Todd Snider
Dr. Grin's Comedy Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan
March 2, 2005
By Zach Peterson
 Todd Snider is trying
to "find a way to age like wine somehow." Even though
he doesn't look it, Snider, 38, has been on the road for over
a decade now and has six studio records and one live album to
his credit.
"I'm not bothered by my age," Snider said in a phone
interview from his Nashville home.
"When I was eighteen and saw Jerry Jeff Walker, I said to
myself 'I want to be 45 and have all these stories.'"
I asked him to name the writers and performers he would most
like to emulate. The names Jerry Jeff, Kris Kristofferson and
John Prine were mentioned, yet the definitive answer was Bob
Dylan.
"He's the wisest musician we got," Snider said of
America's great bard. "People said he didn't make any sense
on 60 Minutes, but he made sense to me-I knew what he was saying."
When Snider took the stage in a spacious and sterile comedy
club in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, he launched into "Age
Like Wine." The song opens his latest record, 2004's East
Nashville Skyline-arguably his most complete work-and is
the ideal opener for any solo troubadour. Snider sings:
My new stuff is nothing like my old stuff was
And neither one is much when compared to the show
Which will not be as good as some other one you saw
And in an hour-and-a-half show of familiar tunes from all
six studio records and stories from 2003's live album Near
Truths and Hotel Rooms, Snider wasn't spectacular. However,
he was engaging, sincere and a pleasure to listen to. Members
of the audience had to help him finish the story about Trog,
the Devil's Backbone Tavern and Miss Virgie, which prompted Snider
to laugh, "I know the fucking story, alright!"
If there is one weakness to Snider's stage show, it's that
the charm and humor of his stories begins to wear thin after
multiple listens. Nonetheless, the warmth and depth of his songs
continues to shine from the raw sincerity of "All My Life"
to the social commentary and irreverent comedy of "Conservative
Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males."
Unfortunately, Snider didn't include any new material in his
Grand Rapids show. On the Monday morning we spoke, he told me
that he'd already been up for a few hours playing and writing.
"I'm compulsive about writing," Snider said. "Every
morning I get up, play guitar and write stuff down, and put it
in boxes. I doubt I'll use most of it, though."
The test is whether he thinks the new songs are worth anything
live.
"I wait for [songs] to show up for work. If a song shows
up by seven and says 'you could use me tonight,' I will."
Snider says a follow up to East Nashville is in the
works, and may include the Yonder Mountain String Band. Also,
a "best of" compilation from his first three MCA records
has been rumored. For now, Snider continues to--as he tells every
audience--drive around "making this shit up," and sometimes
he goes on for up to "eighteen minutes between songs."
It appears Snider is gracefully beginning to "age like
wine" and though he didn't pen his closing number, "Enjoy
Yourself," it's a perfect compliment to "Age Like Wine."
Herbert Magidson and Carr Sigman's words are decades old,
but nonetheless fit Snider's persona perfectly.
Enjoy yourself; it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
Todd Snider continues to do so and the rest of should take
the hint.
www.toddsnider.net
Contact Zach Peterson at zapper-at-rockzilla.net
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