Jenni Remembers Todd

When my brother Sterling and I were growing up, my Dad would take in wayward songwriters like stray dogs off the street to stay with us and have a safe place to be creative and write – and they could stay as long as they liked. Well, my mother made some house rules. Everyone who got “free meals, room and board” had to have a house chore: sweeping the porches, washing the windows, drying the dishes, mowing the yards, etc…

I was seven and my brother Sterling was five when Todd Snider moved in 40 years ago. Mom gave Todd the responsibility of driving Sterling into town to Cub Scouts every week. 

I told this story on Todd’s bus outside the Devil’s Backbone Tavern the Valentine’s Day weekend he played a co-bill with Jack Ingram. Jack was on the bus listening and cackles, “Well that sure explains a lot about Sterling!” Todd took a long hit, blew out a mushroom cloud of smoke and sheepishly mumbled, “Hey, we made it to Cub Scouts SOME of the time…”

On that same bus visit with Todd, he ran to the back suite of the bus and came back out with this really nice green denim jacket on going, “I’m thinking this is my new ‘walking off the stage’ jacket. I totally took it from Django Walker last night! All I said was, ‘Can I have that?!’ And he totally fucking gave it to me!”  Everyone on the bus cheered and pat him on the back because Todd’s always so ballsy and cool.

I wait a beat or two and go, “So….Can I have that?” (Not that I think I will get it or anything. I was just trying to be the funny chick in the corner of the room). And Todd immediately was like, “Oh man! Well, shit. Of course. Fuck. You used my own words against me and beat me at my own game! Here!!”

Todd refused to take the jacket back even when I tried. And so for the next week or two, I took the famous jacket around our Austin songwriter friends, taking pictures of James McMurtry and folks wearing it for Todd to laugh about before mailing it back. 

The next time I saw him was years later, and before I said anything he goes, “Don’t even.” He ran off, came back and just gave me another jacket – This one to keep.

There is so much Todd Snider brought (and will still bring) to each and every one of us… stories and songs, laughs and tears. That’s just one quick story. Todd gave me a lifetime of memories – and a jacket that I could keep.