‘The greatest show of my life’

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For Steve Poltz, every show seems to be the greatest show of his life. The Nova Scotia-born troubadour has quietly emerged as a live phenomenon on the North American festival circuit as a performer with amazing energy, hilarious songs and an infectious stage presence.

Poltz and his special guest — Sandpoint’s own Laurie Shook, of Shook Twins — will play a lively show Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $22.

With a dozen albums to his credit and thousands of live shows leaving audiences’ cheeks hurting from their smiles and laughter, Poltz is one of those musicians that just gets it. He began his musical journey playing with a San Diego band called The Rugburns, but became known far and wide after co-writing two tracks from Jewel’s iconic debut album Pieces of You, including the hit song “You Were Meant For Me.”

Laurie Shook, left, and Steve Poltz, right. Photo by Kirk Stauffer

Since then, Poltz has crafted his musical career with the intention of involving the audiences he plays in front of with his folly and fun. Every show is a rollicking good time, with songs that range from poignant to positively hilarious.

“He’s so entertaining,” Shook told the Reader regarding Poltz. “He’s a storyteller and he plays these real heartfelt, beautiful songs and weird funny ones, too. He gets a lot of audience interaction, loves to connect with people.”

Now based in Nashville, Poltz regularly collaborates with a variety of accomplished artists, including Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, or contributing tunes to Deer Tick’s catalog. That band’s frontman John J. McCauley said: “Steve Poltz may be the biggest, most direct inspiration for me on this record.”

As far as Poltz is concerned, all the world’s a stage and he’s just stoked to be playing on it.

“I travel from town to town and fool people,” he said in an interview. “I sing them songs and tell them stories and somehow they decide to pay money to obtain some merch and witness the spectacle. Then I return a year later and fool them again. … I’m just a weirdo, a freak, a bon vivant, a rounder, a rabble rouser, a workaholic, a people pleaser, an idiot and a grateful kid who ran away and joined the circus.’

Poltz’s opener Laurie Shook is well known to Sandpointians through her band, Shook Twins, which has gained a close following for jumpy, quirky folk music that can pin you to your seat one moment and propel you onto the dance floor the next.

Shook said she’s excited to play a rare solo show without her band on stage.

“I like playing with people a lot more, but it’s exhilarating when I play solo shows,” she said. “I have these handful of songs that are mine … it’s fun to explore that and make them my own.”

Shook said she’d play a few songs on her twin sister Katelyn’s hollow-body guitar, some on her banjo, others that utilize the looper and her signature beatboxing.

“Hopefully I’ll get to sit in with Poltz, too,” she said. “It’s so much fun playing with him. … He has the energy of a 25-year-old. It’s amazing to see how much he loves doing what he’s doing.”