“A sardonic provocateur with a lighthearted acoustic-driven wit.”
– NO DEPRESSION
“Steve Poltz is part busker, part Iggy Pop, and part Robin Williams,
a freewheeling folkie with a quick wit and big heart.”
– ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Steve Poltz is a living example of the American music tradition, a songwriter
who can bend your ear with a hooky melody, then break your heart
with a wry observation about the human condition.”
– POPMATTERS
Veteran troubadour Steve Poltz has shared his latest single, “Miles In My Heart,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Produced by Oliver Wood and Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers, the track heralds the arrival of Poltz’s 14th solo album and first new LP in more than two years, Stardust & Satellites, due via Red House Records on Friday, February 18; pre-orders – and an exclusive line of new merch – are available now.
“My friend Maya Di Vitry came over to my home in Nashville to write some songs,” Poltz says of “Miles In My Heart.” “We get along well, and we thought it’d be fun to collaborate on something. We sat in my writing room and sorta threw ideas at each other. She had the beginning chord progression and we just started making up words. Before we knew it, we had a couple verses and a chorus. Then we came to the inevitable fork in the road – Do we bridge or don’t we bridge? I started singing something totally off-kilter and Maya dug it and we followed the bridge and completed the construction with all the proper permits and after bribing a few city officials, we ended up with the permits for our confounding little bridge. I love the feel of this bridge and how it leads back into a nice third verse – ‘Forgive me for the words I’ve spoken out of haste I wanna reconcile/There’s been a couple years I’ve been busy lighting matches and burnin’ miles.’ Then it throws up back into the singalong chorus: ‘Miles in my heart, miles in my mind, everywhere I look I’m lookin’ behind/Miles in my heart, miles in my mind as if I’m gonna know where I was goin’ this time.’ I was pretty happy with the results, so I decided to record it. I feel like Oliver Wood and Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers really added a lot to this song and the recording.”
Stardust & Satellites also includes the disarmingly moving first single, “Conveyor Belt,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Hailed by American Songwriter for “his unhinged live performances, incredible way with a comedic lyric and ability to spin a ripping tale,” Poltz will mark the album’s release with a series of upcoming live dates, kicking off with a very special album release party, set for Nashville, TN’s City Winery on February 22, and then continuing into mid-March. Additional headline dates will be announced soon. In addition, an eagerly awaited winter run alongside The Wood Brothers is currently underway, with dates slated through a February 5 finale at New York’s famed Webster Hall. For complete details and ticket availability, please visit poltz.com/concerts.
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Steve Poltz has spent more than three decades as a singer-songwriter-performer of the first order, earning international applause and fans around the world with his inspired brand of rockin’ countrified folk Americana. Having first made his bones as frontman for underground legends The Rugburns, the Halifax, NS-born tunesmith has established a critically lauded solo catalog while also collaborating with such diverse artists as Jewel – an ongoing creative partnership that includes co-writing the RIAA platinum-certified #1 hit, “You Were Meant For Me” – and GRAMMY® Award-winning bluegrass phenom Billy Strings, to name but a few.
An exuberant, thoughtful batch of songs that celebrate life in all of its stages, Stardust & Satellites came to fruition last year as a result of one of those serendipitous situations created by the pandemic. Poltz, an irrepressible road dog and performance junkie who regularly spends more than 300 nights on the road each year, should’ve been on tour in 2020. Esteemed Nashville roots rockers The Wood Brothers (Chris Wood being a former neighbor to Steve), also should’ve been on tour. Stuck in Nashville, Steve often joined the Wood Brothers for outdoor socially distant hangs, and, on a whim, decided to record one song with the band’s Oliver Wood and Jano Rix.
The trio cut a song called “Frenemy,” a wistful, “keep your friends close and your enemies even closer” song that made it clear to all involved that they’d stumbled onto something special. With no studio clock ticking, no schedule or deadlines to meet, the companionship and ability to collaborate with like-minded musicians added a joyful diversion to what was a boring-ass year. Musically, the sky was the limit, and the group of musicians and friends embarked on a musical experience that found cast and crew reaching toward the stratosphere with Stardust & Satellites.
STEVE POLTZ
ON TOUR 2022
JANUARY
28 – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre *
29 – Portland, ME – State Theatre *
30 – Plattsburgh, NY – Strand Theatre for the Arts *
31 – Providence, RI – The Strand Ballroom & Theatre *
FEBRUARY
2 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall *
3 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia *
4 – Boston, MA – House of Blues Boston *
5 – New York, NY - Webster Hall *
18 – Solana Beach, CA – 13th Annual 50th Birthday Bash @ Belly Up Tavern †
19 – Solana Beach, CA – 13th Annual 50th Birthday Bash @ Belly Up Tavern ††
22 – Nashville, TN – City Winery (Stardust & Satellites Album Release Party) #
MARCH
1 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
2 – Seattle, WA – The Triple Door
3 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room
5 – Boise, ID – The Olympic
9 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
10 – Denver, CO – The Soiled Dove Underground
11 – Boulder, CO – eTown Hall
12 – Colorado Springs, CO – Friends HC’s
MAY
17-21 – Joshua Tree, CA – BaHOOTenzie Folk Fest + SongSchool
@ Joshua Tree Music Festival **
26-29 – Cumberland, MD – Del Fest **
26-29 – Grass Valley, CA – Strawberry Music Festival **
JUNE
24 – 26 – Green River Music Festival – Greenfield, MA
30 – July 3 – High Sierra Music Festival – Quincy, CA
* w/The Wood Brothers
** Festival Appearance
† w/special guest The Rugburns and Aaron Lee Tasjan
†† w/ The Rugburns & special guests Oliver Wood and Lindsay Lou
# w/Crystal Bowersox
# # #
STEVE POLTZ
STARDUST & SATELLITES
(Red House Records)
Release Date: Friday, February 18
