From Pensacola to Hollywood, bassist aimed for the sky and is grooving with the stars

There's a picture of Pensacola musician Chris Snowden on Facebook showing the bassist on stage at the iconic Hollywood Bowl. The picture shows the bassist from behind, arms spread wide, as he looks out over the still-empty amphitheater before showtime.

Under the photo – "#from Pensacola to Hollywood".

Snowden, 32, is touring the country playing bass for nine-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz and has served as musical director and bassist for many other touring artists.

He's already scratched off a bucket-list item – playing the famed Hollywood Bowl, the same legendary California amphitheater that has seen musical icons such as Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, the Who, the Supremes and so many more grace its hallowed stage.

"Playing at the Hollywood Bowl was always one of my dreams,'' said Snowden, just a day before boarding a plane for another trip to California to perform alongside Koz. "Just don't give up on your dreams and one day you might end up at the Hollywood Bowl as well."

Music has been Snowden's dream for as long as he can remember. At 5, he started banging on drums - his older brother was a drummer.

His mother, Freda Snowden, was a disc jockey with Pensacola radio station WRNE-AM 980 when he was a child, and Snowden remembers his mother asking him to fetch various records at the station or return records to their bins. Records ranging from gospel groups such as the Canton Spirituals and the Georgia Mass Choir to Parliament-Funkadelic and Earth, Wind & Fire found their way through his little hands.

"That was a big influence,'' he said. "Just being exposed to all that music."

But the biggest catalyst came when he was about 7 or 8 years old. That's when he saw American funk band Graham Central Station, fronted by flashy bassist Larry Graham, on television.

"I remember seeing them come out in these nice white uniforms, and the first song was 'Dance to the Music,'" Snowden said. "Then Larry Graham stepped out to the front to play bass and immediately I knew that was what I wanted to do."

His mother purchased him his first bass not long after.

Problem was, it was a left-handed bass. Snowden is a righty.

"She didn't really know the difference," he said.

He flipped it and learned to play upside down originally.

Eventually, Snowden would get a right-handed bass and would mimic older players from church.

"I'm a church boy," he said. "My godfather played in church and I tried to mimic him and others."

The Rev. John Powell, founder of Truth for Youth, a Pensacola nonprofit which helps stimulate and educate at-risk children in the city, is a longtime Snowden family friend who has watched the young bassist progress through the years.

"He's always been so musically inclined," Powell said. "I'm just so very proud of him and I told him one day I'm going to be able to afford to go to one of his shows."

Snowden has been playing with Koz since June, earning the gig through his connections with touring saxophonist Eric Darius. Snowden is Darius' musical director and bassist. Throughout his career, Snowden has worked with artists such as Jeffrey Osborne, M.C. Lyte, the S.O.S. Band, Ceelo Green and many more.

He is also the music director at All Nations Worship Assembly in Pensacola.

Snowden is married to Kimberly Snowden, and the couple has four children with a daughter due in January.

Though her husband travels often to perform, Kimberly Snowden said the couple is in "near-constant communication."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm on stage with him,'' she said. "We stay connected."

Though Snowden is enjoying the sideman gig, he hopes to one day climb higher in the music world.

His ultimate goal?

Snowden is quiet for a moment.

"To win a Grammy, to win a Tony ..."

He paused.

"An EGOT?" he's asked (that's Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony).

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"That's what you're working for,'' he said. Snowden started rattling off a list of stellar bass performers, all multiple award winners, that he hopes to emulate.

"Rickey Minor, Adam Blackstone, Nathan East, Stanley Clarke - they are the ones I want to follow. I take great pride in what I do. I'm very serious about it."

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Bassist Chris Snowden played with Dave Koz, S.O.S. Band, other greats