Swank* Remembers Todd

I first met Todd in 96’ or ’97, when he was touring with the Nervous Wrecks on the second album ‘Step Right Up’. I interviewed him for the Nightlife Entertainment paper in Carbondale, IL. The second time was at The What The Folk Fest in Memphis. Todd was hosting, so it was only a quick hey here and there. The Third time was at the Jerry Jeff Walker Birthday weekend down in Texas. All of this took place over a 2 year period in the late 90’s. 

After that, I might occasionally see him at a conference or showcase event, again, a quick hey here and there. – Fast Forward to 2015. The Bottle Rockets were on the bill along with Todd at Moccasin Creek Fest. Moccasin Creek had no green room whatsoever, so Todd’s bus became the default green room. I walked on with The Brox, and someone introduced me to Todd. Much to my amazement, I got a big hug and Todd said “Me and Joe go way back.” …and he proceeded to rattle off all those 90’s moments that I was SURE he’d forgotten near 20 years down the line. 

Todd was a special cat and possibly one of the greatest songwriters of my generation. I started planning my Todd tribute radio show. I grabbed only the essentials (in my mind) and ended up with almost 4 hours of music for a 2 hour radio show. (Let the editing begin.) Seeing Todd Live was a whole other world from just appreciating his songs. The stories he’d tell, often 3-4 times as long as the actual song, were solid gold. 

There are live albums and recordings, but the cool thing is that you could see two nights in a row, and get totally different stories about the same song. He was a natural storyteller. 

Imma miss that cat. 

– Photo from Moccasin Creek Fest 7/24/15
Bottle Rockets & Todd Snider rocking out.