Steve Poltz and a kale salad

I’m a firm believer that almost everything you need to know about a person can be determined over lunch.

It’s certainly a far better gauge of personality than the music they download, the clothes they wear or the car they drive. I always get so frustrated when I’m watching “Law and Order” and the cops find all their clues by looking at the victim’s bookshelf. I end up screaming at the TV, “That book doesn’t mean your victim was in a cult! Maybe she went through a harmless Wiccan phase!”

No, if you really want some insight into a person, just grab lunch. (Obviously that’s not an option for the “L&O” cops, since their victim is dead and therefore is not a quality lunch companion. But this is my analogy, and it works for me.)

My theory was confirmed the other day when I grabbed a salad with Steve Poltz, a musician I have liked for a long time.

This is Steve. I stole this photo off his website.

 

If you aren’t already familiar with Steve Poltz, here’s the quick and dirty low-down: He hails from Palm Springs. He formed a band called The Rugburns, and they played all over the world. The band eventually parted ways, but Steve Poltz continues to play solo. He dated the singer Jewel for a while and wrote a lot of songs for/with her, including the hit “You Were Meant for Me.” You can also see him in the video for that tune.

He’s the one who is not Jewel.

 

You might also remember this Jeep commercial, which used his song, “You Remind Me.”

 

I used to listen to The Rugburns when I was growing up in Ohio. Those were the pre-internet years, when a teenager in the Midwest had to acquire new music by any means necessary, which included using fake IDs to get into 21-and-up shows, trading music with your friends and shoplifting. I was so hungry for music, I would use a VCR to tape the MTV show “120 Minutes,” then play it back while I held my cassette player against the speaker to record the music from the TV. The result was scratchy and shitty and low quality, but it was music and it fed me.

I damn near wore out my cassette tape of The Rugburns’ “Morning Wood,” my reward for trading in albums by Public Image Limited and Frente.

“Morning Wood” was a fixture in my little red Chevette (no relation to the Prince song), until the tape met an untimely end during an irrational, hallucinogen-fueled drive to Chillicothe in the middle of the night.

RIP, beloved Rugburns tape. Now I will just enjoy your songs on YouTube.

 

Through happenstance and a great friend named Dean Lockwood, I ended up having lunch with Steve Poltz the other day. It was delightful. Here’s what I learned about him.

1. Steve Poltz stands up to greet people.

2. He has a firm handshake. Not aggressive, not floppy, but appropriately in the middle.

3. He is kind to servers. As someone who was once a waitress, I can tell you this is a huge indication of overall character.

4. He ordered the kale salad, a meal that is both nourishing and hearty without any added pretense. That probably says something about Steve, but I’m not going to go so far as to compare him to kale. Also, he ate his food with gusto but paused long enough to offer everyone else a bite.

5. He politely listened to all of my boring stories. If you know me at all, you also know I tend to babble when I get nervous or excited. So the fact that Steve Poltz put up with this and was still nice to me by the end of the meal — well, that says a lot.

6. He really, truly loves making music. Steve has spent decades on the road — not for adulation and fortune it could bring, but because he genuinely enjoys doing it. He has a strong musical point of view, and he has remained true to his artistic integrity.

Put all of that together, and you’ll understand why I can’t wait for Steve’s show next weekend in Palm Springs. Proceeds from the backyard benefit concert will raise money for the Palm Springs Kiwanis Club literacy program and the Boys & Girls Club. (Cool piece of trivia: Steve Poltz participated in the local Boys & Girls Club program in the 1970s.)

The show is Saturday, Oct. 15 and is a mere $20. Click here for tickets.

I’m definitely going to be there on Saturday. So is my dad.

If you don’t already have plans, show your support for some good causes and a good-guy musician. And if you do already have plans, break them. This is going to be worth it.