Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 125: Steve Poltz

Episode Date: May 18, 2021

As the clouds begin to part and the waking world is awash with sanguine sunbeams, we find a man who was up all night doing GODKNOWSWHAT. That man is Andy Frasco, and he may be coming to a town near you! Catch a live show like you used to in the "Before-Times." On the Interview Hour, we welcome the Ben Kenobi to Andy's Luke Skywalker: Steve Poltz! Everybody knows Steve's music, but how many of us can say we know Steve, the MAN? Andy debuts his new single, Love Hard. Don't sleep on this ep, y'all. It's 125. Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new song, "Love Hard" on iTunes, Spotify  Imbibe some auditory gold: poltz.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Brian Schwartz The U.N. Arno Bakker

you know it's short we you know we talked about you taking mid-july off uh this summer so you and the guys can rest and now we're getting some pretty interesting offers uh where there's you know quite a bit of money coming in which may mean we're not taking that time off but that said one of the offers came with a little note let me read you the note and you can put this on your podcast so everyone can see uh what we're all dealing with and who they are a fan of. Here's what it says. We'd love to have him back. We debuted him years ago, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it says, it'd be great to bring him back. I need the approval of our mayor, since of course, he had to publicly apologize for the show last time.

But we've all come a long way since then. So I can't wait to hear what you did where you had to apologize to the mayor of a city. But let's just hope you get invited back and the mayor doesn't block you, although that would be really funny. It's just not funny when it's hurting your bank account in this case. So we are indeed past that moment of your life. Thanks. All right, and we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco.

How's our heads? How's our minds? Are we not overworking ourselves i say that because i've been on the run for the last uh three weeks but um it's been amazing i was just in nashville for a week i this was the most crazy experience i've never had a writing experience like this before where i was in a room and every three hours, a different songwriter would come in. I wrote with Vince Herman, by the way, shout out to fucking Vinnie Herman. Wow. Let's go big dogs. The Davison brothers set me up with

this fucking unbelievable setup where we had literally like 15 of the top Nashville songwriters from all these different genres who have hits in the radio, hits in AAA, just cool songwriters, Steve Pultz. And like every three hours I would be with a different songwriter and we would switch. They would switch them out. I wrote like 13 fucking songs. It was so amazing to

get back to what I was doing, you know, like you forget, quarantine took us a year to, you know, fuck shit up, you know, and forget that, oh yeah, we're these other people outside of our houses, and to get out there, and have that experience, and And literally, I felt like I wrote some really good fucking songs. So shout out to Matt Warren. Shout out to Aaron. Shout out to just fucking everyone who did it. Wyatt Durant, who did a bunch of Zac Brown stuff. And he did some Billy Strings, helped write some songs for Billy Strings.

It was just a great experience, and it really got my chops up. And I am ready to make this record. I'm in L.A. now. I'm actually in my parents' house. It was just a great experience and it really got my chops up and I am ready to make this record. I'm in LA now. I'm actually in my parents' house. It's 7 a.m. I'm working with Eric Krasnow this week. I worked with Kenny Carkey yesterday. I literally,

I've been in the studio for about three weeks straight with different producers and it's been fun. I'm ADD. I like moving around i like working with different people i even worked with dashboard confessional this is fucking full circle when i you know my story i was emo kid and shit would be screaming his fucking song screaming infidelities

and fucking 13th advance warp tour cut to me being 20 years later i'm working with the motherfucker dude so shout out to Schwartz for setting that up, you know, I don't listen to that music anymore, but that's the best part about dreams, is dreams aren't gonna come when you want them to come, you know, they're gonna come when you forget about them, but if you keep working, they'll get, they'll get to you. I swear to God, you know, like it's just, the whole thing is just surreal, you know, work hard at shit and don't put a timeline on when you need to get that dream accomplished. Because at the end of the day, we're just one fucking person. And if we put too much expectations on things, we, we ruin it. When was the last time you put a bunch of expectations

on something you really love and it turned out shitty? You know, because we're overthinking it. I think we overthink life a lot and I think we overthink the beauty of being present. I think we overthink how to be present. You know, I do that all the time. Like, oh, when I get present and then I start thinking about, oh, am I present?

Then I'm not present again. Like, what the fuck am I doing? But that's what we talk about with Steve Pultz. Honestly, this podcast interview with Steve Pultz is unbelievable. He is the songwriter of songwriters. He wrote that big hit from Jewel. And, you know, he fucks with Craigie. He writes songs.

He just wrote a song with Billy Strings. And I'm telling you, this guy's the truth. And I can't wait for you to listen to this podcast because we are simpatico in how our path is and how we are as people. So I can't wait for you to see that. Speaking of that, Repsy. Um, speaking of that Repsy, yeah, our boys Repsy, you guys need some shows, hit up Repsy.com. You know, if you are in a band and have a booking agent, they're going to help you. They have a deal with the agencies, most of them. And if you don't have an agent, they only take a little percent. So go out there

and show my boys from Birmingham, Alabama. Let's go, Repsy. Let's go, big boys. What's up? Because honestly, it's a win-win. I'm telling you, I'm looking at my schedule in the fall and shit, and we're about to announce like 85 fucking shows, but I shouldn't even have said that. But we're about to announce 85 fucking shows but i shouldn't even said that but we're about to announce 85 fucking shows and the shows that we have filler that need fillers like on these tuesdays have 14th holds if you don't know what a hold is basically there's 13 other bands who are in line for that date so you need all the help you could get so go out there and get Repsy and put your band on there. It's free.

Just get your music out there. It's a win-win situation. So shout out to Repsy for sponsoring the podcast. But yeah, I'm in L.A. now. I'm at my parents' house. I haven't seen them in forever. My mom was diagnosed with leukemia. It's a better one, so it's not too scary, but it's still scary.

So I like to enjoy the moments I have all together and being present and stuff. So it's been nice to see them for the fucking six hours. They picked me up from the studio. They fed me dinner. We had a little conversation. I fell asleep at 8.30, and now it's 7 a.m and i gotta get ready for the next session but uh shout out to my mom work um fighting this thing she's gonna fight this thing she's a bad bitch mom you a bad bitch you know you are you listen to podcasts you're a bad bitch we all know

um red rocks i gotta talk about this before we start the pultz interview they just added 3 000 tickets y'all. So we're at a $5,000 capacity. So we're probably not going to sell this bitch out anymore, but we've been selling a lot of tickets and I can't thank you guys enough for traveling. I've getting a lot of messages saying we're coming to Red Rocks. We're living in fucking D'Chipsie, Tennessee, but we're coming down, saving our money to see Frasco at the Rocks. Shout out to everyone making the trip out there. But if you haven't bought your tickets yet,

we're a week and a half away, people. We are ready. I have new songs. I literally have fucking 13 new songs. This is going to be an experience. My parents are coming out. They've never seen me play a big headline show like this. All my family's coming out.

This is one of the biggest shows I've ever done in my life. That is not like a festival show where there's like 20,000 people who don't know who you are at the beginning of the show. And then you got to fucking whip them into shape. Um, but this is like our show with Keller and John Craigie and fucking Kyle Ayers. We're all going to do this.

We're all going to play the rocks. Keller's been there because he's the OG, but we haven't. Not for this many people. So come on out. I might cry. We got a fucking light guy. Fucking Chandler's going to be there.

The guy who does some squabby And floozy I'm pulling out all the stops I'm pulling out all the stops So get out there, go grab your Red Rocks tickets At AXS.com Couple things about the June tour Oh, I'm playing New Orleans

June 4th and 5th Wichita Falls is Almost sold out I think oklahoma city just sold out kansas city just sold out cedar rapids i think just sold out um omaha yep nothing in omaha i mean there's people but come on omaha let's go i know you're last minute ticket buyers but when you're in a band and you're driving all the way over there, go pre-sale some tickets. Go see your boy Frasco in the band. Aurora's been selling good.

It's a really big venue, and we are selling a lot of tickets for that. St. Louis, pretty much done. There might be five tickets left. Indianapolis, bigger room. We've sold a lot of tickets, but there's still maybe a couple hundred tickets left. And then Columbus, Ohio, two nights. Sold the fuck out.

We just announced that we were playing Peach Fest. Fuck yeah. Had a blast. Crowd surfed into the fucking pool. Took some mushrooms and some L. And fuck it, they had water slides down there. Just went down water slides. That's a good festival.

So if you're on the East Coast, I'm coming back, Northeast. I'm coming fucking back. And then it's going to be blast i love peach fest and the hangs out there were fun i just remember just eating too many mushrooms and going down those water slides i'm like oh shouldn't have done this i'm kind of afraid of heights um then uh july what else can i announce oh floyd fest fuck yeah i'm going back to floyd fest that's gonna be tight and fire and sick and tight and then we we just got to announce some Colorado dates.

But I can't announce them until after Red Rock, so I don't even pretend like you didn't even hear that. Alright, guys. I hope you have a great fucking day. Steve Pultz, this interview is amazing. It's longer, and we're not editing it out because he has knowledge, and he has stories, and

this truly is a beautiful man, and I have a feeling i'll be writing with him forever we already written two or three songs we we we met sunday so this is monday no no saturday we wrote saturday right before my flight then we wrote again on through facetime while i was at kenny carkey studio helped me write lyrics on the 16th and now i mean this guy is the truth. And I'm telling you this, you know, you know I'm not.

I don't fucking blow smoke up your ass. So you're going to love this interview. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy Steve Pult. And do I have to play the fucking music? We're going to have a great fucking week. We're going to have a great fucking week. Whatever dream you have, don't put a timeline on it.

Just keep fighting it it keep skull fucking those dreams make love to them you want to have a threesome you dreamed of threesome go have a fucking threesome you know make sure both the people you're having a threesome with are down to have a threesome they you know it's core it's the year of love people people are gonna be making love so we're fucking condoms. People are going to be thirsty out there. You're going to see people fucking the street and shit. It's going to be wild. So let the renaissance happen. Get vaxxed up if you want. Just help us all get back to normal. I'm hitting everything because I'm fucking jacked up at 7 o'clock.

I'm ready to write some fucking music again and ready to entertain all you people for Red Rocks. All right, guys. I love you. Be safe. And I'll catch you on the tail end. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we have Steve fucking Pultz, dude.

