Todd Snider's been one of my favorite artists for a while- what really got me into him was seeing him play at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2002. Matt and I had run into a buddy from high school who had secured an awesome spot right in front of the stage, and they had plenty of room for us to come hang out. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Snider, armed with an acoustic guitar, had us grooving and laughing for his entire set. Unfortunately, Jen that was the one TBF Jen missed, and we've been talking about seeing Snider together ever since.
We've had plenty of opportunities (the guy tours constantly), but something always comes up. When I saw him scheduled to play the Boulder Theater at the end of January, I said "We're there, dude!" About a week before the concert, it was announced that, instead of Snider solo, he would be backed by Yonder Mountain String Band's Jeff Austin and Ben Kaufmann, and Vince Herman, of Leftover Salmon. Whoo-hoo! A Colorado all-star jamgrass backing band!
The show was great- the presence of the other three guys undoubtedly cause Snider to keep the stage banter to a minimum, but the stories that he did tell were freaking hilarious. The three guys did a great job of backing him- complementing the music, rather than trying to show off. Some of the hippie kids who were there to see Jeff shred the mandolin were likely disappointed, but there were a decent amount of Jeff & Vince jams, without taking away from the focus of the evening, the great Todd Snider compositions. He played many of my favorites- "Just Like Old Times," "Tilamook County Jail," "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight White American Males," and "The Ballad of the Kingsmen." Oh, yeah, and, of course, "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues."
It was interesting hearing him play that, after having seen Arlo Guthrie do "Alice's Restaurant" at Telluride this summer. Both guys feel compelled to play their one big hit/moneymaker night after night, but do switch it up, to keep it interesting. I can't imagine Snider will still feature "Talkin' Seattle..." nightly if he's touring when he's in his 60s, but you never know. I didn't take any photos or shoot any video at the show, but here's a tune he did play, a cool cover of CCR's "Fortunate Son," off his latest, Peace Queer.
Get it? I came across this while weeding in the 998s, and wanted to get rid of it, solely based on the stupid title. This isn't even the only book with this punny title- there's another one about professional hockey players.
Always wants to be as close as possible to Jen's face
If there's a cooler one, I haven't seen it!
Always behind. Read year-end lists, and then scramble to acquire them. Realize they suck. Keep listening.
First off- an old song. But one I had never really heard before. Mick Taylor is the man!
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