Palm Springs, recovering from strokes and substances, and getting married; we’ve had pages and pages of stories about pretty much any subject you can think of, and some only Steve could think of. Could it be, we’re ready to experience … Steve Poltz, The Golden Years???

Aside
Before I forget, let’s congratulate Steve for his 2026 Country Dick Montana Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Diego Music Awards, with the concert/ceremony to be held May 6 at Humphrey’s by the Bay. Steve joins past winners including Jerry Raney, Joey Harris, Wayne Riker, Jack Tempchin, Joe Flamini, Lou Curtiss, and more. Carry on.

Steve recently moved to San Diego, where he spent a good part of his adult life before moving to Nashville 10+ years ago. You might not have noticed, because he’s on the road A LOT, tallying up his typical 180 yearly show count.

Steve and his wife, Sharon, have got a new place in the Goldilocks weather zone of north San Diego County, close enough to the coast to beat the heat, but far away enough to avoid the fog.  “I like to go on walks on the beach, like a good five miler, once my knee’s better. At Del Mar, when the tide’s low, you can go so far.” At 66 years old, he’s thinking about reducing his travel to maybe half his current schedule in the coming years. We’ll see how that goes. (So often with my Medicare-age peers, somebody’s medical condition immediately insinuates itself into the conversation. Steve asked me to tell you that it took us well over five minutes.)

Poltz gets married to Sharon on stage.

San Diego is already enjoying the benefits of Steve’s presence. He played a couple intimate local house concerts in the fall, while recovering from his meniscus-tear surgery. He was a late addition to the Java Joe Reunion Show in January, put on by San Diego Folk Heritage. He’s been spotted running free-range from Leucadia to La Jolla. And the Rugburns and musical guests at the recent birthday shows seemed especially well rehearsed.

NASHVILLE CATS
“I went there for 10 years, and it was wonderful, but I knew I would end up back here because, well, it’s San Diego.” Nashville can be a harsh, if loving, mistress. Tennessee has had a rough run of weather in recent years, with the four seasons being ice, floods, tornados, and extreme heat. But if you’re always on the road, I guess it doesn’t matter so much. Someone has said Nashville is a “seven-year town.” It takes that long to really get in the flow of things, get to know who’s who and what’s what, and be able to take advantage of the opportunities of living in the country music capital of the world. Steve’s focus, energy, and dedication over the years paid off. “I don’t have hobbies, and I don’t want hobbies. Just getting better at guitar and singing and writing songs and learning songs that are out of my wheelhouse and thinking, God, can I even learn this?”

Let’s look at co-writing, which along with showcases and song pitches is a big part of the Nashville songwriting culture. You make an appointment, maybe with someone you’ve never met, chat a bit, throw out some ideas, pick one, and come out an hour or so later with a new hit song (results may vary). That takes some skill and commitment! The better your contacts and credentials, the better your list of potential collaborators. Steve, with his catalog of albums and his hits with Jewell (e.g., “You Belong to Me”) and his time on the scene, has had an impressive list of collaborators. They include Billy Strings, Sierra Hull, and Molly Tuttle (including Over the Line, appearing on her Grammy-winning album Crooked Tree). Steve and Jim Lauderdale (known for writing with Grateful Dead’s “Robert Hunter”) formed a long-running writing partnership with their song “Fixin’ Up” appearing on Steve’s latest album JoyRide.

ROCK OF AGES

Poltz with longtime pals Lisa Sanders & Brown Sugar. Photo by Dan Chusid.

Do we need to dig through the strata of Steve’s history? Probably not, but just in case you stumbled here through a nasty trick of AI, or by snooping in your wife’s browser history, we’ll give you a brief list of Major Life Events. You can research more about those online (boring), or attend a Poltz concert and hear the stories (not boring). Home remedy for late-onset pubic hair? Check. Going home with the waitress with the biker old man, and leaving via the window? Check. Snorting meth with Shane MacGowan in a phone booth? Check. Steve seems to have no filters.

