Todd Snider, a singer whose thoughtfully freewheeling tunes and songwriting made him a beloved figure in American roots music, died.
Snider died Friday, Nov. 14, according to his record label.
“Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases?” the statement read. “Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.”
Snider’s family and friends said he had been diagnosed with pneumonia at a hospital in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and that his situation had since grown more complicated.
The diagnosis came on the heels of the cancellation of a concert tour after Snider had been the victim of a violent assault in the Salt Lake City area, according to a Nov. 3 statement from his management team.
The scrapped tour was in support of his most recent album, “High, Lonesome and Then Some,” released in October. Snider combined elements of folk, rock and country in a three-decade career. In reviews of his recent albums, The Associated Press called him a “singer-songwriter with the persona of a fried folkie” and a “stoner troubadour and cosmic comic.”
He modeled himself on — and at times met and was mentored by — artists like Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark and John Prine. Several artists including Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver and Tom Jones recorded his songs. And he co-wrote a song with Loretta Lynn that appeared on her 2016 album, “Full Circle.”
Snider did his best-known and most acclaimed work for Prine’s independent label Oh Boy in the early 2000s. It included the albums “New Connection,” “Near Truths and Hotel Rooms” and “East Nashville Skyline.” This 2004 collection is considered by musicians to be his best.
Those albums yielded his best known songs, “I Can’t Complain,” “Beer Run” and “Alright Guy.”
Snider was born and raised in Oregon before settling and making his musical chops in San Marcos, Texas. He eventually made his way to Nashville, and nicknamed by some the unofficial “mayor of East Nashville,” assuming the title from a friend memorialized in his “Train Song.”
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