I just got back from a weekend at the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival, where I served on the stage crew and sweat with a bunch of dusty hippies and country folkies. The weekend highlight - I got to welcome my dear friend, Steve Poltz, to the ranch for his first Kerrville show.
Steve is one of my favorite people. We've clicked together since day one, like bacon and eggs, peaches and cream, pickles and pickles. I'm blessed to have written a song with him that will be the title track of my upcoming Ep. I've been to many of his shows all over the country in the past few years, and watched him wow audiences, charm children, and woo many a quivering fan. Watching his shows feels equivalent to taking a masters course in performance art. He wrote hit songs with Jewel. He tours the world non-stop and works harder than pretty much anyone I know. He has the best merch. When I grow up, I want to be like Steve Poltz.
Steve's set was excellent, as always. He made up a song on the spot and told crazy stories, looped his guitar and vocals, unplugged, and ran out to the crowd, jumping onto the front row benches and waving his arms and guitar like the crazy punk-rock-folk-star he is, while the crowd sang. It was such a treat to watch the Kerrville folks fall in love with his high-energy blend of song, storytelling, theatrical antics, and comedy, and to hear everyone talking about him afterward. Yeah... my friend is cool. :)
After Steve finished with a double encore, one of my favorite Austin-based songwriters, Betty Soo, closed out the night with her gorgeous new band. I was actually working to tear down infrastructure during her set (one of the "perks" of working the last night of festival), but what I heard was amazing. Her voice and songwriting are supurb, her humor is perfectly dry and her banter is endearing and hilarious. At the end of the night Betty Soo called up the other acts from the evening- Steve, AJ Croce, and Parker Millsap - for a spirited folk friend encore. Even the Kerrville bubble machine was employed, which consists of a fan and several backstage volunteers holding bubble wands in front of it. Only the finest! I feel like the performers last night brought a breath of fresh air and marked an important shift in the energy of the Kerrville Folk Festival. More please.
If you live in the glorious Pacific Northwest, do yourself an huge favor and go see Steve. He's currently touring Washington and Oregon. Check out Steve's tour schedule. Tell him Daisy sent you. :)
Love.
Steve is one of my favorite people. We've clicked together since day one, like bacon and eggs, peaches and cream, pickles and pickles. I'm blessed to have written a song with him that will be the title track of my upcoming Ep. I've been to many of his shows all over the country in the past few years, and watched him wow audiences, charm children, and woo many a quivering fan. Watching his shows feels equivalent to taking a masters course in performance art. He wrote hit songs with Jewel. He tours the world non-stop and works harder than pretty much anyone I know. He has the best merch. When I grow up, I want to be like Steve Poltz.
Steve's set was excellent, as always. He made up a song on the spot and told crazy stories, looped his guitar and vocals, unplugged, and ran out to the crowd, jumping onto the front row benches and waving his arms and guitar like the crazy punk-rock-folk-star he is, while the crowd sang. It was such a treat to watch the Kerrville folks fall in love with his high-energy blend of song, storytelling, theatrical antics, and comedy, and to hear everyone talking about him afterward. Yeah... my friend is cool. :)
After Steve finished with a double encore, one of my favorite Austin-based songwriters, Betty Soo, closed out the night with her gorgeous new band. I was actually working to tear down infrastructure during her set (one of the "perks" of working the last night of festival), but what I heard was amazing. Her voice and songwriting are supurb, her humor is perfectly dry and her banter is endearing and hilarious. At the end of the night Betty Soo called up the other acts from the evening- Steve, AJ Croce, and Parker Millsap - for a spirited folk friend encore. Even the Kerrville bubble machine was employed, which consists of a fan and several backstage volunteers holding bubble wands in front of it. Only the finest! I feel like the performers last night brought a breath of fresh air and marked an important shift in the energy of the Kerrville Folk Festival. More please.
If you live in the glorious Pacific Northwest, do yourself an huge favor and go see Steve. He's currently touring Washington and Oregon. Check out Steve's tour schedule. Tell him Daisy sent you. :)
Love.