An Allright Guy Gone
I’m mourning the loss a couple days ago of one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Todd Snider, who left the stage much too early at age 59. From the first time I heard “Allright Guy”– one his only songs that got mainstream radio play– in the mid-90’s, I was hooked. Todd mixed the everyman simple poetry of John Prine with the hippie humor of Arlo Guthrie. His one-man live show wasn’t the stuff of Eras Tours, but it was like no other.
My wife Jude and I got to attend his inaugural songwriting retreat, Camp What the Folk, in 2023 and learned that his folksy persona is no act; he was truly more than an allright guy. And among his huge under-the-radar following– whom he affectionately called the S*^theads– he is dearly missed. If that includes you, then you know what I’m talking about. If not; if you like Prine, Guthrie, Jimmy Buffett, Kris Kristofferson, et al, you’ll love Todd. Give him a try, and imagine his million-dollar smile beaming right back at you.