New book Spotlights Folksinger Todd Snider’s Songwriting Legacy

Acclaimed Austin-based author Brian T. Atkinson is to release his seventh book, East Nashville Skyline: The Songwriting Legacy of Todd Snider, due out on December 5 through Texas A&M University Press.

The book traces Snider’s trajectory from his journey as a songwriting student learning from masters Kent Finlay in San Marcos, Texas, Keith Sykes in Memphis, and finally Americana icon John Prine in Nashville through his ascent into one of the modern era’s most beloved singer-songwriters.

“Todd was so enthusiastic about this book,” Atkinson says of the late folksinger and legendary storyteller, who died on November 14. “We did more than twenty hours of phone interviews and general bullshitting – all well before sunrise – during the first year of the pandemic.

“He was endlessly generous with his time as we talked about songwriting and spirituality and everything in between. Todd answered the phone the same way every time: ‘Hey, man. Let me grab my coffee and a morning J and then let’s talk…'”

The book also includes forewords by three icons – Woody Guthrie disciple Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, late comedian Richard Lewis, and the late country music beacon Loretta Lynn – along with interviews with several dozen songwriting friends (Patty Griffin, Jack Ingram, Kevn Kinney), followers (Hayes Carll, Sierra Ferrell, Jason Isbell), jam band buddies (Susan Tedeschi, the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Yonder Mountain String Band’s Ben Kaufmann) and music industry insiders (Tony Brown, Don Was).

“Todd is as poetic a writer as anybody,” late songwriting legend Kris Kristofferson once said, “but words don’t seem crafted with him. They come out naturally and move you emotionally in the direction he wants, but without you feeling conscious of it.”