Todd Snider plays the guitar at his home in Nashville on Oct. 24, 2023.
Todd Snider plays the guitar at his home in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.

Troubadour Todd Snider, the sharp-witted songwriter and unflinching observer of the human condition who rose as a pillar of Americana sound, died Nov. 14. He was 59.

His death came a day after friends and family said Snider was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

In the weeks prior to Snider's death, Snider was arrested in Utah after trying to regain admittance to a hospital that discharged him after treating wounds from an alleged assault. The events led Snider to cancel his tour after one stop.

"Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases?" friends and family posted Nov. 15 on Snider's Facebook page.

"Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth."

Which songs is Todd Snider famous for?

Snider was a staple of the Nashville country and folk scenes for his musical humor and storytelling since his debut in 1994. He was known for songs "Beer Run," "I Can't Complain" and "Just Like Old Times" and his eclectic style, which incorporates elements of the blues, folk, country, rock and funk.

Born in Oregon in 1966, Snider moved to California after high school. In the '80s, Snider lived in Texas and was mentored by Jerry Jeff Walker.

The 1990s brought Snider to Nashville, where he honed his songwriting under the guiding light of heroes such as Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Clark and John Prine.

In 2004, Snider's record, "East Nashville Skyline" became an alt-country staple. The rambling album is at once playful and cutting, as Snider's songs address addiction, mortality, and the importance of finding happiness in daily life.

It was a rebellious time − a creative one. "Early East Nashville was all sort of a rolling stone's country. That's what we kind of wanted," Snider said in 2023. "I got in this for the lifestyle ... I wanted to be free."

Todd Snider's songs were covered by Loretta Lynn, Tom Jones and more

Artists including Gary Allan, Mark Chesnutt, Loretta Lynn, Robert Earl Keen and Tom Jones recorded Snider's songs. Snider wrote alongside Lynn, Gary Bennett, Will Kimbrough and more, and inspired artists from Jack Ingram to Amanda Shires.

“I’ve learned a lot from him, especially about how important it is to stay close to your art," Shires said in 2016. "I don’t think anybody does it as well as he does. …When he’s on point, there’s nobody that can outwrite him.”

Snider's 2008 EP "Peace Queer" dove into political commentary. That same year, Snider founded his label Aimless Records.

In 2012, Snider released an album of Walker's songs, as well as his record "Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables," which addressed economic inequality in America. Snider had become a sharp-tongued lyricist who used his pen to amplify injustice.

"Helicopters over the house again / We got the projects two or three blocks from here / They pull the kids over for Driving-While-African / And the ones that with the warrants always run in fear," he sings in his 2006 song "The Devil You Know."

"Sometimes you rise above it / Sometimes you gonna sneak below / Somewhere in between believing in heaven / And facing the devil you know."

Snider's career was interrupted by chronic pain, battles with drug addiction and rehab stints, but it didn't stop him from funneling adversity into song.

As his heroes began to die − John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker died in 2020 − Snider struggled with debilitating grief, openly questioning his art as he pushed forward.

"I'm having a hard time with the loss of some people that are the people that I was, in my mind, maybe doing this for. Jimmy helped me a lot, a lot, a lot," Snider said after Buffett's death in 2023.

“I sing about dead friends more than girls these days,” he added earlier this year.

In 2021, he released his record "First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder" and in 2023, his lost East Nashville record, "Crank It, We’re Doomed."

His final work arrived on Oct. 17: "High, Lonesome and Then Some," a nine-track record he recorded at his Nashville home.

'I sure did love him': Jason Isbell reacts to Todd Snider's death

"Freak flags at half-staff for the Storyteller and all the songs he still had left to write," singer and songwriter Jason Isbell said on social media. "I sure did love him."

Added Fiona Prine, widow of John Prine, via social media: "You are in the best of company now with Guy, John, Jerry Jeff and the troubadours who loved you as one of their very own."

Snider's team of family and friends used his social media account to grieve.

"How do we move forward without the one who gave us countless 90 minute distractions from our impending doom?" they questioned. "Today, put on one of your favorite Todd Snider records. ... We love you Todd, sail on old friend, we’ll see you again out there on the road somewhere down the line. You will always be a force of nature."

They ended with the lyrics of Snider's 2019 song "Like a Force of Nature."

"If we never get together again / Forgive me for these fools I’ve been / See if you can remember me when / I was listening to my better angels," Snider sang.

"May you always play your music / Loud enough to wake up all of your neighbors / Or may you play at least loud enough / To always wake yourself up."

This story has been updated to correct a typo.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Todd Snider mourned in Americana music scene: 'I sure did love him'

Reporting by Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean / Nashville Tennessean

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