If the shoe fits, you can be sure that Matt Wertz is going to wear it.
"I kind of have a shoe problem," said the singer/songwriter, who's stoked about the latest addition to his collection of kicks - gray Nike Free 5.0s. "They look a little bit like space shoes. They're really, really lightweight."
Wertz goes on to describe the sneakers with an abnormal amount of detail - they have a red stripe just where the sole meets the leather and, apparently, they are "mad stretchy."
The shoe fanatic was resting his feet when he spoke from his road van last week, where he celebrated his 28th birthday with The Weepies on his iPod and a view of the trailing California coastline.
"Man, this is so beautiful," he said repeatedly, commenting on the state's scenery. "What a great birthday gift."
Wertz is only two shows in on his new tour, which he co-headlines with funky bunch Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.
Music came late to Wertz, who began by playing tunes at local high school summer camps.
"I had these young kids coming up to me and buying my CD," he said. "When they began sharing my stuff with their friends, word started to get around."
The demand to play snowballed after the camp gig - today, songs from Wertz's Everything in Between have been featured in B-films such as "Employee of the Month" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend."
"If any of you L.A. cats know Zach Braff, please hook him up with my CD," Wertz joked at his show Friday evening at West Hollywood's Troubadour.
On stage, Wertz serves his audience with a slew of laid-back, bouncy pop. His lyrics aren't the stuff of great poetry - on "Counting to 100" he croons: "So you go hide/And I'll come seek/And maybe someday in the middle/We just might meet/Because I'm counting to a hundred/And I promise I won't peek/As you go hide/And I come seek."
Though the tendency might be to dismiss him as another John Mayer wannabe, there's something about Wertz's southern Tennessee twang and fun, simple music that's just, well, likeable, and the fact that he doesn't take himself too seriously is undeniably endearing.
"I just try to be myself. I think people are typically fond of that," he said.
Fittingly, a handful of young women looking quite fond indeed were swept easily under Wertz's spell. Dressed in a cargo tee and a snug pair of jeans, Wertz hopped around, stamping his Nikes while his blond mop of curls matted to his face.
"I don't brush it," he said of his semi-fro. "I wash it like once every three days and that's it."
Wertz estimates his fanbase is about 70 percent female.
"It's because I'm a guy with a guitar," he laughed. "Any guy could pick up a guitar and sing, and girls would come flocking."
But Wertz doesn't devote his time exclusively to music. He recently returned from a trip to Uganda, where he spent time helping impoverished local women.
Wertz is also a member of the Mocha Club - a group founded on the idea that just by giving up the $7 spent on a handful of monthly Mochas from Starbucks, people can make their own contributions to aid in Africa.
During his show, Wertz plugged the Mocha Club and offered free merchandise to those who signed up. The charity and the travel, along with occasional trips home to the South, keep Wertz grounded.
"It's so easy to lose perspective and start thinking that what you're doing is really important," he said.
Though he'd like to settle down some day, Wertz said he doesn't plan on quitting the road-tripping game for quite awhile.
"There's definitely a part of me that wonders what it would be like to sleep in my own bed and have a consistent routine every day," he said. "But for now, I'm surrounded with good people who keep me humble. We keep things light and I always remember to keep that smile on my face."
And, of course, a pair of rad sneaks on those stamping feet.
