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What was supposed to be a conversation about the Grateful Dead quickly becomes something else entirely when photographer Jay Blakesberg and singer-songwriter Steve Poltz join us at High Sierra.
The two give us a preview of Working Man’s Dead, their wonderfully unpredictable live collaboration combining Jay’s iconic Grateful Dead photography and storytelling with Steve’s music — including songs he writes spontaneously in response to stories and images he hasn't seen coming.
They talk about Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and the strange magic of improvisation. Jay also recounts watching an all-white-clad Steve Poltz make his way toward the rail at the Sphere as the crowd seemingly parted for him “like Moses” — leading Jay to describe Steve as “a cross between Bob Dylan and Moses.”
And then things go completely off the rails.
Charlton Heston. Planet of the Apes. Paper routes. Behind the Green Door. A mysterious bag of vintage magazines. And several moments when we completely lose control of our own interview.
Underneath the insanity, though, is a friendship between two gifted storytellers and a shared love of the Grateful Dead, spontaneity and the kind of live experience that can never happen exactly the same way twice.
This is Steve Poltz and Jay Blakesberg — unfiltered, unscripted and very much Only in the Green Room.
Steve Poltz, Jay Blakesberg, Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead stories, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Workingman's Dead, Grateful Dead photography, High Sierra Music Festival, Only in the Green Room
Steve Poltz, Jay Blakesberg, Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead stories, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Workingman's Dead, Grateful Dead photography, High Sierra Music Festival, Only in the Green Room
Creators and Guests
Host
What is Only In The Green Room?
Welcome to Only In The Green Room - Backstage conversations from popular music venues around the country curated by Mount Tam Media.
Buckle up and listen in, as host Dennis Strazulo and Mount Tam Media founder, Tami Larson, dig up conversations with artists - before and after shows - in the exclusive confines of the green room. Barriers are down with stories abound!
Welcome to Only in the Green Room,
backstage conversations from popular music
venues around the country And I don't
wanna give it all away because it's gonna
be the most magical, mystical, musical,
mind-blowing experience that I've ever
been a part of, because Steve Poltz,
my friend sitting next to me, is the
greatest singer-songwriter alive today.
And that's how people think
of Steve Poltz, as a cross
between Bob Dylan and Moses.
Dude, I'm gonna put that in my bio.
In this episode, photographer Jay
Blakesberg and singer-songwriter Steve
Poltz give us a hilarious preview of
Working Man's Dead, their one-of-a-kind
show combining iconic Grateful Dead
photography, storytelling, spontaneous
songs, and plenty of improvisation.
They talk about taking the show on the
road, their love for the Dead, and then,
as you might expect with these two,
things go completely off the rails.
Here's Jay Blakesberg and Steve Poltz.
Uh, Steve Poltz, Jay Blakesberg.
Yeah.
Welcome back to Only in the Green Room.
Welcome back.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Thanks for having us.
Can you hear yourselves?
All right.
Listen, we're- I think
this is fucked up, man.
I, I don't know.
Really?
It, it, I do.
It's kinda- Usually only really
ADD people say that, they can't
handle the music in the background.
Oh.
I knew that when I was once a kid.
I had a paper route.
Hey, I can hear that.
Jesus.
All right.
Go.
Let's get into it.
Judas, can you just tell her
to pipe down a little bit?
All right, listen, give us your shtick
about what you're doing here at High
Sierra- Uh … and what you're taking
on the road, because it sounds awesome.
I know that dude.
If it doesn't work,
we're gonna do it again.
He used to work at All American Burger.
I used to have a paper route, too.
Yeah.
In the '70s.
Okay, this is what we're doing.
Jay, oh, workshop.
Okay.
Yeah, go.
What we're doing is we are going to
be playing at Park City Song Summit.
I'm sitting here with the
illustrious, revered Jay Blakesberg.
My name is Steve Poltz, and we
are going to be doing a show
called Working Man's Dead.
Tell them about it, Jay.
So Working Man's Dead, which we also will
have done already by the time this is out,
we're doing it tomorrow at High Sierra,
is a multimedia slideshow storytelling
presentation that involves improvisational
storytelling by Steve Poltz.
