When singer-songwriter Todd Snider died earlier this month at 59, he left a gaping hole in Nashville’s Americana and alt-country music scene. For this special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we assembled some of those who knew Snider best — singers, songwriters, and Snider collaborators Elizabeth Cook, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Chuck Mead — to share stories about what made the East Nashville fixture so special.
Oftentimes, the tales are humorous. Tasjan, who produced what would be Snider’s last album, 2025’s High, Lonesome and Then Some, recalls the time that Garth Brooks was reportedly going to record Snider’s original song “Alright Guy.” Snider turned the opportunity into a bit and joked that he was putting in a pool with the payday. When Brooks called with the bad news that he wasn’t going to cut “Alright Guy” after all, Snider kept the gag going. “He immediately yelled out, ‘Stop digging the pool! We cannot do this!’” Tasjan recalls. “He loved bad news.”
Cook shares a wild yet touching story about a trip to Home Depot with Snider to buy plants, and Mead reflects on their status as musical pioneers in East Nashville. They also broach the subject of a tribute concert in Snider’s memory.
“There’s talk, and talk from different camps,” Cook says. “I think there’ll be multiples and they’ll be ongoing, and I hope that they are.”
“There will be shows,” Mead adds. “There will be chaos.”
Watch the full episode of our Todd Snider tribute above.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Kings of Leon, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Ink, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.
