STEVE POLTZ IS BACK AND MAKING MUSIC IN SOCAL

New song ‘Quarantine Blues’ adds a note of irreverence to pandemic

Steve Poltz can credit his nagging Windansea Beach landlord for inspiring “Quarantine Blues,” an improbably uplifting new song about the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, Poltz rhymes “coronavirus” with “Miley Cyrus,” “Fauci” with “grouchy,” and “vaccine” with “hydroxychloroquine.”

“I don’t mean to sound like I’m not taking coronavirus seriously, but — in times like these — I think people need some irreverence,” said the award-winning Southern California troubadour, who moved back to San Diego from Nashville, Tenn., this summer to spend time with his 90-year-old widowed father, Joe.

Poltz, a University of San Diego political science major, has a dozen solo albums to his credit and cowrote “You Were Meant for Me,” Jewel’s chart-topping 1995 song. His latest composition, “Quarantine Blues,” was released Oct. 2 as a free, online-only single by Compass Records, the Nashville label headed by nationally acclaimed former La Jolla banjo wiz Alison Brown.

The song features bassist Rick Nash and drummer Bob Sale, who like Poltz is a native of Canada. It was recorded at the Oceanside home studio of multi-Grammywinner Jason Mraz, who is featured playing organ.

“Jason was a real perfectionist with his keyboard parts and kept redoing them until they were just right,” said Poltz, who in turn recorded his lead vocals to the freewheeling song 57 times from start to finish before settling on the final take.

Quick with a quip, on stage and off, Poltz’s whimsical sense of humor has inspired him to write such appealingly quirky songs as “Give You Up for Lent,” “What Would Gandhi Do?” and “Fistfight at a Vegan Brunch.”

“Quarantine Blues” is his most topical and, perhaps, most tonguein-cheek work to date. It is very likely the only song by anyone to rhyme the line “listened to Jerry Garcia” with “made my own tortillas.” According to Poltz, he would not have written “Quarantine Blues” had his new landlord, Matt Donoghue, not insisted he do so.

“This would not exist had Matt not nagged me,” said Poltz, who drove from Nashville with Sharon Daddi, his wife of six months.

“Matt kept saying, ‘How come you haven’t written a song about the coronavirus quarantine?’ And, in a snotty tone, I said to him: ‘Why don’t you write one? Why does everybody think I have to do everything?’ The next morning, Matt’s voice was echoing — in a nagging tone — in my head.

“So, I grabbed a guitar and started writing this song. It was done in a few hours. I played it for Matt, and he said: ‘It’s really good. But you need a verse about Zoom because everyone’s Zooming.’ So I did. I played the song for my dad, and he loves it.”

Poltz’s father and sister, Kathy Swiggs, were both on board — literally — when Steve and Sharon were married Feb. 9. Their wedding took place, in front of 1,500 people, in the atrium of the Norwegian Pearl during the 2020 Cayamo music cruise, which this year featured Poltz,

Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy and Nickel Creek co-founders (and Vista natives) Sara and Sean Watkins, among others.

“Sara and Sean sang as part of our wedding,” Poltz said. “This was before the pandemic had really hit, and I had everyone hug my dad, who is 90, and my sister, who is a cancer survivor. Then I did soldout shows in San Diego at the Belly Up and the Music Box, my last gigs before the quarantine, and invited everyone to hug my dad again.

“How he’s not dead, I don’t know. My dad is at an independent living facility in San Marcos and I’ve played nine shows there, although not during the pandemic. I take him out to lunch every other day and pretend like I’m sneaking him out.”