Flash forward a couple of decades when, as a grizzled local music critic, I found a similar magic in the Nashville rock scene of the early ‘90s. Artists as talented as Tommy Womack, Will Kimbrough, and Will Owsley, among many others, hit many of the same stages as their forebears, as well as a few new clubs, trying to forge a career in the “Music City.” Of all of these young talents, none burned hotter or shined brighter than singer/songwriter Todd Snider.
Snider passed away this week at the age of 59 after a bout with pneumonia. He’d suffered through a rough couple of weeks that would likely have been fodder for one of his brilliantly insightful story-songs: assaulted outside of a club before a performance in Salt Lake City, Snider ended up in the hospital. After being treated for his injuries, Snider thought that his release was premature and got into an argument with hospital staff. Police were called, and Snider was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, threat of violence, and suspicion of criminal trespassing.
Snider was born and raised in 1966 in the Portland, Oregon area and attended college for a semester in Santa Rosa, California. He moved to San Marcos, Texas near San Antonio in 1985. It was there that he’d have a life-changing epiphany after seeing the legendary country outlaw Jerry Jeff Walker perform at a local club. Despite not knowing how to play a guitar, or even owning one, Snider decided then and there to become a songwriter. He began penning his wry original tunes, and playing writer’s nights at local clubs while developing his sound.
Finding an invaluable mentor in San Marcos club owner Kent Finlay, Snider was introduced to the work of songwriters like Guy Clark, Shel Silverstein, and his future boss, John Prine. Snider began to develop a following in San Antonio and Austin clubs and eventually came to the attention of Memphis musician and songwriter Keith Sykes, a member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. Sykes convinced Snider to move to Memphis, where he took up a residence at The Daily Planet club and quickly built a loyal following as he continued to crank out songs.
More than a mere novelty act, Snider was capable of writing powerful, emotion-inducing songs like Daily Planet’s “I Spoke As A Child” and “You Think You Know Somebody.” Sales were good enough to prompt a follow-up, and Snider’s sophomore effort, Step Right Up, was released in 1996 with Viva Satellite arriving in 1998. Snider had issues with his label, however, as Margaritaville left MCA before the release of Viva Satellite, and the major label retained the rights to Snider’s work. As was typical of the MCA at the time, they subsequently released Snider from his contract after they under-promoted the album.
Quickly bouncing back, Snider signed with Nashville singer/songwriter John Prine’s independent Oh Boy Records label, where he’d do the best work of his career. He released his fourth album, Happy To Be Here, in 2000 with studio contributions from Nashville talents like guitarists Will Kimbrough and Pat Buchanan, NRBQ bassist Joey Spampinato, and multi-instrumentalist Peter Holsapple (The dB’s, R.E.M.). The R.S. Field-produced New Connection was released in 2002, followed a year later by Snider’s first live album, Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, featuring Snider, his guitar and harmonica, and a guitar case full of stories.
Snider recorded just one album for New Door, working again with Kimbrough, who co-produced 2006’s The Devil You Know, with another friend, Tommy Womack, adding guitar to the album. Although critically-acclaimed, and a damn fine album, New Door didn’t have the resources to properly promote The Devil You Know. A solo Snider performance at Grimey’s Music in Nashville was recorded and released by New Door in 2007 as Live With the Devil You Know At Grimey’s Nashville, which would mark the end of the singer/songwriter’s tenure with New Door.
Launching his own independent Aimless Records label with the 2008 EP Peace Queer, Snider recorded a one-off album for Yep Roc Records – the Don Was-produced The Excitement Plan – before returning to his own imprint with laudable efforts like 2011’s double-CD Live (The Storyteller), which positioned Snider as a stoner sage to the left of Will Rogers, 2012’s acclaimed Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables and the same year’s Time As We Know It, a tribute to Snider’s original musical inspiration, Jerry Jeff Walker. Through the years, Snider has also contributed performances to several tribute albums for such personal heroes as Billy Joe Shaver (whose son Eddy played in one of Snider’s early bands), Kris Kristofferson, Peter Case, and Kinky Friedman.