Chris, play some Steve Pultz. The Goat. He's one of the best lyricists, I think, in the game. Friends with Craigie, friends with all the plays of High Sierra a lot. Vince Herman introduced me to him. He lives in Nashville now. He wrote that hit song by Jewel. And I dated Jewel. Had a crazy life, crazy addictions. Got through him. Now he's living happy in East Nashville.

It was just such a beautiful experience to be in his presence. The man is 61 years old. He looks like he's fucking 38. I'm telling you, rock and roll keeps you young and let this story give you that inspiration as well. So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Steve Paltz. The guide I don't know had no direction Just sailing along to the middle of the ocean The dark clouds came, the sun went down Didn't think that I would sleep without a noise of commotion I've been lost in the water for the rest of my days

Lost in the water for the rest of my days And I'll still water for the rest of my days I only brought a snorkel and a fishing line A chocolate bar but it still felt fine The waves got rough and tossed me around And the shock started circling, I fell back crying And I've been lost in the water for the rest of my days Lost in the water for the waterfall of wisdom and peace. Lost in the waterfall of wisdom and peace. Thief motherfucking points. Yeah.

How you doing, buddy? I'm doing so well, Andy. What a day. I know. We've already written two hit songs we got New York on the phone we got a million dollar

advance each we got huge publishing deals it's crazy the long arm of fantasy records through Concord Publishing just set us up

with this deal and they were like if you can write two songs fast and we use them for this movie that's coming out it's a retrospective

on Jimmy Stewart and you remember Jimmy Stewart the guy that was like well I'm gonna march down to Washington D.C. and tell those yahoos exactly what's on my mind. I think it's pretty useless, so don't you think so, Mary?

And we did it, and so we got songs on that retrospective. And shit is going off, and I'm sorry my chair was just squeaking. No, I don't know why it took us this long to actually fuck a meet. Well, you know, everything happens for a reason. Yeah, what do you think this reason is? We were still baking in the oven. Our relationship was baking in the oven

and God planned it. God has an easy bake oven. He's like, these guys are cooking. I'm going to put them together in a minute, but I'm doing this other shit. I got to flood an area out right now. Tell me, dude. Why does God do stuff like that? I know.

That's what I would say if I could have dinner with God. Who would you have dinner with? Anybody living and alive? Top of your head. Living or alive? Yeah. Kareem.

Or not Kareem. Will Chamberlain. Will the stilt. He had such a career and he also had such a career outside of basketball. He did. Oh, man.

He was hooking up. He was the original hookup. He was the original hookup. Imagine if he had Tinder. Oh, my God. His dick would have fallen off. So you're a Cali boy. Yeah.

Me too. That's like why you grew up in San Diego or grew up in? Well, I grew up in Pasadena, then Palm Springs, California, and then San Diego. Wow. So I'm totally Southern California. I was born in Canada. I'm a dual citizen. I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on February 19, 1960, which makes me a Pisces Aquarius cusp.

And so like when you're Pisces Aquarius cusp, you got issues with addiction and shit like that. And then you go on with your life. And so I lived in Southern California. I went to Catholic school. So I'm a product of a Catholic education. So when I switched over to public schools, I was like, these fucking people in public schools were stupid.

Like nobody could spill or anything because I would get my ass beat by the nuns if I didn't learn to spill. So I went in with full respect to the teachers and everybody's like, eh, we're smoking dope back here. Fuck paying attention to the teachers. I was like, what? we're smoking dope back here. Fuck paying attention to the teachers. I was like, what?

It was like that song by Small Faces, Ichiku Park. We could skip out school. Won't that be cool? And my mind opened up. Like somebody put a can opener on my skull and my brain's leaked out and then they put them in a wash and rinse

and I got a little public school in me and that washed the Catholic out of me, but you never get the Catholic fully out of you. As you know, you're a Jew, right? I'm a Jew, yeah. Yeah, you can take the Jew out of the temple, but you can't take the temple out of the Jew, right? It's so true.

Catholics and Jews have this thing with guilt. Yeah, pack your bags. We're going on a guilt trip. I'm on February 11th, that's why, my birthday Dude Aquarius This is the greatest podcast I've ever been on I'm just gonna say it right now

Don't ever look at me doing anything else Or listen to me Because I will never be as good as I am today Like fucking don't follow me after this Because I'll only let you down Is that the motto of your life? Yes Are you hard on yourself? You know I'll only let you down. Is that the motto of your life? Yes.

Are you hard on yourself? You know, in a way I am and in a way I'm not. I wake up at three in the morning after shows and I always take a piss because I'm 61 years old and I'm an old man. So I wake up to do my piss and I'm like, oh, am I aching back? And so I go take a piss and at that moment I always go, you idiot, Why did you say

that? You could have done this better in the show. Why the hell didn't you do this song? Because I never use a set list. I always fly by the seat of my pants. And so it's like all just kind of winging it and then wildness. And I think, why didn't you do this? And I remind myself. So I flog myself mentally, but I don't let myself get too mired in depression or anything like that because there's always another show. And I have a longstanding joke with my friends that I always say before I go on stage. And I look in the mirror if I'm alone

or I'll look at my friends and I'll go, remember, everything's riding on this one gig. Into Kipsy. Yeah, into Kipsy. This is it. This is the big one. Did you see your career being this when you were starting? Career?

I don't even know that I have a career. That's what's even funny. I don't know how I've made a living doing this this long. I'm a scrapper. I'm always going to be the 98-pounder, the wrestler. I wrestled at 98 pounds, 9th, 10th, 11th grade. In my senior year, I shot up at 98 pounds, ninth, 10th, 11th grade. And my senior year, I shot up to 106 Palm Springs High Indians. But I'm always going to be that kid that didn't make

the basketball team. And I cried. They put the names out in ninth grade. All my best friends made the basketball team. Mine was the only name not on the list. And I cried in front of them. And they just looked at me like, what a pussy. What's he crying for? And I remember riding my bike away so dejected that I didn't make the basketball team because i love basketball and instead the wrestling coach was around the corner he goes hey poults i need a 98 pounder and it saved my life i was about to go fucking become a hooker so oh i fucking bet i mean like getting rejected like that is kind of like an embarrassing feeling and it kind of takes your self-esteem way low.

That did probably save your life. It did. And I'll tell you, I'm still the kid who didn't make the basketball team. So I'm a geek at heart. I'm a geek. And I know a lot of people sometimes say, I'm a geek.

And it's like trendy to say that. No, I'm a fucking geek. I don't have cred of any sort. If you really look at what I've done, I've just hustled. I've been a geek. I'm like, I'm the kid who didn't make the basketball team and I still get festival offers

and I jump up and down where most people I know are jaded. Like, and they're younger than me. They've had this success. I still am reaching for the rings of the top. I'm still climbing up the ladder. So when I get an offer for, like, High Sierra Music Festival, I literally jump up and I go, yes, yes, fuck, yes, yes. And my wife laughs at me like, dude, why are you, just fucking chill out.

And I'll hug my agent when I see him, tell him I love him. I'm a rescue dog. They rescued me. I was fucking booking my agent when I see him, tell him I love him. I'm a rescue dog. They rescued me. I was fucking booking my own gigs. Yeah, same, man. I mean, like, maybe that's what built, like, drive. Maybe rejection builds drive. I know for a fact it does because I'm still trying to make the basketball team.

My name's still not on the list. And it's never going to be. That's what sucks. It's an elusive name not on the list, and it's never going to be. That's what sucks. It's an elusive name not on the list of people that made the basketball team. Mr. Hamilton didn't pick me. Fuck that guy. I was good.

I'm still mad about it. Do you feel the same way about songwriting? Songwriting is magic. That is a good question because songs i don't overthink them but i love to discuss it like today when we were writing i knew i was just going to write songs they'd vomit out of me and i have to be in the right headspace and feel comfortable with somebody and it's magic i don't know how it happens you can't touch it you can't hold it but you can hear it and it's magic. I don't know how it happens. You can't touch it. You can't hold it, but you can hear it. And it's this magic thing.

Does it affect you or not? Does the audience go get all the feels or do they smile and laugh? Do they jump up and down? Do they want to just go apeshit nuts? Can you have a show and form an arc and have a whole thesis statement? Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you told them in a show can you bring them that sense of redemption

that i get when i see springsteen play that sense of going to church like can a song do that can it move you i don't know man where do they come from yeah it's like you wake up one day you're totally spot on it i think it's like allowing your vessel to open. Yes. Because sometimes when we're so closed off or just like forcing a triangle into a circle hole, I mean, we don't, doesn't, creativity sometimes doesn't come.

Which I was surprised, like this town is just writes, everyone writes songs in an hour and a half. Or two hours. That kind of writing, I'm not in that world. I don't have a pub deal, a publishing deal. It's so weird you don't have a publishing deal. I don't know. Maybe I do.

I'm not good at business. I think somebody does have my publishing. I signed my publishing deal years ago on the hood of a Cadillac to a guy named Herb Cohen who signed Lenny Bruce years ago and signed Zappa. So we were on Zappa's early label. It was called Bizarre Planet Records. How many years was the pub doing?

I don't know. I don't look at things. All I know, there was a point in my life, I had like 250 grand shoved in suitcases in my apartment in San Diego at Winnensee, and I would go on the road. Cash. I'd come on from the road and just shove money into suitcases. I never counted.

I never opened up my IRS. I didn't pay taxes for years. They showed up at my place. They took money out of my bank accounts, and then I slowly had to funnel that money. It was like I was laundering money because it was just money. I would get paid cash all the time and I'm a workaholic

because you work, it's an addiction. I have an addictive personality and my addictions need to do something because left to my own time, I just think I didn't make the basketball team. And I think bad thoughts. So I don't want to go there. So I just work, create and make audiences smile. And I know I can inspire people. And I feel that I'm doing

God's work. And I don't know what God is. So it's not like I'm a God person, but I'm doing God's work. Meaning God, whatever God is, is everywhere. He's in Andy Frasco's eyes. God, I see in a busboy at Denny's and I smile and ask a question. Anybody out there, I can write a song with anybody and I can inspire anybody to write a song and I can make their day better. I can make somebody's day better when I get my coffee every morning. I ask the weird question. I don't want them to feel off that I made them feel awkward i just want them to laugh so my goal is to make everybody laugh it's like the least i can do to pay back the world for this gift i've been given yeah and it doesn't always work no do you know what i mean i totally know what you mean man you know it's like do you think you write good songs in your heart sometimes i think i really write some good songs and then

other times i i think it's gone and i'll never do it again yeah and i don't like to let my mind go there but yeah i think it's a skill i have i think i can write a pretty good song as can a lot of people and so yeah i think i'm pretty good at it when did you have that confidence you could write a song about anything yeah i had a dog and his name was bojo and but i called him honey and i then honey became hunson yeah so my first rhyme was hunson and i wrote wrote i rhymed it with a dunson which means nothing but i thought that you had to write a song with an english accent because i was listening to herman's hermits which was a band in the 60s that did I'm an RDA for you, I'm an RDA for you, I am.

