Joyride [LP] (Pink Vinyl)

Steve Poltz - Joyride [LP] (Pink Vinyl)

According to Wikipedia, Steve Poltz (me) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is a founding member of the indie-rock band the Rugburns and collaborated on several songs with singer Jewel, including the 1996 single You Were Meant for Me, which reached number two in the US. JoyRide is my 14th solo album. I tour nonstop, so I usually have to be tricked into a studio under the guise of just one song. Capturing me on tape is like convincing a whirling dervish to stop spinning long enough to sign a bill into law. It's chaos, caffeine, and accidental poetry art colliding with microphones and commerce in a glorious mess. That's how JoyRide happened. No seatbelts, no helmets. Just unsaturated, unadulterated art. Real humans making real noise in real time. The record opens with If It Bleeds It Leads my kinda classic mischief. Then comes Petrichor, inspired by the beautiful smell after it rains. (I later discovered Phish has one too, but mines the barefoot cousin at brunch.) At It Again follows, a cosmic co-write with my brother-from-another-meerkat Jim Lauderdale, featuring Bryan Owings and Chris Donohue (Emmylou Harriss rhythm section). The title track JoyRide feels like a warm hug after a long road trip: Free hugs, no shrugs, wrong drugs, bedbugs. Smiles, laughter, for here ever after. Side one ends with The Son Of God. I will probably get crucified for this song, but hopefully it will be an AI video made by an angry man living in his moms basement. Side two kicks off with Love a Little Bigger, a rowdy co-write with Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon. Fixin Up (track seven) is my secret favorite like a quarter from the Tooth Fairy you gotta dig around for. New Tattoo follows about a dude who got his lovers face inked on his own face. (Bad plan, good song.) Brand New Liver imagines swapping out your old one like a water pump instead of quitting drinking. And then comes the closer Hairlift. That one has my favorite line I've ever written: I used to play ping pong with my old friend Mao Zedong. I thought he told me I was well hung, but he was speaking in the mother tongue. That's JoyRide. Ten songs, no filter, no seatbelt, no map. Big thanks to Dex Green for being the musical trickster who lured me into the studio. Party on, weirdos. Steve Poltz, Nashville