The music community continues to mourn the passing of Todd Snider, with countless stories emerging about how supportive he was of fellow musicians and songwriters. He put that generosity on full display in the early 2010s with the formation of Hard Working Americans, teaming up with Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools, the late guitarist Neal Casal, drummer Duane Trucks, and keyboardist Chad Staehly. This incredibly talented group blended their jam band and rock heritage into something new and vital.
The band’s debut album was a master class in championing great songwriting, featuring tracks from a who’s who of Twangville favorites: Kevin Gordon, the Bottle Rockets, Kevn Kinney and Drivin N Cryin, Hayes Carll, Will Kimbrough, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and even Randy Newman. Here are a pair of standouts from that release: Kinney’s “Straight to Hell” and Carll’s “Stomp and Holler”.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.