My hubbie, Patrick, our 14-month-old son, Gabe the Babe, and I braved the wailing winds to attend the WinterTales Storytelling Festival’s family matinee Sunday afternoon at Stage Center. The festival’s featured tellers provided an hour and a half of wonderful low-key entertainment for dozens of parents and children ranging from infants to teenagers.

Soldiering on despite a cold, singer-songwriter Steve Poltz opened and closed the show and played his idiosyncratic (I’m tired of using “quirky” in conjunction with “Steve Poltz.”) songs between the three storytellers’ performances. His first two numbers, “Beep, Beep, Beep,” about…

I had an illuminating and pleasantly rambling phone interview with Steve Poltz for my Weekend Look cover feature. The singer-songwriter certainly proved his quirkiness once again.

Along with information about his songwriting style, his new CD and his storytelling tendencies, I learned these five fun facts about Poltz:

1. He loves to drink hot, black tea like Darjeeling, and he likes the “proper functionality” of having tea along with good discussion, little scones and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. He also collects beautiful old tea cups, especially from the early 1900s.

He says, “That’s my favorite…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Alternative

Steve Poltz “Traveling” (98 Pounder Records)

Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz lives up to his reputation for quirkiness with his latest album, “Traveling.” Many of the disc’s 11 tracks combine lively or lovely melodies with deceptively heavy lyrics.”Stay Away a Little Closer” is a peppy pop song that sounds like something out of the Patridge Family’s repertoire but tells the tale of an adulterous affair. With its guitars, pianos and strings, “Haters’ Union” shares the pain of missing a lost lover but also…

WinterTales Storytelling Festival

Today

9 to 10 a.m.: Registration, Stage Center lobby, 400 W Sheridan.

10 to 11:30 a.m.: “Storytelling 201-Part 1″ workshop with Syd Lieberman, Stage Center.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Lunch, open mike storytelling in the Cabaret, free event.

12:30 to 2 p.m.: “Storytelling 201-Part 2″ workshop with Syd Lieberman, Stage Center.

2:30 to 4 p.m.: Songwriting workshop, Steve Poltz, Stage Center.

6:30 to 7:25 p.m.: Opening reception in the Cabaret.

7:30 p.m.: Evening performance in the Tolbert Theatre: “Humorous Stories” with Steve Poltz, Nancy Donoval, Syd Lieberman and Dovie Thomason.

10:30 p.m. Late Night…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To listen to an audio clip of Steve Poltz, click here.

His songs have stories to tell
Singer-writer Steve Poltz bringing his quirky blend to city storytelling festival
From trick-or-treating at Liberace’s house to meeting Elvis, singer-songwriter Steve Poltz recalls some of the colorful moments of his early years in “Brief History of My Life,” one of the songs on his new album, “Traveling.” “I just one day picked up my guitar, and that song was just floating around in the air. And I started…