Artist Todd Snider

Cathy Mills

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Todd Snider

For the first 10 years of his career, country-tinged folkie Todd Snider was best known for penning drawling, smartass novelty songs like “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” and “Beer Run” that were good for laughs but didn’t exactly suggest future greatness. Then Snider conquered an OxyContin addiction and released 2004’s East Nashville Skyline, the first in a series of darkly funny releases welcoming has-beens and never-weres with warm hugs and cold beverages. Both sides of the singer-songwriter’s discography surface in his often uproarious live shows, committed to tape on 2011’s The Storyteller. It’s an apt title—the humor in Snider’s music comes quick, but he’s given to punctuating sets with lengthy but engaging between-song banter. He’s currently taking to the road in support of a new album, Agnostic Hymns And Stoner Fables, due out March 6.

Updated 01/25/2012