Todd Snider wrote some touching lines, some biting, funny, and sad lines. Sometimes they were all one line. Don't believe me? Check out "Sunshine". He toured relentlessly, and came to and within driving range of Ithaca many times in his 30-year career. I never regretted going to a show, listening to a tape or cd, or watching a show or video. Still don't, I've watched a shit-ton just writing this blogpost and looking for stuff to link to in it. But now it's all a melancholy trip down memory lane , because as he wrote, "Ive learned nothing but that there is another sunrise coming. All but one of the times it sets"
A particularly special show for me was his appearance at GrassRoots in 2019. I'd been lobbying the music director at the Heron, David Tidquist, for years to book Todd as I felt it was the perfect gig for him, but it never happened. GrassRoots was good enough.
Pat came with a buddy from Buffalo, Jason came from Rochester, and a guy who looked just like our brother/Jason's dad materialized from somewhere. While we were standing around waiting for the set, we saw Todd and his manager, Brian, on the track, and like I often do when I'm talking, I took one of his lines and said, "Hey, let's go hassle him." We had a good, long chat and then he did his set.
Pat and Bobby ran into him after the set and got a picture.
John thinned down for this show. He was back to his full weight when he came back to Ithaca for a show at the Hangar. Jason made it back for that one too and managed to get blacklisted by Air BNB. Those kinds of things happen after a Todd show.
The Burmese boys were into it as well, though I'm not sure what Eh Soe was listening to on his earbuds. I insisted they go since I got a couple of them their wristbands. They said they could relate to his songs, and the fact that he swore a lot helped.
As happens quite often at the Grandstand, the sound was a problem, but we were up front and his monitors were working fine so he kept playing until enough people farther back demanded they fix it. It gave him a chance to mention that as long as the show is good for him, that's all that he really cares about. They got the sound right for everyone and I bought this poster that's still displayed on our freezer door:
Monday morning after GrassRoots is a tough time, but the dog still needs to be walked. I had a suspicion (hope?) that the bus would be parked downtown as they had three days off on their schedule. At the merch table after the set, I offered my services as a guide since I knew Todd and a couple of the entourage were avid walkers. I located the bus before 7 AM. I got distracted while leaving a note and gave him a name change. If you haven't heard the story from me why Todd Snider Rules, then give it a listen from him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMOhaJ3zst8
An entire show from 2009 was posted upon his death. It's already a favorite as it's professionally done for a community TV station in Colorado, coincidentally named GrassRoots (20 years before the festival of the same name in T-burg started). In addition to the full show, there are pieces of an interview they did with him (and lots of commercials- it's community TV):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL6r9REITo8
Founded by citizens of Aspen, Colorado in 1972, GrassRoots TV is the first and oldest community operated and programmed open-source media center and television station in the United States. Virtually all of the programming is created by local residents, occasionally with world renown guests.
He came back to town one more time after the pandemic and played the Hangar. That was the last time he made it within 200 miles of Ithaca. He had to take a couple years off from his version of the Never Ending Tour due to health complications that included two surgeries. Thankfully, he recorded a few more shows from the Purple Building, put out a couple cds, and recorded each of his previous cds with stories about how they were originally recorded. Then he made them all available for free download and on youtube. The Purple Building is where he broadcast every Sunday during the pandemic and the regular listeners started calling him the preacher for our Sunday services. It became a thing and the title of his next cd "First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder," where we hope there's another day and we wonder, what the fuck? All those shows are still posted on youtube. I recommend them all, but for something truly unique, the tributes he did after two of his mentors, John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker, died are fantastic. I hope to make a pilgrimage there someday, I wish I'd done it before his death.
Jason got there, but no one was around.
His death has really rocked me and a wide swath of the music world. A few tributes have been written and posted with many more to come. Now that I'm a semi-regular dj on WVBR's Salt Creek Show, I was able to go to the studio the day after hearing he died and played a couple sets of songs and told some stories. I'll keep doing that whenever I host the the show. Someone who toured with him, Otis Gibbs, has several interviews with him and some kind words that fill some of the void. There are a few videos from the last show, the only one he did before cancelling the rest of the tour.
While I was on the radio on East Hill in Ithaca, this is how the sky looked in Trumansburg. The County Fairgrounds, home of GrassRoots, is near the north end of the rainbow.
Todd didn't just write and cover great songs, he wrote stories, some that he told between songs for 18 minutes, and some he included in a book called I Never Met a Story I Didn't Like. Please return my copy if you have it (same goes for the cd Happy to be Here). When the Village Voice was commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dylan coming to NY, they had Todd write an article that I read every six months or so. In the article, he mentions this analogy about Dylan fans. I think it's safe to say it about Todd fans too:
There are so many lines from his songs and stories that make it into my daily conversation, "sorry coach" comes to mind often. The kids at school often remind me it's too late for me to die young, but when someone my age goes it's a tough reminder it's still possible to die too soon. With Todd, we probably got so much more than we deserved. By his own admission, he could have gone decades ago, before the 20-some albums, the Purple Building shows and all the rest. This two-part video of a young man who indulged in some dangerous substances is a reminder of how lucky we were to have him survive and thrive as long as he did: Part 1 and Part 2. Some of his rough times led to covering songs that were a reminder to keep looking for the light. Al Bunetta, John Prine's longtime manager and mentor to Todd, walked around the studio during a recording session singing "Enjoy Yourself" as a warning for where he might be headed. Another time, he was trying to write a song about how people in the music business can fall down a hole and not come up. He eventually gave up on writing a new song and just recorded Fred Eaglesmith's "Alcohol and Pills."
I was fortunate to get on this bandwagon in the mid-90s, right after his first album came out. I hope you get to appreciate it too.
Todd Snider October 11, 1966- November 14, 2025
Not Todd Snider, but posted by the AP and picked up by every website (including Fox "News") that carried a story about his injury, arrest and death two weeks later. Todd would have told a great story about this, but this time, we have to write it ourselves.
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