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For more than 40 years, Steve Hartz has played oldtime music with friends and other folks who stop by at the Oldtime String Shop, his store on the square in downtown Nacogdoches.  Steve has always loved the older ways of life and began to accumulate many stories of early pioneers in Texas. The stories and the connections to the music of those early settlers inspired 10 paintings, one stand-alone CD, and two book and CD projects. Steve and his wife, Sheryl, have performed medicine shows and historical music at venues such as the Texas Forestry Museum, Waxahachie Chautauqua, the Old Mill Music Festival, Camp Street Café, the Palestine Old Time Music and Dulcimer Festival, the Shelby County Daughters of the Republic of Texas Independence Day celebration, and the Fort Davis Sesquicentennial celebration.

Steve’s CD, Crooked Steep and Rocky, received a Crossroads music award in 1998.  In addition, he authored the title cut for the Southern Rail’s album, Glory Train, which was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s gospel album of the year in 1996. The book and CD projects, By the Muddy Angelina and Settlers of the Western Woods have also been well received.  According to Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, By the Muddy Angelina is “…a marvelous journey into the history and traditions of East Texas, capturing the spirit of the hardy settlers who gave the region its distinctive cultural spirit.”

More recently, Steve was commissioned by the City of Nacogdoches to complete a painting of a former nearby steamboat port named Pattonia.  He was also commissioned by the United Methodist Church to work on a painting of the great pioneer circuit preacher, Littleton Fowler.

Steve resides with his wife and daughter in a home built in 1855, which sits on land that was likely walked on by important early Texans, such as Adolphus Sterne, Sam Houston, and John S. Roberts.  He continues to relish stories, history, and music from earlier times and hopes to be able to share their significance with others.