And I was glued to those guys and they did Mrs. Brown, you've got a lovely daughter. So my first song was Huntsin' a Dunsin' from my dog. And I sang it with an English accent. And I still love this song. I think it's a good song. It went, Huntsin' a Dunsin', where's your Bunsin'? I thought I saw it the other day.

Was it walking or was it talking? I don't know. I could not say. And then he'd jump up and lick my face. And he'd palm me to sing it again. I was like, yeah, this motherfucking dog wants an encore. So maybe your dog got you through your resentment with your basketball coach. Well, the dog was pre-basketball.

Oh, you were writing songs before this rejection. Yeah, I started playing guitar when I was six, and I would make up songs on my own, and it gave me pleasure. But the rejection of the basketball, I wanted to be on the basketball team. Yeah, same. And I didn't make it. You didn't make it either? What?

Yeah, and also, yeah, in parallel universes, I didn't make the basketball team, and then I wanted to get into arts, and my friends in high school wouldn't accept me as an artist. So I was, like, stuck in this, like, oh, you just do. When you say arts? Do you mean painting? Oh, no, like acting or growing up in LA,

like, you know, in the Valley, like everyone needs and wants to be a thespian or like a screenwriter. So I couldn't get accepted by the sports teams and I couldn't get accepted by the arts.

So I just did my own thing and just made sports business and sports music dude diy ethos is the greatest thing you can learn talk about that okay i always loved that annie defranco had this label called righteous babe records and she would not accept a deal from a label she was getting late offers from majors and so when i started the rug never signed a label probably later maybe later i don't know that she ever did she always had righteous babe records so i was in the rug burns and i was like well nobody's signing us they were signing

all these cool punk rock bands in san diego like rocket from the crypt rust inch all these bands that were like, they would sell out the Casbah and their friends would show up and watch them and it was grunge and they'd stand there and people were like angry about shit. And I was never that angry. I was always like a goofball. And I'd listen to comedy as a kid and I could recite. I mean, I memorized all of Steve Martin's records, George Carlin's, Richard Pryor's.

Like I would learn all these comedians because I loved comedy. And as a kid, even, I remember, like, doing Steve Martin routines. And I went through puberty really late, so my voice hadn't changed. I remember my parents would have friends over, and they'd go, do Steve Martin.

And my parents' friends would be there, and I'd go, I went over to this chick's house the other night, and she had the best pussy I've ever had. Oh, come on. That makes me sick. I was talking about her cat. You can't say anything these days, and people don't take it wrong,

or they take it the wrong way. But that cat was the best fuck I ever had. So I would learn all those routines, and I was like, I started understanding, like, oh, this is comedy. This is so cool. So I was like, as routines, and I was like, I started understanding, like, oh, this is comedy. This is so cool. So I was like, as a kid, I was like, why aren't more songs funny? Because I would listen to that song, Hello, Mudda, Hello, Fodda, Here I am at Camp Granada,

and then Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road, Loudon Wainwright III, you know, Rufus' stuff. Dead Skunk in the Middle of the road. Randy Newman, short people. All these songs that were funny. I was like, why can't all the songs be funny? And I really loved the combination of it. But then I discovered like Jackson Brown and James Taylor and these heartfelt songwriters.

And I was like, oh, this moves me too. And I realized they had this other side. So then it's like, how do I meld these together? And I go, oh, nobody's giving me a record deal. So getting back to your question about DIY, I was like, well, let's make our own cassettes. One song will be pretty. The next one will be spoken word goofball. The next one's going to be punk rock because I got into punk rock. The next one's going to be this. And people are like, you can't do that. And I'm like, I can fucking do anything I want now that I'm doing it on my own.

And the biggest lesson I learned was nothing was ever handed to me. So I was like, I went to an Irish bar in San Diego. I go, can I play here every Friday night? The guy's like, I'm not paying you. And I go, okay. We don't want to be paying. How old were you here? At that time?

Yeah. I was like 23 maybe 24 I started late you know I was going to college I went to USD you went to USD

yeah the private school yeah the private Catholic school nice holy shit I would not have expected Pepperdine Loyola

all that you did I mean I didn't play but that was our league we were in yeah I would drive to watch dude I lived with the basketball team basketball's been a constant thread in my life too I mean, I didn't play him, but that was our league we were in. Yeah, I would drive to watch.

Dude, I lived with the basketball team. Basketball's been a constant threat in my life too. I lived with the basketball team. Mike Whitmarsh was this great point guard and USD would play Gonzaga, Loyola, Marymount, Pepperdine, University of Santa Clara, USF, all those Catholic schools. Dude, they had great basketball teams. And I would drive and watch the games. And I always loved basketball, beach volleyball.

And I went to USD and I was playing guitar on campus. And then I started getting little gigs. And then when I graduated, I went to these Irish pubs. I go, can I play? But I got a job. I was a nipple salesman. What's that mean? So I got a job. I was a nipple salesman. What's that mean? So I got a job in plastics.

I was a pipe nipple salesman. And so I sold pipe nipples to plumbing supply. And I was like, I couldn't believe I got this job. You know, like when you graduate from college, they put jobs up. Did you go to college? I went to San Francisco State for a semester. That's you. Yeah. And then I just bailed okay you dropped out yeah it went straight to the road perfect so

keep going with the story so i get out and i i there was these girls i was hanging out with chiara and elizabeth chiara tolini this beautiful girl she was like italian and i remember they were right next door and it was my senior year and they would always have me play guitar for them. I would sing them really pretty songs, like James Taylor songs and then goofy songs I wrote. And so one night I was, I had to get a job interview the next day.

I was like, my parents were like, you can't move back home. I'm out of money. I'm graduating. And my parents were like, you can't move home when you're out of college. You need to get a job. And I really appreciate them saying that like nothing was handed to me in that way so I remember I go I went and got a thrift store pinstripe suit and I duct taped the

pants so they'd be the right length and I was like all set for my interview and then I was going to bed it was like midnight and Kiara and Elizabeth go hey we just got some magic mushrooms have you ever eaten them I was like no but I want to so go, hey, we just got some magic mushrooms. Have you ever eaten them? I was like, no, but I want to. So they said, come over. So I ate all these shrooms and I didn't even start peaking until three. I remember I poured a Coors, a can of Coors banquet beer on my crotch. And I go, let's get in the bathtub. And all three of us got in the bathtub in our clothes. And then we had the shower running. We got 12 eggs. We broke them on each other's heads and faces. And I took my pants off, shaved stripes up my legs,

my hair on my legs. And then I was having him throw more eggs at me. We were laughing. Next thing I know, my roommate comes in. He goes, you got to go to your job interview. I'm supposed to drive you there. I'm fucking peaking on shrooms. And I go into this job interview and this blew my

mind. So I washed the egg out of my hair. I put on my pinstripe suit. They're all waiting in the parking lot. I go in for the job and this conservative guy goes to me, tell me why I should hire you. And all of a sudden I become like Tony Robbins. I'm like one of those motivational speakers because I'm still peeking on mushrooms. And I realized I can fucking speak and out talk any of these fucking guys. So I'm in the guy's office and I go I can fucking speak and out talk any of these fucking guys so I'm in the guy's office and I go the reason you should hire me for sales is because sales the key to sales is follow-up but first I need to become friends with these people I need to get them to trust me I know what your product is it's called slip fix it repairs a pvc line what I would do is

I would get a truck give me a truck I need a big truck and give me a give me a barbecue I'll put it in the back and I'll drive a barbecue to the place where the contractors buy it. And I'll get hot dogs. And I'll call it slip fixing dogs. And I'll make them hot dogs. And I'll show them how to work the product while I hand them a hot dog. You remember the movie, The Candidate with Robert Redford, where he's running for president. And he gets a hot dog handed to him. He gets punched in the face. Well, nobody's going to punch me in the face because what I'm going to do is I'm going to sell your product. And he goes, punch him in the face? Well, nobody's going to punch me in the face because what I'm going to do is I'm going to sell your product. And he goes, shut up. And there was silence. And then he goes,

where have you been? He pulls a stack of resumes out. He goes, nobody can talk like this. I've interviewed people from Princeton, from Harvard. And then he writes down, gets a piece of paper. It was 1985. And I don't know what he he's doing he writes down the number he wants to pay me so he writes down 17.5 a salary back then which was pretty good in that yeah 23 too yeah and he goes he slides his piece of paper i don't know what he's fucking doing so he hands me the pencil so i scratch out 17.5 and i write 15 and then he looks at me like what the fuck is wrong with you because why would you want less money and then it hits me that it was a salary i didn't know what he was doing i'm still peaking on shrooms and i go why do you think i'd write less i don't even blink

an eye i go why do i want to take more when i could take less and get more on the back end give me a percentage i believe in my skills. I don't need anything handed to me. And he's like, you got the job. So I got the job and I start selling nipples. I was a nipple salesman. And I'm playing gigs at night. He paid you $15,000 a year.

He paid you $1,000 a month and gave you a company card. Did you make back end? Yeah, I made back end yeah i made back end i did well i could sell fucking ice cubes to eskimos i was like selling fucking whatever i needed to sell was there still egg yolk in your hair and i remember i run my fingers through my hair and i felt the dried egg yolk you know how that feels like yeah stiff and i remember laughing to myself and then i went out going and he he goes, you can take the car right now. And I'm still peeking on shrooms.

I go, I'll get it tomorrow. There was no way I would have driven five miles an hour on the freeway, still shrooming. And Kiara and Elizabeth were there. I ended up having that job for seven years. Dude, so check this shit out. I go into work the first week. And he goes, what do you do on weekends? He goes, I heard this shit out. I go into work the first week and he goes, what do you do on weekends?

He goes, I heard you play guitar. Somebody had told him. I go, yeah. He goes, are you playing in a club? I go, no, I can't. He goes, why? And I go, because I need to get a PA. And he goes, what's a PA?

