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(or What I Spent My Grocery Money On)

You all know by now my penchant for owning the physical disc.  Even when times are hard.  I’d love to tell you it’s because my high morals won’t allow me to copy OPD’s (other people’s discs) but, well, I just really like to peel off the wrappers and pop out the pretty inserts and stuff. 

And, I do like to cuss the postal system when it’s late, cuss the state of our society because there are no independent music stores – you know, get myself a little worked up.  Then, when I finally get my hands on the actual item, I run my fingers over the lyrics booklet, read the dedication and thank yous and all before I listen from track one to the very end.

From the moment I sussed out the info that Steve Earle was releasing "Townes", I knew I’d have to have that one.  It’s a forever keeper.  And, Guy Clark’s "Sometimes the Song Writes You" was getting multiple rave reviews before I’d ever heard of it, so I internet-ordered that.  Kris Kristofferson’s "Closer to the Bone" kept me camped out by the mailbox for a while.  Well worth the frostbite, though. 

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It’s coming…

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Cokie Roberts wrote this.

Don’t you just hate it when one person has to ruin it for everybody?

I’m sure it was nothing, probably just a fan who wanted to ask Todd Snider to play a favorite song. Or something.

But she definitely took the wrong approach Friday night at The Sons Of Hermann Hall.

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Dallas, June 29, 2007

The Todd Snider show at the Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas Thursday night was called off at the last minute when word came that Todd’s flight out of Nashville was cancelled. Damn rain! We arrived early to find the handwritten sign pictured here tacked to the door.

I saw quite a few people leave unhappy but our little group thought, "What the hell?  We’re here, the opening act, The Amanda Shires Band, is still playing, there’s no cover and we can come back later in July and see Todd."  You know, wherever you go, there you are.

It turned out to be the best possible decision.

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Front Porch House Concerts, Boulder, March 6, 2007

Soiled Dove, Denver, March 7, 2007

Todd Snider played Colorado last week: March 6 at Front Porch House Concerts in Boulder and March 7 at the larger more commercial Soiled Dove down in Denver. I was lucky enough to go to both shows and here’s what happened.

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To begin with, I should admit that I’m a big Todd Snider fan. I mean, he’s funny, his records are great, and he performs in his bare feet. And when he needs them, based on the photos in the booklet that came with the disc, he’s got a super sweet pair of Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star sneakers (low risers).

If he’s playing with The Nervous Wrecks, he’ll rock the house. But he’s equally good in folk singer mode – just a guitar and harmonica – telling stories, getting the crowd on his side (he always gets the crowd), and playing his awesome songs.

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Did you hear about Mucklewain? A brand new festival they held in Harriman, Tennessee, in August. Unbelievable SlackerCountry line-up (Steve Earle, Todd Snider, Scott Miller, Lucero, the Yayhoos, Jason Ringenberg, Kevin Kinney, Daddy – Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack, Cory Branan, Allison Moorer, Webb Wilder, Mic Harrison, and more). We didn’t get to go but Brother Dave and Mary Ann did and graciously sent in this review for us.

Mucklewain is a music festival that was held on August 19, 2006, in a big field in Harriman, Tennessee. Actually, it was a southern rock and Americana music festival. Better yet, it was a damn good time.

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On the whole, 2005 was a pretty good year for alt country music. Considering that, as a genre, it had been previously declared dead or dying, there was an awful lot of great alt country music to be had last year. A lot of what came across the radar screen never made it to the review pages of SlackerCountry. We would like to take this opportunity to address that particular oversight with this top 5 unreviewed releases list:

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The Fred heads were there. So were the Todd faithful.

The big side of Dallas’s Gypsy Tea Room was about half capacity so there was plenty of room to maneuver through the crowd without getting jostled (or having to jostle) yet still offering a respectable turnout for Todd Snider and opener Fred Eaglesmith.

It was a pretty good night for train songs, sing-a-longs, talking blues, rants, and party tunes.

Fred played solo.  While the front of the crowd was singing along to “Freight Train” and “I Shot Your Dog”, the rear of the crowd was conversing away.

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Todd Snider’s CDs have always been autobiographical and that’s never been more apparent than in his 2004 release from Oh Boy Records, “East Nashville Skyline.”

The liner notes don’t have song lyrics but they have something even better: Todd’s notes in typical Todd style.  You can get a real sense of Snider by reading his blog – or by listening to his songs.  It’s pretty much the same thing.

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