'In for a total eclipse of the heart.' Storytelling troubadour Todd Snider to perform at The Music Hall

Enigmatic folk troubadour Todd Snider has spent the better part of 30 years plotting the course on a career that has felt the highs and lows of major label success to the pros and cons of a DIY approach. Through it all, Snider has a developed a “what will be, will be” mentality and has found longevity in his career. Snider, in support of his latest record, “First Agnostic Church Of Hope and Wonder,” will make his way to The Music Hall on Wednesday, April 13. Seacoastonline caught up with the singer-songwriter to discuss his approach, ramblin’ about like his “grandpa,” Ramblin’ Jack, and, with that in mind, what getting back on the road has meant to him after a pandemic fueled hiatus.

Seacoastonline: Why music? Why do you seek it? Why do you create it?

Snider: That’s a tough question. when I was young, I didn't dream of being a singer. When I was 19, I made up a song and people really liked it so I went to a songwriter night and the guy who ran it told me I could make it. Nobody was telling me I could make it at anything else I didn't go to college or have parents who could get me jobs. So I dove into the troubadour lifestyle and became a student of it and learned pretty quick that if you're thinking of the money, you won't get any.

Seacoastonline: You started with harmonica. What led you to that particular instrument? How’d that experience lend itself to a lifetime of chasing music as a means of earning a living?

Snider: The harmonica was given to me by a guy who could play it and he showed me how. I can't chase making a living. I gotta chase absurdity and chaos or I’ll never make a living. That's how I understand it anyway.

Seacoastonline: What do you appreciate about traveling from town to town to play music and tell stories to a room full of strangers? Is it weird? Or are they all friends at this point?

Snider: It’s cathartic for me. The traveling and the playing and everything in between. It’s a very romantic way of life.

Seacoastonline: How does Ramblin’ Jack play into all this? I read somewhere that he was an influence of yours and he’s exactly as you described above. A blur through, in, and out of town. Playing a set somewhere in the midst of things before moving on down the road. Never really saying hi, never really saying bye, but making a connection through and through.

Snider: It's a way of life and he invented it. Prine and Jerry Jeff thought of him as a father figure. He calls me his grandson. I’ve learned a lot about traveling and being alive from Ramblin’ Jack. He says this troubadour thing is just a bunch a grab ass. Only a fool would want more than a horse or a truck out of it.

Seacoastonline: Tell us about your new record, “First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder.” First of all, that name is brilliant. What were your goals for this record? It’s got a funkier feel to it than I’ve been accustomed to with Todd Snider records.

Snider: I was trying to do somethings I’d wanted to do for a while; that I knew might be tough on people who like what I do. In a way, it’s like a skit. But it’s more like the bulldog record where I was just wanting to try something musical and came up with words for it ... Rather than having words and coming up with music for it. There is a song on there I really don't like now, so in a way the whole thing’s a failure.

Seacoastonline: Is songwriting an easy or arduous process for you? Do you sit and wait for one to come to you, or do you jot it down furiously whenever it happens to wander into your head?

Snider: Both and both. It’s hard to explain. The older I get the less I understand it.

Seacoastonline: Sincerely interested in how you met Neal Casal and what the experience was like working with him for a handful of years there while in Hard Working Americans?

Snider: I met Neal when I went to see Chris Robinson Brotherhood. He was a very complicated person. It’s hard to talk about.

Seacoastonline: What do you appreciate about being a storyteller, be that in song or just plain spoken word?

Snider: Being able to wear whatever, sleep in it and wear it again, and nobody cares.

Seacoastonline: How does storytelling play into the human condition? Where would we be without it?

Snider: It’s a distraction from our doom. One of many. I think we'd be just as (expletive) without it as with it. We're dying and we don't know what that means. Nothing helps. That’s the good news.

Seacoastonline: Who do you equate are some of the finest storytellers you’ve run into in your lifetime?

Snider: Oh, Buffett, Ramblin’ Jack, Hunter Thompson, Ken Burns ...

Seacoastonline: Alright, speaking of singing and slinging stories, you’ll be visiting us here in Portsmouth for a gig at the historic Music Hall on April 13. What excites you about the gig? What can folks expect?

Snider: I live for this s***. These people are in for a total eclipse of the heart.

Seacoastonline: Have you gathered a new appreciation for being back out on the road after being holed up in place at home during the height of the pandemic?

Snider: I’ve just always appreciated it so much anyway. It’s such a privilege. People can be incredibly kind. And traveling is my passion.

My respect for this trade and the history of it is through the roof. But you might be right; it might be even more so now.

Go & Do

What: Todd Snider in concert

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 13

Where: The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth

Tickets: $30 to $32, available at themusichall.org

More info: Visit themusichall.org

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Todd Snider to perform at The Music Hall in Portsmouth NH April 13