And I go, it's like speakers and a microphone and I need to save up some money and then I'll get a PA. He goes, well, how much is it? I go, well, it's at Carvin in San Diego. I could get a Carvin PA for like 2000 bucks. He goes, here, he writes me a personal check. He goes, just pay me 50 bucks a week after you get paid from playing Saturday nights. Dude, I've never forgotten the kindness of this guy. He wrote me that check. This is your boss, your old boss? Yeah, he owned the company, but he wanted me to play because he knew it's what I wanted to do, and he liked me. So I paid him back the full amount,

and to this day, I still keep in touch with this guy, and he's followed my career, and I quit after, okay, after three and a half years, I go, I need some time off. And he goes, okay, what do you need, like a week, two weeks? I go, no, nine months. And he goes, nine months, why? And I go, I want to go play on the streets of europe he goes what do you mean play on the streets i go play for passing change he goes like a bum

and i go yeah like a bum and this is like this conservative guy that went to wharton in pennsylvania and he's like like a bum and i go yeah and i'd read this book called the razor's edge by william somerset mom and they've remade the movie a couple times. Bill Murray was in the last remake. It's a great film about a guy that goes in Europe and bums around. And it changed my life because I realized if you think of your mind as having a sliding glass door on the side, and you're going in one direction out the front door, what if I open up the sliding glass door and take a step to the left? Where does that lead? And that's why I praised those mushrooms I took that time. Because I didn't know I could speak that way to a guy with such confidence

unless I was shrooming at the time. Were you, but it seems like you were confident when you were a kid regardless. I was pretty confident, yeah. But it allowed me to take more risks, I think. I'm not saying the drugs did that, but what I'm saying is I thought about my mind as having a sliding glass door on the side

that what if I don't go out the front door and I go left? And that's why I went over to Europe because I wanted to see what happened. After playing on the streets of Europe, I came back, took my job back, but then I went, I got to get out of this job. It's not serving my soul. So I finally quit and my boss understood.

And I never, I quit in 1992 and I've never had a job since. In 92, after going to Europe in 88, I never took a job again. I said, I'll never work for somebody again. I'm always going to work for myself. I'll put out my own records. I'll build my own audience. I don't need anything handed to me. So that goes back to the DIY ethos, which is if you go out and you have something to offer, you're vibrating up there. What you're saying is vibrating with people in the audience that are listening. So not everybody might not, it's not meant for everybody. That was a big lesson to learn.

Not everybody's going to like you. I wanted everybody to like me, but then I realized I can't worry about that. The people that like me are what I need to worry about and service those fans because they're going to tell other people to come. Don't waste your time with the people that hate you. Yeah, I keep on getting through that. That's such good advice because I keep on, I fuck that up.

I don't worry about the people who like me. I think about the people who don't like me. Of course, because we're pleasers. Yeah. We're born in February, right? Yeah. We want to please, don't we?

Yeah, 100%. Because we didn't make the team. Yeah. We're still trying to make the goddamn team. Pulse, yes. Fuck therapy.

I'm going to Professor Pulse over here. Tell me what you learned in Europe that made you become more individual or more confident with who you are as a person. So I was in San Diego and I was playing at nights, but I was still working a regular job for a company. Were you good yet?

At playing? Yeah, I was good, but I was still writing a lot of songs. So I was listening to a lot of writers and I was trying to figure out my voice as a writer and so what I learned when I went over there was I never have to work again if I just

play music it's gonna vibrate to the people walking by so people would put money in my case I was busking I got really good at busking and I was singing songs some that i wrote some i didn't where'd you go where'd you first your first stop in europe this is funny so i was going out with this girl and i didn't know how to end the relationship so i just left and i've never forgotten this because she chased me to the airport and I was on a plane.

It was like a scene from The Graduate where somebody's yelling outside a window. She could see me on the plane and the plane was leaving to go to Europe. And I broke up with her and I landed in London. Is it hard for you to communicate? Yeah. When it comes to like stuff like that?

Totally, yeah. I mean, I'm still learning. Yeah. Vulnerability like that totally yeah i mean i'm still learning yeah yeah vulnerability like that is harder than being vulnerable on stage right or through your songs i can be way more vulnerable on stage yeah same here yeah in a way it's kind of sad but so what i would sell the right girl who understands that i. I would sell out anyone for a bit on stage, and I tell people that. Me too, dude. I'll fucking sell you down the river if it's going to be funny.

And I have hell to pay a lot for that sometimes. Really? Did you lose relationships from that? No, something like I'll say shit that I shouldn't have said, and I'll learn. So I've gotten better at not doing that. But if it's going to work, I can't help said and I learned. So I've gotten better at not doing that. But if it's going to work, I can't help myself sometimes on stage.

I can be really vulnerable with an audience, but I'm probably not easy to live with because I'm always working. And Sharon, my wife, is always like, do we have to go out again tonight? I love going to see people play. I love going to shows. and Sharon, my wife, is always like, do we have to go out again tonight? I love going to see people play. I love going to shows.

I like studying what they do. I don't look at it in a critical way where I'm hating them. I look in a way where I'm learning what not to do or what to do. And I'm gleaning ideas and I'm coming up with song ideas and I'm watching how does somebody... I don't want to miss a minute of the show. I don't even want anybody to talk to me during it. I want to go and watch, how does this person come out on stage? Does she come out with confidence? Does he come out with confidence? Do they come out and own it? Are they shoegazing? Is that working? Are they drawing them

in through their silence? Because not everybody has to talk yeah there's a million ways to go about this it's just like how do you come out and how do you put together a show am i moved by it have you lost the audience i like looking around and seeing what is the audience yeah me too that's the thing most important thing i do too you study the audience right that's all i do i mean as a front, that's your job. Is that why you don't use a set list? Yeah. Because you can't plan it, right? Yeah, if I plan it, it's like I'm in this fucking jam scene sometimes

where it's like they always want a new bit or new scene. I don't dog it. It's made me a better musician. But sometimes the art of freedom, it's like improv basketball. That's why I really think music and basketball have this parallel. You could make plays, do plays, whatnot,

but when you just play with intuition, that's why I loved Kobe. Kobe had a fucking, he had the triangle offense and he had Phil Jackson, but when it was his time to say it's not working right now, Phil let him do it. Yeah.

I think that's like music too. I don't think we should be tied down to something we wrote before the show because in the show something happens. A girl could be pregnant and have a baby. So when you did the jam band scene, how did you get into that? I got into that scene did you i just got i got into that scene because i'd never listened to any of that music never listened to dead i mean i grew up in la punk rock music and yeah i'm like but i got into there because i was my show is just

me running around getting the crowd involved you know taking mushrooms on snage used to snort coke on stage and just on stage you would yeah you said take who's got drugs throw them at me and they'd throw all their drugs at me i just eat them like a fucking crazy person yeah and the jam seemed like we'll take on because i wanted to be a folk artist that was like yeah i was i was obsessed with damien rice's of the world and van morrison and elliot smith elliot smith fuck yes dude and like that's who i wanted to be but i you know i'm also happy and you know i don't want my whole thing to be just sad you know so is your show like when you would play a jam band festival where you're like oh i found my

crowd or did you feel like is this i've let the genie out of the bottle. I can't go back now. It's a mixture of both because I love that crowd. Cause they accept me for who I am. I can't bring it. I can't like go to what's that a pitchfork office and show them, you know, show them my personality or go to a Newport folk festival. You know, they don't fuck with me, those guys. But I've always, that's my basketball team.

That's like my not making the basketball team. I got you. Is like, I've always wanted to be that. I'm supposed to be interviewing you. No, I like this though. Do you know Dan Deacon? Sounds familiar. He does like DJ stuff.

Sounds familiar. He does like DJ stuff. But yeah, so anyways, going and discovering how to play to an audience was like such a big lesson to me. And I remember we were in the Rugburns and we were a duo when we started, two acoustic guitars, kind of like the Smothers Brothers,

but with like- I just listened to that. That was a duo band before? No, that was when we turned into a four piece, but we started as a duo. Same type of feel, though? Folky, weird lyrics, shit that would, like, there was a really kind of uber-snotty folk scene

in San Diego where this woman, Monica, would put on these concerts only on a full moon, and we'd eat vegetarian food, and it was like all this shit. And I was in the Rugburns, and i wanted to be in that world and i was like such a goofball but i also wrote tender songs yeah and i was like they weren't accepting me and i remember this friend of mine gregory page was in that world he was in the rug burns with me later he played bass but he was in that world and he got a show with this lady monica and she was the big folk promoter i remember we were so stoked and he goes do you want to open and i

was like yes and it was at a masonic lodge you know a masonic temple it was called full moon concert series and it was so precious and i don't know what i was thinking but i come out on stage and i thought everybody was i was into performance art and stuff. So I took my shirt off. I did a song that was pretty. And then I took my shirt off and I go, now pretend you're in New York for performance art. And I rubbed Twinkies and Ding Dongs on my body.

Dude. And it was all over the stage and all over me. And she never had me back. And I was like, this was cool, man. What are you talking about? And you got a great evasion yeah she was so mad yeah that you killed she was mad that i did that you know like that's not performance or that's not our folk you know and so why do you have like lessons to learn about like what works like where

to do things that's important huh yeah like i was still didn't you know when you're still feeling it all out yeah like doing drugs on stage yeah vomit part way through the show when we were in the rug burns at kelly's pub so i'd be so fucked up and i'd take the mic outside so people could hear me vomiting and the planners and i'd rip the curtains down i'd destroy this bar the bar where i begged the guy to let me play where he said i'm not paying you i remember we finally me vomiting in the planners and I'd rip the curtains down. I'd destroy this bar, the bar where I begged the guy to let me play, where he said, I'm not paying you. I remember we finally became a big deal because it became so crowded. That was the point I was making was nobody was coming in yet to this bar. And our performances were just, I feel like if you have something,

people are going to come to you. If you have something, you don't ever have to worry about anybody making you a star. You have all the keys, but it takes a lot of work and chutzpah and you have to go out on that stage and kill every night and come loaded for bear. So I would go out there and I would drink, rip the curtains down off the wall, smash the mic stand through those big mirrors that would say Guinness, like those big five-foot mirrors. I would do so much damage. And at the time, he was paying us.

