For years, Todd Snider has been one of the best-kept singer/songwriter secrets, with a dedicated following who view him as a modern-day Bob Dylan or Will Rogers, a troubador whose intelligence, self-deprecation, experience and humor makes him a uniquely American character.
I lucked into Todd's music when an alternative station in Philadelphia (back then, there really WAS alternative radio) played "Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues," the hidden bonus track on his debut CD. On my earlier post about that album, I tell the story, and I have been a fan ever since.
Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables is Snider’s 12th album, and continues his pursuit of the folk-rock crown. Snider's gift for creating songs wrapped around strong narrative cores is not diminished at all on this album. Snider sings about the haves and have-nots from both perspectives, though when he adopts the persona of the former, it’s primarily a sharp musical response to the excesses of the one percent.
Known for his satirical blend of social commentary and deeply personal vignettes, Snider weaves indie-rock, sarcastic folk songs about his generation. Snider has grown into his Americana/new-folk persona, telling witty, acerbic low-life stories like a wizened coot, with cranky but incisive political rants and frank explorations of his personal pain. Folk-rock singer-songwriter records have a reputation for being soft and pristine, but Snider’s a spiritual brother to Kristofferson, Prine, Springsteen, and all those other scruffy troubadours.
Our Great Recession has found its dust-bowl balladeer.
IN THE BEGINNING
IN BETWEEN JOBS
NEW YORK BANKER
WEST NASHVILLE GRAND BALLROOM GOWN
I hope he never becomes inspired to write a song about me. I don't want to be a new victim of a dust-bowl recession. I like his sound.
ReplyDeleteLee
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ReplyDeleteHe's worth checking out, although I am still partial to the first album
LC