As the road warrior, Todd Snider states during one of his many wonderful stories on his newest release, Live: Return of the Storyteller, this album was recorded on his second-ever tour, the first started when he began playing live in 1994 and ended because of the pandemic. Snider only paused the touring life because the world shut down, this collection, captured when things started back-up, was meant as a compliment to his 2011 release The Storyteller.
As the titles suggest Snider is in a mood to pontificate, which he has done so well throughout his long career. The truth is while his songs mix humor, heartache, and heartfelt yearning, the stories about his life experiences always seem to be the highlights of his live performances/recordings, adding gravity and depth to the mostly straight-ahead acoustic offerings.
This go-around Snider focuses on songs from every aspect of his career, reaching back to 1994’s Songs for the Daily Planet for the humorous “Alright Guy” all the way through 2021’s First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder with efforts like “Sail On, My Friend”, a somber meditation to a lost friend.
That sense of hurt and loss from the pandemic and death, in general, gives this live collection a more reserved feel than others in his catalog. Snider’s voice has also aged, raspier, and slightly out of breath with some coughs during his stories. The sense of aging and loss seeps out in remembrance songs (which are the centerpiece of this release) to Col. Bruce Hampton Ret. (“Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never Be the Same)”) Skip Litz (“Play A Train Song”) and John Prine (“Handsome John”) and while his friends have passed, these touching odes to friendship, love, and life will live on.
Of course, this being Snider things aren’t all dour, he slyly starts the live album with “Big Finish” and ends with “Opening Statement”. He delivers a hilarious story that veers from Montana to private planes and Crocs, he also dips back into the classic “Ballad Of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern” which has taken on even more meaning post-pandemic for living, loving, and live music. A few of the song highlights come from his time playing with the group Hard Working Americans as “Roman Candles” is excellent as is the sweet “Just Like Overnight”.
Barring another global catastrophe, Snider will continue to be out there on the road, telling stories, while creating new ones, celebrating lost friends, while creating new ones, playing his songs with affecting passion, chasing and creating new ones, and releasing them back out into the world for all to savor.