On an acoustic guitar? Yeah, just wreck shit up. And so he would go, well, Steve, because he would do the whole thing. I'd say, you don't have to pay us anything, but pay us a percentage of the bar. And he was from Ireland. He'd go, well, Steve, you would have made $330 tonight, but you did $400 worth of damage.

So I'll take $70 out for next week. If you wouldn't destroy the place, you'd make money. But people would start getting there at 5 p.m. and we wouldn't play till 8. And there'd be a line to get in. Back then you could smoke in bars. Everybody was smoking. Girls would take their tops off

and sit in their bras in the front row it was mass mayhem i would walk across the tables drink vomit take drugs puke into the microphone were you getting pussy so people could hear it yeah get laid just like the whole thing was just like insane getting just like destroying and then coming back the next week and doing it again. And we would make cassettes in the garage because we would have cassette release parties. And then we got signed to a label. Like I remember one night we brought in all these toasters

because every night I would go, tonight we're going to make everybody cinnamon toast at midnight. And we bought eight toasters and blew a fuse in the club and all the power went out because it couldn't we bought eight toasters and blew a fuse in the club and all the power went out because he couldn't handle all the toasters and i remember making everybody's cinnamon toast and everybody'd be like the next week you're making a cinnamon toast again that was so cool i still have people come up and go remember that time you made cinnamon toast for everybody or it'd be eight track night or we'd buy thrift clothes for everybody to put on and like it was a party wow

and we created a scene and it was so cool to be able to do that and then go wow i'm getting i mean we got offered a record deal and then going on the road it was amazing to be able so did were you getting label interest during those crazy shows? No. Nobody wanted anything to do with us. Yeah, save here. The cool thing was I didn't care anymore because I was so into what we were planning for next week that... This is before or after Europe?

This was before and after because I came back from Europe and then went back to that bar again. And then I was like... And you had asked a question, what did I learn there? That's when I learned I never have to go get a job. I realized I could have just stayed in Europe and the universe would take care of me

because I was playing songs for people and I would get all this money that they would put in my guitar case and then we'd go out drinking and we'd have a party and I go, tomorrow tomorrow let's go to so i left london i got into london and i went to ireland and when i went to ireland the world opened up for me because i realized those are my people they love stories they love music

and i never wanted to leave ireland but then i go i'm gonna go to paris and see if i can busk on the streets of paris and make money i did then i I went, I'm going to go to a Muslim country. So I went to Morocco, played on the streets of Morocco. Made money? No, not much. But I bought hash. Oh, Steve, this is insane. So basically the art of saying yes and believing in yourself is, or just basically saying if I'm feeling like I need to change,

I am going to change yes what i love is when i meet another musician that's a hustler and that has diy in their blood yeah that's like i can do this myself i don't need you i love people like that i hate it when i meet people and they're like my daughter's a singer do you know if you could get this to a label you know i tell them all i'm like you're talking the wrong guy i'm not that kind of stuff contests like when people go can you judge a contest fuck no music isn't a contest i want nothing to do the contest you should submit your song to the john lennon contest tell them to suck my dick i'm not fucking doing that music isn't a contest you want a fucking contest

come have a contest with yourself and go out and play a show and fucking win fans over and slowly build a following those are the people i respect the hustlers if somebody's like i'm waiting to get a deal so i can get this you're gonna be waiting a long time and then when you do you're gonna be under their control yeah there's nothing worse than then having a whole bunch of label people go, this is how we want you to be. It's the worst. Be yourself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

And like... It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. Hey, guys, it's Andy. Hope you're having a great podcast day. So, Halftime, we're premiering a new single off our upcoming album

that hasn't been announced yet, but it's one of the songs on the record. It's called Love Hard. I wrote it with Kenny Carkey and Dominic Lally from Big Gigantic. And it features Maggie Rose and Jan Hartswick and then the band as well. I love this tune.

I'm really proud of it. It's about figuring out who you are and figuring out what you love in life and attacking those things you love to the fullest because at the end of the day, that's all we got is our love. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think. If we gave each other love Let's take care, take good care of us We don't gotta rush, we can take it slow

Living on the road until we're old Get a little house in Berlin Whatever we want, ain't no telling yet Love hard, swim far Chase what you want, you might never get older I never knew if I wanted or not Take the lead and see if that chase what you want, you might never get older I never knew if I wanted or not Take the lead and see if that's what you want Love hard, swim far, chase what you want, you might never get older

Love will keep us young Days to abuse, I don't know what to do Taking time off and search for a muse With ideas that chasing love can make me stronger, better But now I'm 32, more confused than ever But I'll bring it right back, you know that I will Cause finding what you want has its setbacks Be authentic to the chase, take a punch for love

Cause she's better than those hoes you have in your hometown Love hard, swim far Chase what you want, you might never get older I never knew if I wanted or not Take the lead and see if that's what you want Love hard, swim far Chase what you want, you might never get older I never knew if I wanted or not

Take the lead and see if that's what you want Heart, love can't take us home Love, love can't take us home Love can't take us home Love hard, swim far, chase what you want, you might never get older I never knew if I wanted or not Take the lead and see if that's what you want Love hard, swim far, chase what you want, you might never get older I don't know what I ever wanna be, I'm the same as what I'm with you

We know we'll be in trouble, let's take care, take the pain We don't gotta run, we can take it slow, feeling on the run, drink till I'm old We'll see you next time. What was the biggest success you ever had in your life? The Jewel song? Yeah, so I'm playing in San Diego, and we get a record deal. We're traveling around. Was it a good deal, or was it like an indie deal? I guess it was an indie deal. Yeah, it was an indie deal.

And then we got, do you know that label that put out NWA? Ruthless Records? Oh, Ruthless, yeah. Yeah, so they signed us after we were signed to Zappa's label. But Ruthless started an indie rock company called Priority Records, but it was in the CNN building in downtown LA where Eazy- easy and those guys would come and bust up the offices because they were mad at jerry heller we got signed to them

so we would go up to that office in cnn and they'd have armed guards because they go some rapper came in with a baseball bat and fucked shit up and i was like this is crazy we're just the rug burns we were like an acoustic guitar duo that were like and then we became a full band and so we would go up to la and we would have these meetings with in that cnn building and so we went out on the road we were playing and then i come back to san diego and there was still the folk scene the real precious folk scene so when i wasn't on the road i had enough notoriety by then as a the leader of the Rugburns that the folks would go, oh, you want to play on this open mic night?

Or not open mic, in the round or a special... So they finally let you back in that place? Well, Java Joes started happening, and they were like, this guy has a following. I'll give him a night to play solo acoustic because I had all these sensitive songs I'd written. So I go in there one night, and we would play poker late at night in Java Joes,

and there would be all these folkies there. And I went in and this girl was there and she was a blonde girl and she was beautiful. And I go, I had a sore throat. And she goes, oh, I'll make you some special tea. And I go, cool. So she makes me this chamomile tea and stuff. And I go, what's your name? She goes, Jewel.

And I go, Jewel? She goes, yeah, just Jewel. And I go, oh, I'm Steve. She goes, I know who you are. I'm a fan of the Rugburns. She goes, how can you help me get a following like the Rugburns have? And so we ended up hanging out all night. And then we were making stained glass art in her van.

She was living in her Volkswagen van. And I was like, you need to find a cool place. So we drove around and looked for a cool coffee house. My goal was always find a bar where nobody else plays. That's what I do with the Rugburns. Because the hipster bars, the Casbah and that yeah they had their own thing going and i was like i'm gonna create my own scene that's why i really appreciate bands like fish yeah who do their own scene they just do that i do respect the fuck out of that awesome and so i was like i'm gonna find my own bar so i took jewel and we found this bar called the interchange and she started playing

there and within a year it was packed just like i told her play every thursday night never deviate make that your residency and people are going to find you because you're really good and so she was going out and buying like lederhosen and shit to wear and like really weird clothes and making um cassettes and the next thing you know to, Tommy Mottola's coming in from Sony Records. Danny Goldberg's coming in from Atlantic Records. There's all these limousines pulling up, offering her record deals. Were you dating her?

Yeah, we were boyfriend and girlfriend at the time. And so I was like going, holy shit, this is like a star is born. I was the guy that was bigger. And then I started getting really drunk and everything. And then she ends up usurping my whole career. It's kind of like a star is born in a weird way. Like gets really huge. Do you have any resentment towards that?

No, because I learned a lot. At the time I did, yeah. At the time you naturally felt that. Like you were getting pissed that she was getting more popular than you? Because just from just being competitive. Profetitial jealousy, yeah. We all have that in a certain way. that she was getting more popular than you because just from just being competitive jealousy yeah um we all have that in a certain way but i have i have a weird way of working through things fast and admitting them and going i'm resentful of this and going well why am i resentful

oh because she's getting way more attention well why is she getting more attention she's not vomiting on stage yeah she's doing really beautiful songs and she sings better than you and this and that and okay it makes sense to me now and she has a big label management and it's working so we went down to mexico ended up on a drug bust with like tons of weed with all these mexican federales out on a boat and they caught all these drug smugglers and me and jewel went down to go surfing in southern california because she liked to surf and so did i we weren't good surfers but we would go down and we were camping together and we ended up these federales said you want to come out on a boat with us and there was all these drug

smugglers and they caught them and got all this weed. And there's photos. If you look online, you should put it on your podcast, actually. I will. Google Jewel Drug Bust photos. And you'll see us with our arms. Yeah, back in like 94. We got our arms around all these cops and we're holding guns. And there's all this weed shoved into a black Suburban. I'm drinking a Corona.

And we're on this drug bust. And that was when we wrote You Were Meant For Me, which was her huge hit, and then she ended up getting signed to Atlantic Records, and then Neil Young saw her, and Neil was like, why don't you come record up at my ranch and live up at my ranch?

You can make the record there, because Neil liked Jules' music, so we went and lived at Neil Young's ranch, and I got to- Did they ever hook up? No. No, just homies. No, yeah, just homies,

and so I went up there and lived at neil young's ranch and we made that record and it was like this uh ben keith who was in the stray gators with neil he produced the record and he's dead now tim drummond played bass he's like the greatest bass players in the stray gators he's dead um the drummer was kenneth buttry he's the drummer that played on bob dylan's rainy day women number 12 and 28 everybody must get stoned yeah you know that song starts it goes and i went in i go that's kenneth fucking buttry and i'm a huge i i'm like a dylanologist i love dylan yeah he's a fellow jew. Yeah, he's a man.

