Todd Snider, one of the very few alt-country singer-songwriters out there that I really appreciated (maybe because he was more folk than alt-country, but the powers that be declare him alt-country). has passed away overnight at 59 years of age, scant few years older than myself.
I first discovered Todd in the 90s when he debuted with one of the local radio stations playing a hidden track from the album, Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues. As I had just recently moved back from Seattle at the time and had experienced “the grunge scene” in real time — although that was NOT my reason for moving there in the first place, the song’s comedy was not lost on me. Here’s a live version of the tune and, while I prefer the original, this one captures some of the crowds’ singalong elements.
I’ve been a fan ever since that day I first hear it.
Todd was an unconventional “alt-country” musician as he did more storytelling than singing the times I saw him live. Not that he would skimp on the music part, but there was a lot of talky stuff in-between, somewhere between wisdom and absurdity in most cases. And, while most country stars will trend towards conservative politics, Todd skewed more hippie than anything. I got to believe that he thought most of the culture wars out there were just plain dumb and he would satirize it when it suited his mood.
The music scene is less than it was for his passing. No, most of you never heard the man, but we were better off for his music.
Psst… Todd… You’re an alright guy.
14 responses to “Todd Snider, RIP”
Sorry for the loss. I hadn’t heard of him, but he seemed interesting.
I’d hazard a guess that most people didn’t know him, but some people may have heard his songs performed by other folks. Very niche and I’m always surprised when someone recognizes his name. If you like what I shared, I’d recommend listening to his “purple” versions of his albums, which are really just podcasts where he plays the whole album live and tells stories for the better part of a couple of hours between songs, explaining why he wrote them, or where his mind was. Some of those stories are very ROTFLMFAO. Some tales, very sobering.
I didn’t know of him, but it’s always sad when somebody goes so relatively young. 🙁
I’m not surprised that you didn’t know him. I would be more surprised if you did. Just a minute jolt to my day when it popped up on my news feed. His influence was present when I was still playing in a folk band in both my lyrical contributions and chord progressions. But so was Neil Young’s 🙂
He influenced you and you noted his loss and remembered. That’s a good legacy. 😔
If you’re not familiar with Todd Snider, I would say type his name into your music streaming search engine. Unless of course you’re a Conservative, Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight White American Male. Then don’t bother. You won’t like him. They didn’t think much of him in Utah, that’s just the facts, man. Crap that got political fast.
I hope you found your Sunshine, bud. Rose City Kids never do grow up.❤️
That song was more of a sign of the times in the 90s. I’m not sure that it resonates in quite the same way as back then. Great song, one of my faves. But the context is different these days.
Hope he’s high as a kite… 💕
I think it’s even more pertinent now than ever, but that’s probably due to my ‘pot smokin’ porn watching, tree huggin’, gay weddinin’ hippie beliefs.
A few words from ‘Miss Virgie’: “Life ain’t easy getting through, everybody’s gonna make it tough on you, but I can tell you right now if you dig what you do, they will never get you down.”
A few more:
“Life’s too short to worry,
Life’s too long to wait,
It’s too short not to love everybody
And life’s too long to wait.”
God I loved Todd Snider. I don’t know what to do now that he’s gone. Seriously.😿
The tone has changed from friendly ribbing to potentially serious consequences, I guess. You didn’t have to worry so much about being a hippie-assed freak and getting shot just for being one back then.
Right?
Probably hanging with DB Cooper…
I used to fantasize that my Dad was DB Cooper. Maybe he was.
Find a stash of old bills out there?
Not yet but I’m still hopeful.😉