Don’t label Todd Snyder as a folk artist or singer-songwriter. He has earned a distinguished reputation for his musical employment as a wandering troublemaker.
“My job is Ramblin’ Jack Elliot,” said Snyder. “He’s the godfather of it. Woody Guthrie didn’t tour. He (Elliott) was the first to go out with an acoustic guitar, harmonica rack and he’s still doing that. I toured with him last year and he Still got it… He considers me his grandson.
Inspired by Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, and John Prine in the mid-’80s—who qualify as Elliot’s sons—Snyder has been singing his songs since the early ’90s, when he was referred to as “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge”. Was a real hit with. Rock blues,” bouncing off major labels to produce a record of songs written about his life and commentary on the road to America.
Snyder is currently on tour and will headline Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on May 16 before hitting the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles and Puppy & Harriet in Pioneertown on May 18.
“I feel like I’ve been sent on an adventure to report back,” he said. “You really have to like travel. I like to be on the road. I feel like that’s where I belong… It’s a lifestyle. It’s not a story that ends. I sometimes wear my clothes.” I sleep because I am one of them.
Pointing to Hayes Carl and Aaron Lee Taszen, Snyder said, “There are other problems today. But he is a few years behind Snyder, who released “Songs for the Daily Planet” in 1994, his major label debut, joined Prine’s Oh Boy label in 2000, and launched his own label, Amless Records, in 2008.
Snyder has now released 19 solo albums, the most recent of which is “First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder” in 2021.
He has also been in a pair of bands, jam band supergroup Hard Working Americans and garage rocking Elmo Buzz and Eastside Buildings – “they were my real job prep,” he said. “Everything goes to that.”
With their songs covered by the cast of Robert Earl Keane and Gary Allen, who had a country hit with “Okay Boy” for Loretta Lynn and Tom Jones—yes, Tom Jones—Snyder was allowed to go with the touring revenue. There’s another income stream to keep him alive, if not to make him rich.
“The music business has always provided for me,” Snyder said. “Even when I was at the major label, Big Beast always took care of me… one of my mentors told me I could make any art I wanted and still be a very young dentist. Live like. A very young dentist, it’s not bad.”
There’s literally no telling what songs Snyder will pull out when he takes the stage. They can be familiar “hits”, ambiguities, covers or whatever comes to mind.
“I usually make a setlist, but I won’t follow it,” he said. “I’ll have a plan, and when the show starts, I’ll try to slip some in. Then it really seems to go anywhere.
But that’s exactly what the Troubleshooter wants – to be in front of a crowd of his loyal followers, doing it the way he wants to.
“I go on stage with a box with strings attached and shout out my feelings,” Snyder said. “All those years ago, I saw Jerry Jeffs and John (Prine) and it seemed like a really fun job and it has been.”
Todd Snyder
with: Daniel Rodriguez (single)
When: 8 pm 17
Where: El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Ticket: $30 on AXS.com
as well: 8 May 16 at Belly Up Tavern, 143 S Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. $28 at bellyup.com; 8 May at Pappy & Harriets, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown. $40 at Ticketweb.com.