Todd Snider, the singer, songwriter, and raconteur: Died
On Friday afternoon (11-14), a message went out Todd Snider’s fans saying that after he returned home from Salt Lake City where his most recent tour ended in disaster, he began having trouble breathing and was admitted to the hospital in Hendersonville, TN, near Nashville. “We learned from his doctors that he had been quietly suffering from an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia,”the statement said.
When the statement continued on to say that his situation had become more complicated and that he’d been transferred for additional treatment, and “right now we’re asking everyone who loves Todd to hold him in your thoughts in whatever way feels right to you. Say a prayer, Light a candle, roll one up, send strength, or just keep him close to your heart,” you had a sense the situation was dire.
At about 8:30 am Central on Saturday morning, November 15th, Todd Snider’s official accounts posted, “Aimless, Inc. Headquarters is heartbroken to share that our Founder, our Folk Hero, our Poet of the World, our Vice President of the Abrupt Change Dept., the Storyteller, our beloved Todd Daniel Snider has departed this world … He relayed so much tenderness and sensitivity through his songs, and showed many of us how to look at the world through a different lens.“
Todd Daniel Snider was born in Portland, Oregon and was raised in nearby Beaverton. After attending junior college in Santa Rosa, California briefly and dropping out, Snider ended up in San Marcos, TX, just 30 minutes down the road from Austin. While living there in the late ’80s, Snider saw Jerry Jeff Walker perform—just himself and a guitar—at the legendary Gruene Hall in nearby New Braunfels.
With little or no music experience beyond some harmonica, Todd Snider decided right then and there to become a songwriter. Todd bought a guitar, and started writing songs the very next day.
When you think of Todd Snider, you might not think of Texas or the Texas Music Scene, but Texas played a major role in his musical maturation. This is where he met Kent Finlay, the legendary proprietor of the Cheatham Street Warehouse. It was Finlay who introduced Todd to the music of songwriters like Guy Clark and John Prine. Soon Snider was drawing his own crowds in San Marcos songwriting rooms, as well as in Austin.
Todd Snider was 59 years old.