• Born in Halifax
• Moved to California, grew up in Palm Springs
• Moved to San Diego; attended SDU; learned classical guitar, worked day jobs
• Java Joe’s coffeehouse
• Rugburns
• Solo troubadour
• Stroke (on stage), Nashville, marriage (on stage), sobriety (ongoing)
• 50^th birthday parties 1 through 17 at the Belly Up
• … the road goes on forever and the party never ends

IT’S MY PARTY, PART 17a
Steve has been having his 50^th birthday party at the Belly Up in Solana Beach every February since he first turned 50 in 2009. This year they expanded to two nights, and I grabbed tickets for both before they sold out. February 21 was billed as a Rugburns show (with Steve playing a solo opening set); February 22 was seated solo. Steve had a stool onstage, mandated by his physical therapist, to accommodate his still-healing meniscus. I saw him sit on it once. For less than three seconds. Oh well.

The show started on time at 8pm to a full—but not crushing—house on “Wrong Town,” the perfect opening song!

Yeah, you bought the tickets, you paid the cash
You got in the car, you moved your ass
You brought a friend or an awkward date
To something you love that they’re probably gonna hate

It seemed like he was gonna walk us through the new album, with only a break for Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar to leap onstage for their San Diego co-write “Rainbow” and a long aside about his run-ins over the years with recently departed fellow-troubadour and songwriting icon Todd Snider. (I’ve seen “Rainbow” done numerous times—this was my favorite performance.) But no, a few more favorites and a couple more guests. A cool extended jam with guitar man Andy Powers. Ironically, after praising Andy’s luthier skills, Steve’s classic Taylor dreadnaught, Smokey Joe, took a tumble and got seriously cracked. Not for the first time, nor maybe the last. The first set ended with Tim Flannery leading Steve in a slow, soulful version of Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil,” including the unrecorded verse he learned from Bob Weir.

Poltz (in a dress) during his crazy years with the Rugburns.

The Rugburns were in top form. Stinky on drums is a joy to watch. John Castro dancing around while covering all his bass parts. Dr. Robert Driscoll kicking the energy up on lead guitar. At points I though a mosh pit was going to break out, and so did some folks front and center, but it never quite overcame the heavy reality of demographics and modern sensibilities. Rugburns led off with “Let the Good Time Roll” and played a through a long set of greatest hits and covers, including Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and a blistering series of trad Irish tunes. They took a brief break and returned for a seven-song encore, ending with “Dick’s Automotive.” We didn’t hit Cedros Ave. outside till after midnight.

IT’S MY PARTY, PART 17b
The next night was a rare seated show at the Belly Up. A bunch of us from Steve’s BaHOOTenzie song camp claimed some tables up on the left. Some folks from his New York camp flew in and grabbed spots in the middle, down near folks that had been following him since the Alaska segment of his tour. (“If I see you in Australia, I’m going to start to worry!”) Through the night, Steve sent shoutouts around the room to friends and colleagues, including High Sierra Music Festival producer Dave Margulies, his sister, his booking agent, his real estate agent(!), his merch gal, and the sound guys. His physical therapist may have there, but probably couldn’t stand watching Steve bounce around, so he left early.

Poltz, at a recent house concert. Photo by Dan Chusid.

Steve played through most of the rest of the JoyRide album, including the title track, my favorite. That song could be a follow up to his 2016 Folksinger, listing the trials and travails of a traveling musician. Or, with a huskier voice and a gratuitous hook or two, it could easily pass for a Tom Waits song. The extensive performance included some sparkling cover tunes, including Fleetwood Mac’s “Never Going Back Again.” I recall there was a cover from the other end of the musical spectrum that was equally surprising and vibrant. Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” maybe? (Note to aspiring journalists: if your brain tells you “No need to write that down, I’m going to remember it,” don’t believe it. Trust me.)

One thing that makes every concert Steve’s “best show ever” is the curve balls that let him improvise in the moment. One moment was when he got a loud request for the spoken word “The Son of God,” which he had already played the night before. But “Gary” was insistent and Steve rolled with it, reprising the song with some changes, including inserting poor Gary into the narrative.