And so I was like, dude, you got Dylan hair even. And the Dylan nose. Yeah, I got it. You have a bit of Dylan in you. Dude. And so you could be, did Dylan get together with your mom? Maybe. If she is, she's-

Dude, you look Dylan-esque. Dude, I would love Dylan, dude. So the drummer did that beat for me. And we made that record. That song became a hit. And then... What did Neil Young... Did you have any conversations with Neil?

I did, yeah. What was that like? I didn't talk a lot to him because he kind of really keeps to himself. But after she made that record and it became a hit, I saw him at a wedding because the guy that did all my artwork did all Neil Young's artwork

and he was getting married and i was by this mexican food buffet at the wedding in topanga canyon it was so la and there was a guy from india doing the ceremony going and there's all these people there and they're all la'd out and i was so nervous and i went up to neil young and i could have said like hey man you like my record answering machine because he like i put out a record called answering machine has 56 songs and they're all 45 seconds long. It has seven bonus tracks. And Neil Young would get stoned and listen to it.

So it was called Answering Machine. It was all my outgoing messages that this guy who owned a little punk rock label in San Diego called Scamorama Records put out the Dragons, a really cool San Diego band. Unbeknownst to me, he was taping all my outgoing messages. And then he put them into this 56 song CD and Neil Young loved it. So I could have gone up and said, Neil, remember me? I lived at your ranch. I played acoustic guitar on Jules' record. We

wrote You Were Meant For Me. I went and you showed me your Lionel trains. That's cool. You do all this work for United Cerebral Palsy. Instead, I just froze and i go you like my album i go like this i go these quesadillas are great and he goes he just like raised his eyebrow and then i go the tortillas taste homemadey i actually said that were you nervous homemadey i was like fucking nervous because i love neil young and then he just walked away from me i know but like how you were in his house i know and i should have just said that you should have just said that. You should have just said that. I know.

Do you regret not saying that? No, because it's such a good stage story. I would sell myself out for a good stage story. Let's fucking go, Steve. We are kindred spirits, dude. We are. Dude, so I want to know about these. You say you have an addicted personality.

Yeah. So what happened? What was the final straw? What were you doing? Coke, heroin? What were you doing? I was doing a lot of Coke. A lot.

I couldn't drink without doing Coke. Could you perform without doing Coke? Yeah, I could perform not drinking or doing Coke. Totally. But what happened was every time I drank, I would say to somebody, can you get me some Coke? It was like, you know how some people smoke when they when they drink yeah you have to have a cigarette after a beer

yeah um for me it was like i had to have a line of coke and so i'd always say to the sound person hey can you get me some coke and then i would a gram was not enough i needed at least an eight ball and i would do it all night hang out with people invite everybody back to my hotel room and then i'd have to drive you know to get to the next show and i was alone a lot on the road so i'd be like i have to take a valium and then i got a major label deal i got signed to mercury universal records huge record deal yeah huge and they gave me like 150 000 to make a video for a song i have called silver lining it's on youtube look up silver lining official video they blocked 150k they got a whole block downtown blocked off they had to close it down to film me on a bed in the middle

of a street like the shit they used to do to make videos i know the permits and the whole fucking nine dude and i had like 150 000 budget to make the record i made it at ocean way i had all the best players on it and everything and then i kept doing coke drinking and i was like got into um smoking crack like i would end up with like people in atlanta that were like totally just living on the street you know yeah going let's go get more coke i remember i was with this one dude one night and it was like three nights and i had to be somewhere but i was in atlanta on an abandoned couch in a field and it was this old dude and i remember he was an old black dude and i remember going he was going i remember him touching my face going your skin is so beautiful and i was like so is yours and i remember looking him in the eye he was like probably 70 and smoking crack and i remember

looking at my eyes going i love you and he goes i love you too i go we're so in love like i really meant it at the time like i loved him like i let's go to my atm and get more crack so we can go get more and it was like the highs you have doing that too is like crack is crazy like that and then you're just like and then i remember i got on a plane i had to go somewhere and i was trying to snort the crack on a plane my nose was bleeding it was 7 a.m and there's businessmen next to me i'm ordering double vodka um and orange juices and i somehow would make it to the shows i don't know how and then i eventually like fell i ended up in the hospital one night because i od'd i thought i was going to have a heart attack and i went in an ambulance and they were like you're going to be dead and then i do

more coke and then i collapsed in an airport fell down by yourself were you by yourself myself and then i was supposed to go to australia i got an argument with this girl i was seeing i was just gonna buy a ticket to australia and i fell asleep i flew from san diego to lax and then i missed my connection because i fell asleep in the baggage terminal the cops were waking me up and my luggage that was back before 9-11 or i think and my luggage went to australia without me my guitar and everything and then i remember i finally i knew this attorney who had gone to rehab and i was like fuck man i never want to call this guy because i don't want to admit i'm done yeah i remember i called him and he answered his own phone at his

work which never happens hello steve he goes i go michael and he goes steven he goes you're in trouble aren't you i go yeah he goes call this number right now I remember I called this number I go and see this guy at rehab the guy's like I've seen a lot of people and I know exactly where you're at

you'll be dead in a week and he goes you're just you're on an elevator that's going way down cause I was like doing he goes

what are you doing I was telling him smoking crack were you still with Jewel it was long after that we had broken up yeah were you depressed or jewel this long after that we had broken up yeah and were you depressed

or anything i think yeah i think i was you know i think that we all are yeah you know i i had there's two sides to me i mean i'm like i'm totally happy yeah but i also we all have darkness yeah and so yeah i think i was like like that song we read, I was trying to fill a hole in my heart or something. Yeah, exactly. And so then I was like, I'm going to die. So I did rehab 28 days. And then after 28 days, they graduated everybody. And then when it came time for me to graduate,

they go, not so fast, Abernathy. Hold on. A couple of things for this. Did you have money right now? Because you had that big deal with Mercury. Yeah. So did you blow all of that? No, I still had money and suitcases and shit.

Like fucking hundreds of thousands of dollars in suitcases and shit. So they didn't think you were ready to get out of rehab? They knew I wasn't, and they were right. So I had to do 28 more days. They were like, you're special. And then they let me out. And then I was like, I would go to 28 more days. They were like, you're special. And then they let me out. And then I was like, I would go to meetings and stuff. Was it hard to get back into real world after rehab?

Yeah. And I remember my biggest worry, this is so funny, was getting on stage because I used to sell T-shirts that said, I drink like Pulse. That's how much I would drink on stage. I would bill myself as the Dean Martin of folk singers. Because I thought it was cool to be like Charles Bukowski. Yeah, me too.

That was my idols. Yeah, The Replacements. The self-loathing people. One of my favorite band ever, The Replacements. Oh, The Replacements, amazing. I can quote any song by Paul Westerberg. It's like they were my heroes. And so we wanted to be the replacements, you know?

And then I remember I was like, I got to have a drink on stage that looks like I'm drinking. So I was like, I spent all this time worrying. This makes me laugh so hard now. I'm like, okay, I know what I'll do. I'll have a glass. That's a tumbler. And I'll put cranberry juice and fizzy water and a lime in it.

And keep bringing me. I'm going to act drunk. I can't let people know. You're worried that people are going to not show up. Yeah, I got off Coke and I was worried about that. Do you still do Coke? No, I'm off three years. Whoa.

You still drink, right? Oh, yeah, like a fish. But see, I wouldn't be able to. If I drank, I would have to do Coke. You don't. I don't. That's cool. Were you doing a lot of Coke if I drank, I would have to do coke. You don't. I don't. That's cool. Were you doing a lot of coke?

I was. I was doing a bunch. I'd probably smash an eight ball in a night. Yeah. I would have been great with you. Do a show or like. But then wouldn't you be really depressed when you came down? Yeah, I was just a dick to my bands and I was just trying to chase girls and just have

a bunch of one night stands and you know and I wake up from the one night stand hung over as shit and had to get in the van drive eight hours with my band who was also doing a bunch of coke and we just all didn't like each other in the mornings and like we had to like not talk in the van for like six hours to each other

and then you do it again the next night I know that feeling it was like kind of like a vicious circle. You don't know how you could get out of it. Yeah, I haven't drank in 16 years, which is crazy or dumb. So when you got out of rehab, you said nothing. I'm done with it all. Yeah.

And how old were you? 36? You're 61 right now? Yeah, so whatever 16 years ago is. And you had that major deal. 44 maybe. You had a big major deal at 40? I got my deal in 97, 98, 38 years old.

I'm a late bloomer, but I look young for my age maybe, so people didn't know. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a late starter. So for anybody who's out there listening to this, it's never too late. Yeah. Never.

And it keeps you young. I mean, you're way younger than any 61-year-old. Like I think of John Craigie, for instance. He's got a shot at the title. What, for songwriter? Like to be like, he could get even way bigger because he's got youth still on his side and he's great. And I love him so much that I think like,

man, that guy has a shot at the title. Maybe, you never know. I agree, he's my favorite artist. Jack Johnson shot, you know what I mean? Oh, that big. Yeah, because I could totally see that. Yeah, or who knows? You know what I mean? Oh, that big. Yeah, because I could totally see that. Yeah. Or who knows?

You know, who knows? You do. Anything could happen with what you're doing. Yeah, but those are different. Because your thing's based on honesty. Yeah. And you're going out there and you're pouring your heart out. You have this podcast. You're going to do little parts in movies.

You're scoring stuff. Dude, your shit could blow up huge. I think I'm on the pulse route. Cool. Just being exactly who I am at that exact moment and if it happens it happens. That brings you joy. Then you're not relying on anybody else to

make you. Yeah, and I finally got there. Were you ever into G Love? Yeah, I love G Love. Garrett's the man. Do you know him? Yeah, I've gotten closer with him through the quarantine. Has he done this with you? Yeah. He'd be great, too.

Yeah, he was great. His story was great about opening. Yeah. And he was opening for all these rap artists. And he's this white dude. Yeah. Playing his fucking love songs and shit. Yeah, you're thinking blow, huge.

Yeah, but I was so worried about that. Oh, when're thinking blow, huge. Yeah, but I'm also so worried about that. When am I going to blow up? When am I going to blow up? Until I stopped thinking about that and then I blew up. Or got more popular. I'm not huge. I'm just like a minor league celebrity.

But your podcast is getting a lot of listeners. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're inspiring people. Totally. You're doing good work. I appreciate you there. Thanks, Steve. I just want to be honest and show people that honesty is the most important thing.