So when I do a portion of my Grateful
Dead slideshow about my experience
photographing the Grateful Dead, Steve
Poltz will write a song on the spot
about what I just talked about and
perform it, and he doesn't even know
what I'm gonna talk about, 'cause I
just mix up the stories all the time.
And then after he does the improv,
he's gonna play a song by the Grateful
Dead, the great American songbook.
So he might be playing a Jerry Garcia
song, and while that Jerry Garcia
song is playing, there'll be a full
slideshow of Jerry Garcia from 1960s
till 1995 when Jerry passed away.
Same thing for Bob Weir.
Wow.
Same thing for Phil Lesh, and then other
Grateful Dead songs of other slideshows.
And we're hoping that people are
gonna laugh and cry and cheer and
have the best time of their lives.
It's gonna be beautiful,
and I wouldn't miss it.
It's in a great place.
Park City Song Summit is a wonderful,
wonderful place to escape to.
You deserve to see us there.
Yeah.
And we deserve to see you there.
August 29th.
August 29th at the Park City Song
Summit, a tribute to Bobby Weir.
That's the theme of the Grateful
Dead portions of that festival.
And so our slideshow is also
a tribute to Bobby Weir.
That's perfect.
Um, it's really gonna be special.
When Steve Poltz- sings a song-
See that I'm cheering for it.
Right.
When Steve, when Steve Poltz sings a song
by the Grateful Dead, he owns that song.
I saw Steve Poltz sing Box of Rain at
Terrapin Crossroads, and I was in tears.
And I knew that in 10 years from
that moment, we would be talking
about doing a thing called Working
Man's Dead, and it happened.
It did.
I mean, yeah.
Like the blueprint for the fu- It's
happening … the blueprint for
the future was already written.
It, yeah.
And I'm really excited about it.
And to be here on this podcast-
Right … means so much to me, because
I thought I would never be a guest on
this again after what I did last time.
Yeah.
But the fact that you
had me back, hat in hand.
By popular demand.
Yes.
Yes, by popular demand.
Yeah.
And is, uh, how do you pull that off,
though, with the, uh, the Grateful Dead
song that you don't know, you don't know
what Grateful Dead song is gonna be?
No, we, I know what Grateful…
Uh, well, we don't… There are
slideshows for any Jerry song.
There are slideshows- I
see … for Bobby songs.
There are slideshows for Phil songs.
There's other slideshows.
There are slideshows for Brokedown
Palace if we choose to do it.
There's slideshows for Knockin'
On Heaven's Door if we choose to
do it, and there's other songs.
And I don't wanna give it all away.
Okay.
Because it's gonna be the most magical,
mystical, musical, mind-blowing
experience that I've ever been a part of.
Because Steve Poltz, my friend
sitting next to me, is the greatest
singer-songwriter alive today.
Who's gonna argue with that?
Whoa.
Nobody in this room.
You guys are a beautiful-
Nobody in this room
little love festival.
I mean, so, so there's
a lot of, uh, planning.
Yes.
I was, I was at the Sphere And Steve Poltz
came down onto the floor to go up to the
rail, and he was really, really concerned
that people were gonna freak out.
And he was wearing all white,
like he is right now, with a
white hat and his white hair.
And the seas parted like he was Moses.
And they said, "Steve Poltz, come
up to the rail and watch Dead & Co
play a song." And that's how people
think of Steve Poltz- … as a
cross between Bob Dylan and Moses.
Dude, I'm gonna put that in my bio.
Wow.
I think it's better and better.
Yeah.
And you re- you told us about that- Yeah
in the interview.
And it's so much better now.
And you were kinda sheepish.
You go, "Oh, no, nobody's gonna
recognize me, and I don't, you know, I
shouldn't come up there. I don't wanna
bother those fans." Oh, that's right.
And the seas parted.
The seas parted.
Right.
I witnessed it.
I knew everybody at the rail.
And then, and then, like, thousands of
years later, they made a movie about it,
ch- starring Charleston, Charlton Heston-
where the seas parted- That's great
… and, and, and the non-Jew played Moses.
Yeah.
