[Cover photo credit to Jay Blakesberg]
Veteran troubadour Steve Poltz has announced his new album, JoyRide, arriving via Red House Records on Friday, January 30, 2026. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Dex Green (Shemekia Copeland, Elvis Costello, Margo Price, and Nicole Atkins), JoyRide includes first single, “If It Bleeds It Leads.”
Steve Poltz says:
‘If It Bleeds, It Leads’ was so much fun to record because it was challenging — and I love a good challenge. I used Emmylou Harris’s rhythm section: Bryan Owings on drums and Christopher Donohue on bass. Dex Green played this weird-sounding keyboard that added to the whole vibe, along with my acoustic guitar. I wrote the song after watching the news with some people who were yelling at the TV screen. I had to leave the room and immediately write this song.
Poltz’s 14th solo album and first new LP in close to four years, JoyRide sees Poltz teaming with producer/multi-instrumentalist Dex Green at 3Sirens, a historic home studio in East Nashville, TN. Highlights inlcude “Fixin’ Up” (a three-way co-write with Americana artist Jim Lauderdale and 2018 CCMA Songwriter of the Year, Skip Black) and “Love a Little Bigger,” co-written with longtime pal Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon.
Poltz says:
Capturing me in a studio 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.
STEVE POLTZ – LIVE 2025-2026
DECEMBER
12 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere †
13 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center †
21 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse ^
JANUARY 2026
22-24 – New Orleans, LA – Folk Alliance International Conference
28 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
29 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Mission Theater
30 – Eugene, OR – Unity of the Valley
31 – Sisters, OR – The Belfry
FEBRUARY 2026
1 – Ashland, OR – Carpenter Hall
4 – Trinidad, CA – Trinidad City Hall
5 – Chico, CA – Chico Women’s Club
6 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall
7 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
11 – Morro Bay, CA – The Siren
12 – Santa Barbara, CA – SOhO Restaurant & Music Club
13 – Thousand Oaks, CA – Scherr Forum Theatre
14 – Santa Monica, CA – McCabe’s Guitar Shop
21 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up #
22 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up ##
26 – Denmark, WA – The Dam
27-28 – Nannup, AU – Nannup Music Festival ‡
MARCH 2026
1 – Perth, AU –Lyric Underground
5 – Adelaide, AU – Trinity Sessions
6-9 – Port Fairy, AU – Port Fairy Folk Festival ‡
6 – Goolwa, AU – Murray Delta Juke Joint
11 – Ararat, AU – Ararat Town Hall
12 – Melbourne, AU – Brunswick Ballroom
13 – Melbourne, AU – Memo Music Hall
14-15 – Katoomba, AU – Blue Mountains Music Festival ‡
18 & 19 – Sydney, AU – Camelot Lounge
20 – Avoca Beach, AU – Avoca Beach Theatre
21 – Buttai Valley, AU – Full Throttle Ranch
22 – Old Bar, AU – Flow Bar
25 – 27 – Hawkes Bay, NZ – Small Hall Sessions
28 – Wellington, NZ – Meow
29 – Auckland, NZ – The Tuning Fork
APRIL 2026
2 – Cairns, AU – Tanks Art Centre
3-4 – Tyagarah, AU – Byron Bay Bluesfest ‡
5-6 – Canberra, AU – National Folk Festival ‡
MAY 2026
14 – 17 – Joshua Tree, CA – Joshua Tree Music Festival ‡
29 -31 – Ogden, UT – Ogden Music Festival ‡
* Sunday Supper Club: Courtney Patton & Steve Poltz
† w/ Bob Schneider
^ Holiday Hootenanny 14 w/ Oliver Wood, Lim Lauderdale, Yes Ma’am Family Band, Jason Carter and more
# 17th Annual 50th Birthday Bash w/ The Rugburns
## Steve Poltz & Friends – 17th Annual 50th Birthday Bash (seated show)
‡ Festival Performance
