Last week, we lost one of our greatest contemporary American songwriters.

Todd Snyder, the storyteller, the bard of East Nashville, passed away at 59 years old.

From his breakthrough with talking Seattle grunge rock blues in the early 1990s. Through the album he just released a few weeks ago,

High Lonesome and then some,

he remained a true artist.

Todd was a friend of mine and a mentor.

I first opened for him when I was 24 years old.

And from the very first moment, together, he treated me like a peer, and that meant so much.

It's been beautiful to see that my experience was far from unique.

I've seen many testimonials this week from wonderful artists.

And there are several generations of us, my age and younger, that Todd gave his time to very generously.

And he wanted to pass on what he had learned himself from John Prine, from Jerry Jeff Walker,

from Guy Clark, and he wanted to pass that torch on. In that, he succeeded. He taught us all so much, and his songs will live

forever in our hearts. I take this interview with him in March of 2020, and he has so much

wisdom to drop here. My favorite line of his in this interview is when he says,

you have to have a map in your head so that you have something not to follow.

He will be missed by so many of us. There will never be another Todd Snyder.

God bless you, Todd. May your soul rest in eternal peace. Our guest this month is perhaps our nation's greatest embodiment of a working songwriter living and working today. Todd Snyder was a student of a generation that came before him.

He was personally taught on the road by John Prine, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker.

And he's also a walking repository of wisdom, wisecracks, and encouragement for the

generation coming after him.

Todd Snyder is the link between an original generation of troubadours and the vanguard

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