Steve Poltz Shares 'If It Bleeds It Leads' To Announce New Album JoyRide
(BHM) Veteran troubadour Steve Poltz has announced his eagerly awaited new album, JoyRide, arriving via Red House Records on Friday, January 30, 2026. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Dex Green (known for his GRAMMY Award-nominated work with such artists as Shemekia Copeland, Elvis Costello, Margo Price, and Nicole Atkins), JoyRide includes the typically topical first single, "If It Bleeds It Leads," premiering today at all streaming services.
"'If It Bleeds, It Leads' was so much fun to record because it was challenging - and I love a good challenge," says Steve Poltz. "I used Emmylou Harris's rhythm section: Bryan Owings on drums and Christopher Donohue on bass. Dex Green played this weird-sounding keyboard that added to the whole vibe, along with my acoustic guitar. I wrote the song after watching the news with some people who were yelling at the TV screen. I had to leave the room and immediately write this song."
Poltz's 14th solo album and first new LP in close to four years, JoyRide sees the acclaimed tunesmith teaming with producer/multi-instrumentalist Dex Green at 3Sirens, a historic home studio in East Nashville, TN, for an high-spirited, sharp-witted collection of 10 brand new songs that includes such sure-to-be fan favorites as "Fixin' Up" (a three-way co-write with Americana legend Jim Lauderdale and 2018 CCMA Songwriter of the Year, Skip Black) and the rowdy "Love a Little Bigger," co-written with longtime pal Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon.
"Capturing me in a studio is like convincing a whirling dervish to stop spinning long enough to sign a bill into law," says Poltz. "It's chaos, caffeine, and accidental poetry - art colliding with microphones and commerce in a glorious mess. That's how JoyRide happened. No seatbelts, no helmets. Just unsaturated, unadulterated art. Real humans making real noise in real time."
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