Musical guests abounded. Shawn Rohlf flawlessly played the left-hand part on “You Belong to Me,” with Steve singing and playing the right hand part, while being silly into Shawn’s neck. Jeff Berkley stepping up for a powerful version of the folk classic “Peggy-O.” Tim Flannery, Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar reprised for the all-inclusive singalong encore, Grateful Dead’s “Ripple.” Best show ever!

WHERE TO NOW,  SAINT STEPHEN?
Apparently 2026 is not the year Steve is cutting back on performing. The day after Belly Up, he flew out for an Australia/New Zealand tour that lasted through March; Canada is all of April. Then a short break before the Joshua Tree Music Festival in May, a swing through Texas, then a string of festival appearances, including the High Sierra Music Festival. There’s a break in July, where Steve returns to Big Indian, New York for a music camp with the Milk Carton Kids. He’s at Humphrey’s with Toad the Wet Sprocket August 23. If that’s not the start to a Golden Year, I don’t know what is.

Poltz with Shawn Rohlf. Photo by Steve Covault.

“I live for writing songs. Learning songs. Performing them. And going on walks and trying to eat healthy. So I can live longer because I want to keep playing. Hopefully, God willing, until I’m 90.” Carry on, Steve. Safe travels. Bring home some stories. And take care of those knees!

Steve’s guide to guitar. “I wake up about 4.30am and read a little, and then, by 5:30, I’m playing guitar for, like, a couple hours, just having fun, and then I eat some oats, you know, around, 7, and then maybe go on a quick walk, and then play guitar again till lunchtime and then come back and play some more. So I can do, like, seven hours in three different sessions. I call it going to YouTube University. There are so many videos you can learn from! Just find some song you’re mesmerized by. Just take it and practice really slow, measure by measure, and next thing you know, after a week, you’ll be doing stuff you didn’t think you could do. The key is practicing slowly, like as slow as you can go, and then really figuring it out, and then, as the time goes on, speeding it up.”

Steve’s guide to songwriting. I went to the two Joshua Tree BaHOOTenzie song camps with Steve in 2022-2023, hanging with and learning from people like Jim Lauderdale, Dan Bern, and Tim Bluhm. There were a couple dozen of us, including local performers Galen Cram, the Blue Healers, Happy Ron Hill, Greg Knight, and Aquilino Soriano. Since that songwriting school is no more, I can share Steve’s Short Guide to Songwriting. Ready? Here it is: Who was there, what happened, how did it feel? There you go. If you want more details, go see him this summer at the Full Moon Resort outside Woodstock. (That’s a cool place; I went to my only other music camps there, with Todd Snider. Another day maybe I’ll share Todd’s own short guide to songwriting.)

JoyRide
Heartaches and hassles
Beaches and old sandcastles
Missed flights and phone calls
Wanderin’ some hotel halls

Rental cars, lost keys
Freak outs, weak knees
Bad moods and dumb fights
Bathtubs, candlelights

Snow cones, dance halls
Cracker jack baseball
Train tracks, sunsets
Sure things, bad bets

Haircuts and pedal boards
Capos and old chords
Delays and car wrecks
And boring old sound checks

Half price menus
Haunted venues
Merch sales, riders
Long drives, overnighters

Dangerous weather
Old hats with feathers
Thrift stores and airports
Bounced checks and passports

Free hugs, no shrugs
Wrong drugs, bedbugs
Smiles, laughter
For here, ever after

As long as I’m with you
There’s nothing we can’t do
 I look for the best rhyme
I’m here for your lifetime
It’s slow ride
As we glide
It’s a JoyRide

Steve’s web site
Steve in Wikipedia (somebody should flesh this out!)
JoyRide review
Steve’s Todd Snider reminiscence in a letter to Bob Lefsetz (scroll down)
Steve with Otis Gibbs, nipple salesman and John Prine chauffeuring story
Belly Up, Feb 2026, with the Rugburns
Belly Up, Feb 2026, with Lisa Sanders
Quarantine Blues video
Sad Songs Summer Camp
2026 Java Joe Reunion Show video