Steve Poltz the man behind Jewel
Interview conducted at Nelsonville Music Festival on June 7, 2019
by Dan Locke
Born among the hearty
seafaring folk of Canada’s Halifax, Nova Scotia, Poltz has lived most of
his life in Southern California, where the sun treated his rocky
Canadian DNA like clothes in a dryer. Naturally a spectrum of cultural
and emotional tensions arose and he eventually sought refuge in the art
of songwriting, where he tapped into an unforgettable and often
horrifying depth of unhinged genius.
Among the music
cognoscenti, Steve Poltz is regarded as one of the most talented and
prolific songwriters of our time. His songs have been among the longest
running ever on the Billboard Top 100 and they regularly appear in movie
soundtracks, television shows, and even the odd commercial. His touring
schedule is ferocious, ping ponging between continents with enough
frequency to earn him manic followings in scores of different accents
and languages.
Any musician who has traveled as extensively as
Poltz will have their share of colorful road stories, but Poltz’
adventures read like a bucket list
We had the chance to talk to Steve Poltz. Who was Jewels co-writer. We talked about the following:
Steve’s beginnings
His writing with Jewel
The many covers of “You Were Meant For Me”
And David Cassidy story
