A dude named Steve Poltz (me) in East Nashville gets a call from another East Nashville dude, Dex Green: "You live so close. Come make some music. Maybe it's a record."

Capturing me in a studio is like convincing a whirling dervish to stop spinning long enough to sign a bill into law. Chaos, caffeine, and accidental poetry. That's how JoyRide happened: no seatbelts, no helmets, just real humans making real noise in real time.

JoyRide is my 14th solo album. It opens with "If It Bleeds It Leads," drifts into "Petrichor" (that smell after rain), and gets cosmic on "At It Again," a co-write with Jim Lauderdale. There's a phone call with Jesus about encyclopedias ("The Son of God"), a rowdy Vince Herman co-write, a guy who tattooed his lover's face on his own face, and the closer, "Hairlift," home to my favorite line ever, something about ping pong with Mao Zedong.

Ten songs, no filter, no map. Thanks to Dex Green for luring me in.

Party on, weirdos.

— Steve Poltz