A non-Jew.
I could see that.
Oh.
A non-Jew played Moses.
I see a little Moses there.
Listen, you two together, first of all.
I know.
Non-Jew
Moses.
I mean- This is, this is… Yeah.
You know- That's the name of my new
record … I, I gotta tell you something.
We get to, we get a sneak preview.
So what we're gonna see tomorrow
is exact- what's happening-
Yes, here at High Sierra.
Yeah.
We're gonna do a 75-minute
version of Working Man's Dead.
And then do you remember after
Charlton Heston was Moses, he became
the guy in Planet of the Apes?
Yeah.
And he was banging on the
sand saying, "No, no," when
he saw the Statue of Liberty.
You remember that scene?
Damn dirty apes.
Right?
Yeah.
Damn dirty apes.
That was great.
We have all, we have all of these
pop culture references- … 'cause
we're, like, the same age.
Stop.
Poltz is a little bit older than me.
Who did Omega Man?
Charlton Heston.
Ah, Omega Man.
Again.
There
we go.
Right.
There we go.
That's right.
Dude.
I loved Omega Man.
This is a preview of what
this is gonna be like.
I loved Omega Man.
I know.
The improv.
The improv is unbelievable.
Yeah.
When he writes a song about my slideshows,
it is just mind, mind-boggling.
What's going on out there, Steve?
Oh, I was just looking at how
you set this place up we're in.
It's great.
Thank you.
Right.
Unfortunately, we have a musician
on the main stage, Judith Hill-
And not unfortunate for her, but
unfortunate for us and the podcast.
So we understand if this just
makes it on the cutting room
floor and you can't even use it.
We'll still love you, and we'll get,
we'll come back on the Only in the
Green Room- All right We went demon-
podcast.
Jay- Are you gonna be here tomorrow too?
Jay was our first interview ever.
Yes, he was.
I know.
He was.
And yeah, so we've completely rebranded.
You know, we could do it tomorrow too.
It's great.
We can.
We'll go li- we'll go listen to
this- Maybe we'll try and do it
again … and see how it comes
out, and we'll do it again.
You know, um- We can have more
intimate conversations tomorrow … I
think you should rebroadcast- I
like it today … my original one-
Intimate … because I was the first one.
Yeah, I think so.
And now that you have millions
of followers- Millions.
Millions, yeah … um, you only had
three followers- Right … when,
when you released mine.
So maybe you should do, do it again.
But, you know, there's a really
famous porn movie- Here we go.
Here we go … from the '70s
called Behind the Green Door.
The what?
Behind the Green Door.
I know.
This is the b- you're
talking about the barn door.
No, no.
We talked about that again.
No, it's Behind the Green Door.
Okay.
And it was, it was done by the O'Farrell,
uh, the, the, the, uh, O'Farrell Theater.
Yes.
The, what was- Yeah, the Mitchell
Brothers … Mitchell Brothers.
Mitchell Brothers.
Right.
Not that I know that.
And, um, and so- … when I first
moved to the Bay Area, I had a roommate
who was dating this guy who was a
film gaffer, and she said, "My new
boyfriend worked on this very famous
porn film called Behind the Green Door."
So we went to the, um, video store, the
porn video store in Albany, California.
I lived in Oakland.
And we rented Behind the Green Door,
and we came back to my house in Oakland,
where I lived with six roommates, and
they said, "What are you guys watching?"
And we were all freaked out, and we
said, "Um, um, we're watching this movie.
You guys probably don't wanna see
it." They're like, "No, it's movie
night on Lester Avenue." Oh, my God.
And so, so we put this movie on,
and we realized that we got, uh,
Behind the Green Door 2 by mistake.
Uh-oh.
So we had to drive all the way back to
Albany to get the first Behind the Green
Door, came all the way back to Oakland,
and all of our roommates were there.
And it's a very uncomfortable film to
watch because the premise of the film
is that there's this sex scene going on
with a lot of spectators who become very
uncomfortable and start participating.
So
that's what I think about every time I'm
on the podcast- That's what, that's what
you think about … in the green room.
That's what you think about-
That's what I think about … when
you're on the podcast.
