Todd Snider
(Thirty Tigers/Aimless Records)
Live albums can be tricky. More often than not, they come off as nothing more than either a grab the cash and run scam from the label and/or musician or a temporary stall tactic while the artist struggles to complete a long-gestating follow up album. Todd Snider, thankfully, doesn't fit into either category.
On Live: The Storyteller, Snider's latest double disc live effort, folk music's reigning king of cool proves yet again why his studio albums - as solid as they may be - are still no match for his live shows. The songs themselves, while certainly impressive, like the stomper "Don't It make You Want to Dance" and the why-the-hell-is this-song -not-a-classic-yet? "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males", take a back seat to Snider's between song banter and song intros/explanations.
If you've ever caught one of the singer-songwriter's shows - and there's really no excuse not to, seeing as how he lives on the road - you know Snider is more than just a musician, but also an Americana poet, storyteller and barstool comedian.
Yes, Snider had another live album out eight years ago, but in the interim, he has put out a few more records during that time and as Snider admits, the stories and his explanation of the songs themselves change from show to show. At this rate, I wouldn't begrudge Snider a live album every couple of years.
DOWNLOAD: "Just Like Old Times" and "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males" JOHN B. MOORE
