Songwriter Todd Snider was one-of-one. His death in November, at age 59, still looms over East Nashville, where Snider was the “pied piper” of the local scene. But his impact and influence far exceeded his little slice of Nashville: He was essential to the scenes of Portland, Oregon, where he was born, and to Texas, where he once lived. On Friday, March 20, artists like Cody Canada, Amanda Shires, and Hayes Carll will gather at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch outside of Austin to pay tribute to Snider at the “Todd Snider Rules!” daylong concert.
Along with Canada, Shires, and Carll, the lineup will feature more than 20 artists, including Jack Ingram, Drivin N Cryin’s Kevn Kinney, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Jason Boland, John Craigie, Dalton Domino, Shelby Stone, Ashleigh Flynn, Kat Hasty, Tommy Prine, Levi Snider, Garrett Boys, Emma Ogier, Caleb Martin, Dallas Burrow, Olivia Ellen Lloyd, Briscoe, Travis Roberts, Sterling Finlay, and Pedal Steel Noah.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere in music if I hadn’t stumbled onto Todd when I was a teenager,” Canada, the frontman of Cross Canadian Ragweed said in a statement. “The coolest, the funniest, the wittiest. There’s a hole in my family’s heart without him here. Thanks for friendship buddy.”
Tickets for “Todd Snider Rules!” are on sale now via Luck Presents’ website. Gates open at 2 p.m./CT.
“The impact the loss of Todd Snider has had on the music community and on me personally cannot be overstated,” Tasjan, who co-produced Snider’s final album, High, Lonesome and Then Some, said in a statement. “For over 20 years he was my friend, mentor and one of my closest and most trusted allies, and so the opportunity to come together with Todd’s friends and fans to honor him at Luck is something I feel so fortunate to be doing this year. I know it will help us all to process and navigate the way his absence continues to affect us all.”
Following Snider’s death, Tasjan, Elizabeth Cook, and Chuck Mead, all friends and collaborators of the songwriter, joined Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast to reflect on his legacy and share their personal stories of Snider. Many were humorous, including one that Tasjan told about the time that Garth Brooks was reportedly going to record Snider’s original song “Alright Guy.”
Trending Stories
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 his song after all, Snider kept the gag going. “He immediately yelled out, ‘Stop digging the pool! We cannot do this!’” Tasjan said. “He loved bad news.”
“Todd Snider Rules!” gets underway the day after the 2026 Luck Reunion at Nelson’s ranch. Scheduled for March 19, this year’s lineup includes Trampled by Turtles, St. Vincent, James McMurtry, and annual headliner Nelson with his Family Band.