Steve Poltz (born February 19, 1960) is a
Canadian-American
Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship.
The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...
singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is a founding member of the
indie-rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...
band
The Rugburns
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
and collaborated on several songs with singer
Jewel, including the 1996 single "
You Were Meant for Me", which reached number 2 in the US.
As a solo artist, he often performs acoustic-only "good old-fashioned sing-along" shows.
Early life
Poltz was born in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. Th ...
, and later immigrated with his family to Pasadena, California; he then moved to
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...
. He attended the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Sch ...
, where he received a degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
, he met guitarist
Robert Driscoll and
The Rugburns
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
were formed.
Career
Poltz and his bandmates developed a local and national
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
by playing coffeehouses and bars. While performing dates at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in San Diego, he formed a relationship with
Jewel, frequently opening for her on tours, co-writing songs, and appearing in her music video for "
You Were Meant For Me." The song made it to Number 2 on the
U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 song charts, charting in four other categories in the USA, and several European countries. Poltz has also
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of copy ...
songs by others, which include some Jerry Hannan songs at live gigs.
In 1998, Poltz released his first solo album, ''
One Left Shoe
''One Left Shoe'' is the solo debut album by the American musician Steve Poltz, released in 1998. The first single was "Silver Lining". Poltz, at the time, expected to record again with the Rugburns, and considered ''One Left Shoe'' to be a "sensi ...
'', for
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...
. 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
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
'', an album heavily influenced by the events of
September 11
Events Pre-1600
* 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...
and the murder of one of his closest friends. During a radio interview and performance on the ''Dave and Jimmy'' radio program, he performed a "male" version of "You Were Meant For Me". During the bridge, he went on a 5-minute rant on the morning zoo with Dave and Jimmy from
WNCI and assorted stories in Las Vegas, including one that led to the album name ''One Left Shoe''. Poltz also performed the song on the ''
Bob and Tom Show'' and included the Cassidy story during the bridge.
In 2000, Poltz was awarded the title of "San Diego's Most Influential Artist of the Decade" at the 2000
San Diego Music Awards.
In 2012, Poltz guest-starred in the web series ''Up the Creek'' as a Canadian country singer named Peeve Stoltz. He improvised the songs in the episode during filming.
Poltz collaborated as a songwriter with
A. J. Croce
Adrian James "A.J." Croce (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter. He is the son of Ingrid Croce and Jim Croce.
Biography
Croce was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1971. His father died in a plane crash ei ...
on Croce's 2004 album ''
Adrian James Croce''.
According to his website biography, Poltz considers "Everything About You" to be the favorite among his own songs. It appears on the soundtrack album to the 1999 film ''
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
''.
Poltz is known to name his various guitars. They include Smokey Joe, which he saved from being destroyed, Clackety-Clack, Flowerpot, and Trailer-Trash.
''Dreamer: A Tribute to Kent Finlay'', released in early 2016 on Austin-based Eight 30 Records, features Poltz' version of Finlay's "The Plight of the Bumblebee."
Albums
* ''
One Left Shoe
''One Left Shoe'' is the solo debut album by the American musician Steve Poltz, released in 1998. The first single was "Silver Lining". Poltz, at the time, expected to record again with the Rugburns, and considered ''One Left Shoe'' to be a "sensi ...
'' (
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)
* ''The Barn with Songs by Steve Poltz'' (98 Pounder, 2007)
[A children's album credited to "The Barn".]
* ''Traveling/Unraveling'' (98 Pounder, 2008)
* ''Dreamhouse'' (98 Pounder, 2010)
* ''Noineen Noiny Noin'' (98 Pounder, 2012)
* ''The Accident'' (98 Pounder, 2014)
* ''Running Wild The Life Of Dayton O Hyde'' (98 Pounder, 2014)
* ''Folksinger'' (98 Pounder, 2015)
* ''Shine On'' (98 Pounder/Red House Records, 2019)
* ''Stardust & Satellites'' (98 Pounder/Red House Records, 2022)
Singles
* "Silver Lining" (
Mercury, 1998)
* "You Were Meant for Me" (2013)
* "Hey God I'll Trade You Donald Trump for Leonard Cohen" (2017)
* "Born in a Band" (2017)
* "Devices" (2018)
* "Ballin' On A Wednesday" (2019)
* "Pharmacist" (2019)
* "Quarantine Blues" (2020)
* "Conveyor Belt" (2021)
* "Miles In My Heart" (2022)
* "Can O' Pop" (2022)
References
External links
Official websiteSteve Poltz collectionat the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
's live music archive
*
Allmusic entry
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poltz, Steve
1960 births
Living people
University of San Diego alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian singer-songwriters
Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Musicians from San Diego
Singers from California
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
Songwriters from California
Canadian male singer-songwriters
American male songwriters