Anthology

Steve Poltz has been San Diego’s unofficial poet-laureate since he was a member of the alt-rock duo The Rugburns in the late 1990s. His best known song, “You Were Meant For Me,” was a huge hit for former San Diegan Jewel.

Poltz has also collaborated with A.J. Croce and his song “Everything About You” (his personal favorite) appears on the soundtrack album to the movie “Notting Hill.”

Poltz’s latest album, “Dreamhouse,” was released earlier this year.

His album, “Answering Machine,” a self-released album composed of 56 separate45-second songs which Poltz recorded as outgoing messages on his telephone message recorder while he was on tour is reportedly one of Neil Young’s favorite records.

The title of his album, “Chinese Vacation,” was inspired by a songwriting game that Steve played while on the road with musicians Bob Schneider and Glenn Tillbrook. One person would introduce a theme, such as “Friendly Fire,” and everyone would have 24hours to come up with a song involving that theme. So from this game came the titular track as well as “Friendly Fire,” which opens the album.