Yes.
And he thinks about that
when he's not on the podcast.
Yeah.
That's understood.
I'm sorry to report that, you know, that
Behind, uh, it's just a- Only in the
green room or Behind the Green Door.
It's where my head goes.
There you go.
How about you?
Um, I think this is one of the
best podcasts in existence.
It's between this one- I can't
think of one that's better.
There you go.
Dan Savage?
Not really.
No?
I think we just dropped
the mic on that one.
You, you know what I, you know
what's the- Fuck … you know
what's the greatest podcast?
This is the second greatest be- um,
behind, I mean, in the Grateful… Um,
the s- the first greatest is the good old
Grateful Podcast about the Grateful Dead.
It's phenomenal.
It's the most well-researched.
It's very different than yours.
Oh, yeah.
Not interviews.
No competition.
Um, it's a, it's a scripted With a
lot of interviews in it also, but it's
called The Good Old Grateful Podcast.
All I know is that it's good.
But, but In The Green Room Podcast
is the second greatest in the world.
Shit.
We'll take it.
You know, Steve Poltz today, he played
on the Far Out stage here, and it was
the greatest show that he ever did-
It really was … in the history of
the Steve Poltz con- Until- Was it?
Until tomorrow I, I don't think
I can ever play a show again.
Are you here?
No.
Today?
It, it was incredible.
I think tomorrow you're gonna beat it.
Yeah, 'cause we're gonna be there.
That's why.
I shaved my legs for this?
Oh, yeah, it's a good thing, you know.
All right, so- All right, guys, we're
gonna let you roll … you know, I
love this music as it's like- Now, you
know, the show's starting now 'cause
it's a little more- I know it's like,
"Well, you don't know where it's going."
Right.
You never know.
But anyways, we're gonna make this quick.
If not- If this isn't work, we
could always do it tomorrow.
No, that's it.
That's it.
Tomorrow, tomorrow,
there's always tomorrow.
You know, Steve, Steve Poltz has
a song called, um, The, The Long,
The Long Haul, and the subtitle
is Bag of Porn, also known as BOP.
And it's about a bag of porn
when he was a teenager and it
lived under his roommate's bed.
Yeah.
And his, his roommate made him keep it
under his bed, but then he got into an
accident, was in the hospital, and then
his parents and the priest found the
bag of porn, al- also known as the BOP.
And one of the magazines in there was
Prison Sluts, and what was the other one?
Oh, come on.
Um, Prison Pussy and Slick Sluts.
Right.
And hairy construction workers.
And, and, and the other one that, that
got lost was Catholic Girls in Detention.
Oh, my God.
And it's one of my favorites.
Oh, yeah.
I'm starting to worry.
She's, uh, she's… Are, are you
old enough to… I'm kidding.
It's one of my favorite Steve Poltz songs,
and one of these days we're gonna do it
in the middle of our Working Man's Death.
I was gonna say, if you do the improv
with that, it should be interesting.
Oh, it's the, it's the greatest.
What was the priest's name?
Father Michael Murphy?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Disagree with that, Steve.
You gotta watch out for those priests.
You know.
You do.
And the, and the bag of porn.
And the green door.
That's a whole nother pod.
And the green door.
I don't know how this
became a porn podcast.
You know, I'm… It, it's always- But
all I know is our ratings and our numbers
went up exponentially after this … this
band just always remind you about this
because those stories come up a lot.
I didn't know, I didn't know,
uh, we were gonna be discussing
taking a venture into porn.
No.
I didn't either.
It must be the living room vibe.
You know, because when we were, when we
were young, porn was only in magazines.
True.
Now it's all over this
thing called the internet.
Yes.
Yes.
And everybody's all desensitized, so.
Yes.
And that's why all the
young kids are so fucked up.
Right.
Yeah.
Because of all the porn on the internet.
Let's get into that.
Yeah.
That's what they say.
Yeah, listen, uh, listen, whatever
it takes for us to increase our, uh,
listenership and viewership- We have to
cross over into that … we're, you know,
they say you have to be a little edgy.
We're good at that.
We'll do it.
Thank you for that.
All right, we love you guys.
All right.