Born in Halifax and raised in Palm Springs, California, songwriter and Ann Arbor Folk Festival Friday MC Steve Poltz launched Jewel's career when he invited her up to sing on stage at a San Diego coffeehouse. Steve himself has recorded for Mercury and for his own 98 Pounder label, the name referring to his high-school wrestling weight. Over the course of his life he’s met Elvis Presley (who hugged his sister for far too long), trick-or-treated at Liberace’s house (each finger had a diamond ring), was Bob Hope’s favorite altar boy (according to him), and bravely traveled the world busking before he knew how to do it. His eclectic songbag is an unpredictable mixture of comic and serious, sometimes within the same song, and his stage presence is a wonderfully unpredictable freeform mix of elements. X frontman John Doe once said, "My idea of hell would be having Steve Poltz open for me every day. There's no place left for the audience to go." Steve Poltz was our Friday-night MC for the 2015 Ann Arbor Folk Festival.