Todd Snider Biography

Todd Snider Biography

Todd Daniel Snider is a singer-songwriter born October 11, 1966 in Portland, Oregon. Best known for his wry humor, Snider has been a fixture on the Americana, alt-country, and folk scene since his debut on MCA, entitled Songs for the Daily Planet, named for the bar where Snider used to play regularly in Memphis. On that album were the minor hits "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues", a folk song about the early '90's grunge scene, featuring a band that "refused to play", and "Alright Guy", which later became the title cut of Gary Allan's 2001 album. He released two more albums for MCA, Step Right Up and Viva Satellite, the latter often sparking colorful debate amongst fans for its comparisons to Tom Petty. He moved to John Prine's Oh Boy Records where he made Happy to Be Here, New Connection, Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, and East Nashville Skyline. That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994–1998 was released on the Hip-O label in August 2005. Todd Snider's next studio album, The Devil You Know, was released in August 2006. It marked Snider's return to a major label, as he is now recording for New Door Records, a subsidiary of Universal Records.

The Devil You Know was named to several critics' year-end "best" lists, including a No. 33 ranking in Rolling Stone magazine's top 50 albums of the year, a No. 25 ranking by No Depression magazine, and No. 14 by Blender magazine. Snider's songs "Late Last Night" and "I Believe You" have been recorded by the Oklahoma country-rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed. He co-wrote the song "Barbie Doll" with country star Jack Ingram. Snider's new album, Peace Queer, is set to be released on October 14th, 2008. Usually armed with an acoustic guitar, a harmonica, and a microphone, Snider's live performances exemplify his extremely clever songwriting with intimate settings, almost always incorporating engaging and hilarious story telling. This is best represented in his critically acclaimed 2003 live release "Near Truths and Hotel Rooms", where he tells the audience that sometimes he'll "go on for as many as eighteen minutes in between the songs". Occasionally, however, he will play what is often described as an energetic rock show with his band, the Nervous Wrecks.