JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Singer-songwriter Todd Snider died last week at the age of 59. Snider was a hero to many in alt-country music and the East Nashville scene he represented. In the days since his death, dozens of fellow artists have penned tributes to Snider. He was a rambler and a poet who forged his own imperfect path. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has this appreciation.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: When I asked several of Todd Snider's peers and collaborators what they loved most about him, so many of them gave me a similar answer.
WILL KIMBROUGH: Todd was absolutely the master of telling a story.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's Will Kimbrough. He started playing in Snider's band in the 1990s. They were making rock music at the time but continued working together as Snider moved to Nashville and evolved into more of a folk, talking blues solo artist.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TODD SNIDER: (Singing) Skin color-blinded, conspiracy-minded protesters of corporate greed.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Snider made a name for himself as an incisive writer with an almost overwhelming empathy for the little guy. His songs reflected a winking self-awareness. Snider was known to joke about working the couch circuit, sleeping wherever he could.
KIMBROUGH: You know, when Todd first came out, people like Kris Kristofferson and John Prine really took note and said, who is this kid who's writing these songs that remind us of our generation?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Snider was mentored by both. He signed to Jimmy Buffett's label in 1993, and later to Prine's. Throughout his career, he recorded more than a dozen albums and was especially loved for his live performances. Famously, he'd spend nearly 20 minutes just introducing a song, all while holding the audience's attention.
KIMBROUGH: Who does that, besides a stand up comedian?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Singer-songwriter Rod Picott says, for him, the magic lived in Snider's words.
ROD PICOTT: Todd inhabited a very rare place in terms of his songwriting. But it's that kind of place where melancholy and sadness sort of meet up with humor, which makes the humor funnier and makes the melancholy sadder.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SNIDER: (Singing) All I wanted was one chance to let freedom ring. They said I have to get a permit, tags and everything.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Snider was also a mentor. He convinced Aaron Lee Tasjan to move to Nashville in the late 2000s, and then he helped the guitarist launch his own solo career.
AARON LEE TASJAN: He was so beautiful and encouraging to so many of us.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Todd Snider was also very open about his struggles with addiction, with chronic pain, with life at large. His last album, "High, Lonesome And Then Some," came out last month, and it grappled with a dark time in his life.
TASJAN: He was always very honest with himself. He was always very honest with his audience. He never tried to make things seem better than they were, but yet he had this hopeful air about everything in his life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AGE LIKE WINE")
SNIDER: (Singing) Old timer. Old timer, too late to die young now.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AGE LIKE WINE")
SNIDER: (Singing) Old timer, five-and-dimer, trying to find a way... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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