Stop trying to be someone else because someone else wants you to be that. Yeah, man. When I was touring with the Rugburns and then that all ended and I had this hit with Jewel, then I was like, I'm going to be this solo folk singer now. And I had to learn a lot how to play without a band on stage and how to carry a show. Yeah.

How hard is that? It's easy now. But back in the day, i was dying on stage like you bomb hard bombed hard i remember one night i opened for lucinda williams at uh slims in san francisco and i didn't even go back where i had my merch out to sell i left it and never went back to get it i walked out the back of the club and i was like i can't even see one off are you on tour with her and i did the same thing another night i opened for a guy who's now my friend he's awesome named dan byrne do you know him short for dan bernstein one of your people from my people dude you got to talk to him

yeah is he crazy he's just a really cool songwriter. Like fucking amazing. He was on Ani DiFranco's label. He's one of my favorite songwriters. But I opened for him once at this club called Rosebud in Pittsburgh. And I never went back and got my merch there, too. There were times where I bombed. I was so hating myself.

Were you embarrassed or what? I let that voice in my head, there's a voice that can get in your head that goes, that dude in the second row hates your guts. That girl right there, she can't stand you. These people just want to see whoever you're opening for. Oh my God, just get off the stage. You're worthless.

Can you even play these songs? That voice, I had to learn to shut the, I had to learn to kick the shit out of that voice in a back alley brawl and never let it up again what'd you do to turn it off that voice's throat i had to keep playing i had to get my 10 000 hours in and get that confidence up yeah oh i got this now i'm like learn some tricks of the trade. An audience is like a horse and a horse knows if you're scared of it when you get on it.

A horse knows and an audience knows. If you walk out and you don't fucking have that swagger and take control, the audience will eat you alive. They will. It's a wild animal. And a mob is crazy. You got to control the mob.

I know. Do you know what I mean? Especially when you're by yourself. That's why I respect fucking stand-up comedians so much. Yeah. I always have a stand-up guy open for us. That's why I like being able to do what I do because I sometimes go out and I go,

tonight I'm going to start my show and I'm going to grab the mic off the stand and I'm not going to hold my guitar and I'm going to walk around for 20 minutes and talk. And then end by saying, I know you thought I was stand and I'm not going to hold my guitar and I'm going to walk around for 20 minutes and talk and then end by saying I know you thought I was here to sing my songs but I hate music it all sounds like noise

to me and then they're just dying and then go goodnight and drop the mic and then come back out and go sorry just kidding that's like a really fun thing for me to do is go out and just fucking talk and then fucking fly by the seat of my pants and see if this is going to work.

He's a great talker. Half the set is talk. And you've got to be a really damn good storyteller. You've got to be really good at improv to pull something like that off. You do. That's why

he's my Kobe. That's why he's my Kobe. That's cool. Have you written with him? No, not yet, but we started becoming friends during quarantine, and we talk now a bunch. You guys should write together, too. Oh, no, all three of us. We should Frasco, Craigie, Pultz.

Let's do it. Do a fucking storyteller. That could be the name of our accounting firm too. Frasco, Craigie, and Pultz, law partners. Fuck, Steve. So give me, I could go on for hours. So what happened was, yeah, man. So after I did all that, I got the record deal

and then I went back out. I lost everything. The record deal dropped me i was with caa huge creative artist agency i had the best of everything and they all dropped me and then i was back out and then me and jewel broke up and then i was back out in my van a volkswagen van staying in trailer parks driving on the road no agent and then i got this little agent to book me this girl and she started booking me and i was like had to like rise from the ashes and do it all again and then i went that's why i'm

more appreciative and i'm a rescue dog so when these things come in that are small festivals that most people are jading i have to work again i'm like thank you yes i'm so grateful to do this shit then i'm like i get to do this i made the team yeah and so my best days are ahead of me yeah like after watching it all and being in the rug burns watching that implode because that was crazy i remember one night i got in a fist fight with our drummer full-on fucking punch up and this journalist i think was following us and we were in Washington DC, they were doing a story on us. And I said, I don't know, we were really drunk and we would drive, we shouldn't have driven and shit.

And I was behind the wheel of the van driving. And I was like, we got in an argument about something, money. It was money about a bill in a restaurant. And he threw a bottle cap at my head and i go you fucking throw one more thing at me i'm stopping this van in the middle of this road and i'm kicking your ass and he threw a bottle and it bounced off my head and i had there was a journalist i think in the car and i slammed it to a stop at a red light and i opened the side of the van pulled the drum out and we were full-on fucking punching.

What did the journalists do? Stop, guys. They're scared or they're just writing. Like, this fucking sucks. And I think it was a radio guy. That's what it was. And we fucking punching each other. Bloody lips, eyes, the cops show up,

and we're on the ground rolling around. Who called the cops? Some other car or something, somebody outside. We busted through somebody's fence, I think somebody's house. It was a full-on fight that went on for a few minutes, and the cops handcuffed us and then threw us in the back of the car,

and then they were like, we don't have time to deal with this shit. They took the cuffs off, let us go. They had to do something else. Broke up the then this is in la san diego it was in dc and then the drummer stinky was his name he was like i'm flying home i'm quitting the band i was like fuck you go i remember we went back to the hotel i go i'll buy you a ticket home and then he was gonna leave and then the next morning we were next to like a fucking like a waffle house or some shit you know and i think it was in virginia and i was sitting at the counter and i walk in and the waitress was like holy shit and my eye was all puffed out my lips all swollen

and i was like steve buscemi in the movie fargo. And I go, you should shoot the other guy. When Steve Buscemi gets shot through the face. And I go, you should shoot the other guy. And then 10 minutes later, Stinky walks in and he sees me. And she goes, that's him. And his eyes all swollen. And then I looked at him and he looked at me and I go, come here. And he comes over. We hugged each other like brothers will do.

Sat down and ate. I go, you're not quitting he goes no and that night we played the greatest show i've ever played in my life i really believe we didn't drink we didn't do any drugs and there was that tension from the fight yeah the band almost broke up like something i would have put us against any band in the world that night i didn't care if you're fucking led zeppelin or anybody i would have put us against any band in the world that night i didn't care if you're fucking led zeppelin or anybody we would have fucking we were giving anybody a run for their money that night it was like one of our great shows and then i remember those guys flew home and i drove the van down old route 66 i go why don't you guys fly home and then i met joe strummer and taught him how to play blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas on the way home.

Were you clean here? No. You were fucked up. Rugburn's drinking. Yeah. Yeah. No, I didn't until way later. And then I eventually had a stroke on stage.

What? Yeah, about six years ago, six or seven years ago, I was on stage in Wil welmington delaware at the world cafe live and i went blind on stage and that's what got me into the dead was i so i went blind i lost my vision and then i ended up in the hospital for like seven days and um my vision came back but i couldn't read when it came back and my head up it's like somebody whacked me in the head like words made no sense to me and then it all came back but i after having the stroke somebody picked me

up in a car from the hospital and they were playing the song ripple by the dead i started crying i was like who's this you don't know this isn't like i don't know and they go it's the grateful dead eyes how old were you when you found they go, it's the Grateful Dead. How old were you when you found out about the Dead? It's like seven years ago. And then I learned like every song. I was like, this is the greatest band ever. These songs are so good. So I tell people on stage it took a stroke to get me into the Dead.

For the music to make sense to me. Oh, Steve. What the fuck? So I got so many questions, Steve. What the fuck? So I got so many questions, dude. Your second go around at this career. Yeah. What'd you learn from your first go around to help you with the second go around?

That it was fun when I was younger to have them turn the power off on me, which had happened a lot to me. I would be so high and I'd be laughing or I'd be so drunk and they would say, you call that a show and wouldn't pay me. Or they'd turn the power off at an outdoor thing where they said this is a family event and we'd start singing, Sky fucking Lana Toronto.

I'm just thinking that was funny. I learned that you've got to kind of pick and choose your battles and play ball the right way. So I learned like, I want to succeed rather than trying to deliberately shoot myself in the foot, which I thought was a cool thing to do. Like fuck shit up. It was fun when I was younger.'t get me wrong yeah but as i got older i was like oh i can actually really have fun playing and play festivals and do all this shit and now i walk on stage and i have no fucking fear because i've had guns pulled on me i've od'd on coke crack i've had a stroke i punched people out in the audience when i was younger on you yeah like um buying drugs

in pittsburgh one night i got held a gun to my head like crazy scary people i had a club on her shoot somebody in a club one night and i just seen a lot of crazy shit i punched people in the audience when i was in the rug burns like just you know we were playing some fucking divy bars we started our tours and yeah in tijuana mexico and i was a scrapper because i was a wrestler in high school so i was like i don't take shit from anybody like i'm nice but i always say to people don't mistake kindness for weakness because i do not take fucking shit from anybody and so what i learned as i got older was fuck yeah man i'm going for this now like i've i almost did all this crazy stuff and now when i play a show i appreciate it more and i appreciate when good things happen and i also feel i deserve it

maybe i thought i didn't deserve it yeah now i feel like i deserve to have this i deserve to nurture it no i don't regret it at all i love that I have scars on me and I love that. I love everything that's happened. Like everything that's happened is, for lack of a better term, God's plan, whatever God is. God is like this, Dylan has a song called Every Grain of Sand, how every hair is numbered, every grain of sand. It's like one of my favorite Dylan songs. So my idea of god is this interconnectedness like have you ever taken mushrooms every day and you walk down the street

yeah and you're like i am one with these trees like you fucking can hear the trees breathing you hear the birds and you realize whoa there is so much going on right now. The universe is so big and we're so connected and it would be so much easier if we loved. It would be so much easier. Palestine, Israel, are you listening? Everybody out there, proud boys, are you listening? Like if you just let your hate go and smiled and surrendered to love do you know how beautiful it would be yeah and we're so dumb we're surrendering to the moment because you're seeing all this

because you're finally becoming present yeah present with the audience on stage that's why i don't ever use a set list i don't even know what i'm opening with like craigie keeps a log of everything i'm of a different school and i appreciate craigie's school i think that's amazing to be able to go out and my school is totally more like if james taylor had a kid with robin williams or something and so like for the improv part of just like going off and not knowing what direction it's going in and then throwing in some punk rock of the replacements or something like that, like influences that you have.