Hooking up with Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools, Snider formed a jam
band “supergroup” in the Hard Working Americans in 2013, adding the late Neal
Casal (The Cardinals) on guitar and Duane Trucks (guitarist Derek Trucks’
younger brother) on drums. The Hard Working Americans released a pair of
studio albums in 2014 and 2016 as well as a pair of live albums, the first of
which – The First Waltz – included a full-length documentary film about
the Americans directed by Justin Kreutzmann. The group has since recorded a
yet-to-be-released album of material written by Snider.
A
charismatic and charming performer, Snider was seemingly made for TV, and he
performed on all of the late-night talk shows of the ‘90s and early 2000s,
including Late Night with Conan O’Brien,
Late Show with David Letterman, and
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as well as several music-oriented
programs like ABC’s In Concert and Austin City Limits. Snider
released his sorta, kinda memoirs,
I Never Met A Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales, in 2014 and
contributed a chapter on his mentor, Cheatham Street Warehouse club owner Kent
Finlay, for a 2016 book on the musical entrepreneur’s life.
Over
the years, Snider co-wrote songs with a number of Nashville talents, including
his frequent musical partners Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack, as well as
Keith Sykes, Billy Joe Shaver, Jason Ringenberg (Jason & the Scorchers),
Dan Baird (The Georgia Satellites), and Gary Bennett (BR-549) and had songs
recorded by country artists like Jerry Jeff Walker, Cross Canadian Ragweed,
Robert Earl Keen, and even legendary ‘60s hitmaker Tom Jones.
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| The Hard Working Americans (Todd second from right) |
Snider’s eclectic and personable songwriting and performing style isn’t
everybody’s cuppa. He’s brutally sincere and speaks openly about his battle
with substance abuse. His humorous and often-times satirical songs reveal
something of the human condition at the core while his more serious fare is
emotionally-charged and thoughtful. Snider was too often categorized as a
“novelty” act because he infused his folkish story-songs with humor and wit,
reducing funny-cause-they-could-be-true songs like “Beer Run” or the satirical
“Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” to comedic status without recognizing the
skill it took to weave these tales.
In my 2004 review of Snider’s
East Nashville Skyline, I boldly wrote that “considering Snider’s
entire oeuvre (and I have heard it all), it’s time, perhaps, for a bit of rock
critic heresy: Snider is this generation’s Dylan. Snider’s rootsy blend of
rock, folk, blues, and country echoes that of rock’s greatest scribe.” I stand
by my words, and Snider has done little in 20+ years to make me reconsider. A
talented and vastly underrated singer, songwriter, and performer, the recent
release of High, Lonesome, and Then Some proves that Snider still had
something to say and songs to write.
As news of Snider’s death
reverberated throughout the Nashville music scene and beyond, tributes poured
in and stories were shared by many of his friends and musical collaborators.
Former Georgia Satellites frontman Dan Baird wrote “whether you knew him or
not, the fact is our world has lost a true creative ball of cosmic chaos.”
Producer and musician Eric Ambel (of the Yayhoos and the Del Lords) wrote
“thank you for the beautiful songs and stories and for championing so many
wonderful artists while you were here with us.”
Former Snider band
member and frequent musical collaborator Tommy Womack wrote in his tribute for
The Nashvillian, “Todd Snider was the most naturally talented person
I’ve ever met. I first saw that from looking at his face while he performed.
Later, I saw it while looking at his keister as a member of his band. He could
have coasted on that talent, but Todd never coasted. About anything. He was
either driving 200 mph or he was in the pit bay being lectured to by doctors
who thought they were dealing with some sort of mere mortal.”
Smilin’
Jay McDowell of the country band BR-549 remembers “I moved to East Nashville
in 1994. It was purely because it was the cheap part of town. There were very
few restaurants or bars. So, you crossed paths with people regularly. It
seemed every time I turned around, there was Todd. He never said hi, he just
always said, “B R 5 4 9” in that crazy way of his,” adding “I’m sure gonna
miss that guy.” Peter Holsapple wrote “grateful to have gotten to record with
Todd Snider in 1999. Such a remarkable songwriter, what a terrible
loss.”
Behind the mask that hid Snider’s pain, he had a
(perhaps) accidentally profound take on life, closing East Nashville Skyline
with the poppy “Enjoy Yourself,” reminding his fans to always “enjoy yourself,
it’s later than you think.”
Read Tommy Womack’s full tribute to Todd in The Nashvillian
Check out Holly Gleason’s wonderful 2013 American Songwriter story
on Todd
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