Todd Snider

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Todd Daniel Snider was born October 11, 1966 in Portland Oregon. In 1981, Snider's father's construction company went belly up and the family relocated to Houston. Snider stayed in Oregon, however, sleeping on friend's couches during his junior and senior year. In addition, Snider played varsity linebacker on his high school football team, the Beaverton Beavers. Upon graduation from high school, Snider briefly lived in Santa Rosa, California.

Later, Todd's brother bought him a ticket to Austin, Texas. At some point, Todd befriended "Trogg" (6 feet 8 inches, 300 lbs), who provided Snider with a couch to sleep on. Todd stayed with Trogg for somewhere around three months, at which point he heard Jerry Jeff Walker for the first time. Later, Snider saw Walker perform at Gruene Hall, which led him to decide that he too could be a musician. In 1986, Todd also met Eddy Shaver, Billy Joe Shaver's son, at The Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos Texas. Later in the 80's, Todd moved to Memphis, where he played at the now defunct Daily Planet.

In 1989, Snider literally knocked on songwriter Keith Sykes' front door, a stranger bearing a demo tape. Keith Sykes later signed Todd to his publishing company in 1990. In addition, Jimmy Buffett heard Todd at The Daily Planet and signed him to Margaritaville in 1993, an MCA offshoot. October 11, 1994 saw the release of Snider's debut album, Songs from the Daily Planet, on the Margaritaville/MCA label. Many of the arrangements on Songs for the Daily Planet had been written for Eddie Shaver, who was intended to be a member of the band prior to Shaver's success on the album, Tramp On Your Street. Todd Snider ran into an early stroke of luck and appeared March 6 1995 on the Conan O'Brien show, and later in 1996 on Prime Time Country and The David Letterman Show. On April 23, 1996, Todd released Step Right Up.

MCA later dropped Snider in 1998, after Snider released his third album, Viva Satellite. Somewhere in the interm between record labels, Todd married Melita Osheowitz Snider, who Snider met at a rehab center. Todd signed to John Prine's record label, OH BOY, and released Happy to Be Here on April 18, 2000, New Connection on May 14, 2002, and Near Truths and Hotel Rooms on May 13, 2003. In addition, www.toddsnider.net opened on May 13, 2003.

Todd Snider's road manager Skip Litz died on July 24, 2003, which led Snider to a hospital for depression and later to make an album largely in honor of Litz, East Nashville Skyline, which released on July 20, 2004. August 30, 2005 saw the release of That Was Me: 1994-1998, a sampling of Snider's greatest hits, on the HIP-O label.

Snider's album The Devil You Know was digitally released on May 23, 2006 and officially released on August 8 2006. Later that summer, Snider played on Conan O'Brien for a second time singing The Devil You Know single, "Looking For a Job", and later performed "Unbreakable" on David Letterman.

Snider is best known for his wry humor and has been a fixture on the Americana, alt-country, Red Dirt, and folk scene since Songs for the Daily Planet

Among his most popular songs are the early "Beer Run" (a comedic look at a staple of 18-20 year old life), "Alright Guy", and "Trouble". Many of his songs incorporate pop cultural references with humor, such as "Iron Mike's Main Man's Last Request".