And so, but like if people would surrender to love and it's not always easy to do, but really just go, God, how can I make this person's day better yeah what can i do do you think like um if you working and being distracted all the time do you have like a push and pull with your head about if you're giving love to your lovers that's a great question dude you can have a career in psychotherapy. Yeah. I think that I fail at that every day.

I'm married and I, I, she doesn't want to work as much as I do. You know, I'm hard to be with because I'm constantly saying, I'll just take this one show. And like some of the offers are shitty. It's not like I'm some huge star and I do constantly saying, I'll just take this one show. And like some of the offers are shitty. It's not like I'm some huge star and I do all right.

But some of these offers, like I remember back when it was starting, they're like, hey, listen, you're going to have to drive 10 hours. It's past the hat. But they like you. I'm like, they like me? Okay, 10 hours? No guarantee? I'm there. I used to do all that kind of shit

now I'm not at that level thank god but it's like I did a million of those gigs like you have to be insane anybody who gets to this level Bruce Springsteen anyone has fucking lugged amps upstairs been stiffed on payments had indifferent crowds

had a broken heart have broken someone's heart have have been a selfish asshole, have vomit, you know, just everything. And so, yeah, I think that it's hard for, you know, my wife Sharon to be with me because I'm constantly, she'll always say stuff like, Steve has left the building. Like she's trying to tell me something and I'm deep in my phone writing.

Like even the stupidest things. This is like as recent as yesterday. Let me see it. What do you got? I'm just sitting there and she's trying to talk to me about buying a new oven. And she's going, she goes, are you even listening to me? What are you doing right now? And I'm like, huh?

And she's trying to talk to me. And I don't know. I'm going to find this because this is a good question. Do you mind if I find it? I don't mind. Yeah. So she's trying to talk to me. Oh, my God.

You're writing. You wrote that. As she's talking to me, I. Oh my God, you're writing, you wrote that. As she's talking to me, I don't know why I'm writing this. She's wanting me to look at ovens and stuff we're doing about my taxes that I got to get done. Yeah. And this is how insane I am. At the same time I'm talking to her about my taxes, I'm writing,

Fleeter Brickens was a traveling salesman. He was lactose intolerant and had terrible dandruff. He would profusely sweat from his armpits when he was nervous, and he was always nervous. He had a musty scent of moldy gym clothes and a restless leg that would always twitch. On a good day, he smelled like damp urine on an old mattress. His glasses would fog up,

and he took at least three shits every single day. He was constantly in search of a private toilet. And then I'd look at him and go, yeah, I think that would be a good oven to get. Yeah, I like the wolf. And then I'd go in like this. Fleeter was depressed and also optimistic. He was sure the world was going to deal him a bad hand.

He was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yet he was also very happy, although the happiness was fleeting. He dreamed that one day he would own a fleet of boats. He was going to start a business and call it Fleeters Fleeting Floating Fleets. A work acquaintance loaned him $1,000, and he used it to buy meth and ice cream why not he was bored and needed an escape anything to take his mind off his minefield of a life the meth and the ice cream didn't help his digestive system one bit one day he took a crap in a hotel lobby a

marriott courtyard while wiping his ass he noticed that his finger accidentally pushed through the toilet paper and he felt the poo moisture go under his middle fingernail. He couldn't stop himself from smelling his own finger. He hated to admit it, but he kind of liked it. He washed his hands all day long, but there was a distant musky scent of butthole on his finger, and throughout the day he would surreptitiously sniff the stinky finger to take his mind off of his thoughts of dread at lunch he ordered a quesadilla del taco and only ate it with his left hand just in case his right hand wasn't totally clean he had standards he'd have conversations with himself and say stuff like oh so the finger is alluring enough to constantly smell but too dirty to hold a quesadilla yes i think that oven would be good, honey. He hated himself.

He hated his rotten teeth, but he kind of liked his crooked nose. There were always fresh boogers to pick and flick. One day he was driving down the interstate. He was trying not to fart because he couldn't trust it to be a true fart. It wouldn't be the first time he'd shat himself whilst driving, so he held it in and picked one of the bountiful boogers from his nose.

He tried to flick that sticky booger out of the window, but it was hanging on for dear life. No matter how many times he rolled that booger around on his thumb and forefinger, the poor little booger would not loosen up. He was going 80 miles an hour with his hand hanging out of the window, and that booger was hanging on for dear life. He couldn't flick it out the window, so he wiped it on his stomach, but the wiping of the booger was more likely a push in his belly and it pushed out the untrustworthy fart which quickly became a shart

he sharted a big one and it stunk so bad that the woman next to him at the red light rolled up the windows in her chevy bonneville for a minute fleeter brickens even thought he would vomit up the quesadilla but it only threw up a little in his mouth he arrived at work and decided he needed to drive back home to take a shower and get clean underwear there was no way he could go into work smelling like a freshly sharded shard he was sleepy and grossed out so he snorted a line of meth and called his bookie and placed a hundred dollar bet on the nicks after a shit shower and shave he returned to work sat his desk smelling his middle finger he smiled and whispered to himself, right now, everything is cool and I'm happy.

This is the best I can hope for. Life is good. Oh my God. At the same time, I'm like, we're ordering stuff for the kitchen. And that's how insane I am because that was just yesterday. And I'm writing that story in my head. Do you like writing short stories like that?

Love. It's so rad. You have so much imagery in your in your writing dude i i was there oh you were good i was there smelling the shit on the on the finger and cleaning off because he's afraid that he's gonna get staph infection Steve so yeah you're America's poet I love writing and being able to do this

yeah yeah yeah we can eat we'll wrap this up we are so being able to do all this and being able to make a living doing it is the most amazing thing so i just i keep making records and this is the crazy thing i'm dumb

enough to believe the next one i'm swinging for the title The next one's going to take me where I need to go. I truly, you have to be crazy and have delusions of grandeur. I still believe I'm going to be huge and nothing's going to stop me. I'm insane. I'm like, this next record's going to send me over the top. This is my moment.

Same. You need that. You have to have it. People call it crazy, but I know I need that. If I know that it. People call it crazy, but some people, I know I need that. If I know that I'm going to fail at something, it's like you not trying out for the basketball team. Yeah. Full circle. It's like we were put on this earth to inspire and move people.

Yeah. That's our job, man. My job isn't to go out and stare at my feet on stage and shoegaze my job is to make these people forget how shitty whatever's happening in their own lives are because we all have shit we deal with crappy days but if i can give them a 90 minute vacation and give them a sense of redemption and have them go well at least I'm not as fucked up as that guy. That's a beautiful thing. And he's laughing.

It's true. And I think a lot of my fans think that about me as well. It's like, oh, this guy's fucking insane. But he got me through something. But this is so cool to be able to meet you. And, you know, here I am 61 years old born in 1960 and i'm still doing it and dude i'm never quitting you're never quitting no i'm fucking insane i will keep touring and playing because that's what i get off on i would hate to just be a nashville staff writer

oh yeah kill me tomorrow kill me now if all I had to do was sit and write some country songs with people in a room, like paint my numbers country, no. No. That would be a Faustian bargain I will not take. Oh, my God. Well, thank God you're here. Thank God the universe put me in the place where a guy like Steve Pultz is alive.

Well, people kept telling, I love you too. People kept telling me we needed to meet. Yeah, by multiple people. I know, right? Yeah, it's insane. I'll leave with this and we'll go have some lunch. Steve, what do you want to be remembered by? I want to be remembered as a dude that made me smile and he made me feel

good when I saw him. He made me feel accepted. Thanks for being on the show, buddy. Yeah. Thank you. Let's go eat. And there you have it. Wasn't that fucking tight? Steve Pultz, Frasco, finally me. And it was the knowledge I needed and the reassurance I needed that the lifestyle I am living, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Cause you know, I, I party, I fucking drink my ass off. You know, this people, I don't take Coke anymore, but I eat a shit ton of mushrooms and, um and fucking drink my ass off, work hard, play hard. That's how, that's always my motto. And to know that you could get out of that shit whenever you want and be the person you want to be anytime in your life was inspiring. So thank you, Steve Poole. Shout out to Steve. Let's fucking go, Steve. Let's go. My man.

All right, guys. It's going. My man. All right, guys. It's going to be fun. I got a whole week in LA. I'll tell you all about it. I'm recording with Eric Krasnow for three days. The band's flying in. We're going to write some fucking funk power tunes. I think Jesus from Les is going to be our bass player for it. Then I'm working with Rick Parker. I've been doing a lot of records with Rick. He's done like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Lord Huron. So I'm going to do a couple songs with him. And then we fly home as a band to the journey to Red Rocks, May 27th.

The band is coming in four days early. You know we don't practice, people. We are practicing for this. We're giving you exactly the show you deserve for paying $60 to see Frasco. So let's do this shit. All right, guys. I love you. Thank you, everyone, for still listening to the podcast.

I got some crazy interviews. I'm interviewing, I won't tell you who, but I'm interviewing for someone that starts with the R and ends with the stones, the Rolling Stones. And that could be next week. It could be the week after I'm posting it, but we got a lot of good ones. We got Maddie Madison. I'm interviewing. I got Frank Turner coming on the show. I got this new band called La Special, who I really like. And I got Sun Little on the show. I mean, we got a bunch of people that I'm about to fucking interview again now that the songwriting tour is over

and I'm back to podcast mode. Oh man, this life is crazy. Doing podcasts at 7 a.m., writing songs at 9 a.m., living the dream. Like I said before, don't put a timeline on your dreams. Just keep going. All right, guys, I love you. Be safe. Shout out to't put a timeline on your dreams. Just keep going. All right, guys, I love you. Be safe. Shout out to Repsy. Shout out to you. Shout out to you. And shout out to you.

Because at the end of the day, this is all we got. So we might as well enjoy the ride and not put too much stress on ourselves. All right. I love you. And I'll talk to you next week. You tuned in to the World Settler Podcast with Andy Fresco, now in its fourth season. Thank you for listening to All right. I love you and I'll talk to you next week. stars iTunes Spotify wherever you're picking this shit up follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates Prescott's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfrescott.com and check our socials to see what's up next might be a video dance party a showcase concert that crazy shit show or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain and after a year of keeping clean and playing safe the band is back on tour. We thank our brand new talent book on Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host

and all the fringy frenzies that help make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe and we will be back next week. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast as far as we know. Any similarities, interactions or knowledge, facts or fakes

purely coincidental.