Songwriter and guitar player Ed Snodderly may not be a household name just yet, but he sure has written a lot of songs that have been played over and over again in a lot of households. He’s had songs covered by Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, and many others in the old timey, rootsy Appalachian and East Tennessee music traditions. Ed Snodderly is a professor who provides education and insights into the American Southern, folk, and Americana musical heritage. His own songs tell stories written with an atmosphere of country lifestyles and place. Ed Snodderly has a new album coming out this week, ES Pearl Presents Baggage Flies Free. We had a chance to chat briefly with him about the songs, his fascinating history and more. Beneath the interview is a premiere of the EP.
Americana Highways: How has where you’re from influenced your writing and performing?
Ed Snodderly: Where and how I’ve been raised makes everything about me. The radio, the voices in a hay field, my mama’s humming, the silence at night. East Tennessee is growing and is and worth perpetuating this where I come from. Where I am now and my want for tomorrow is what it’s all about now.
AH: How has family influenced you?
ES: My grandfather played fiddle and was a dairy farmer. My first guitar was my Dad and his brother’s that they bought working tobacco in the 1930”s. Family reunions I learned to play with other musicians. I had an uncle who was a professional musician. He played pedal steel guitar and he knew the ropes. Played with a few country artists like Loretta Lynn and he sat in with jerry lee Lewis’ band one night.
AH: Why did you choose Nashville to record both Chimney Smoke and Baggage Flies Free?
ES: I once asked Bil VornDick, how is it that those records from the early 1970’s of singers and songwriters like Randy Newman, Jackson Browne sound so good. He said it’s simple they had great musicians. I immediately drove to Nashville and called up musicians who like my songs. Kenny Vaughan, John Gardner, Gary Smith, Steve Hinson, Steve Conn, Tim O’Brien, Daniel Kimbro. Then I got a producer R. S. Field and we were off to making a record that was as much influenced by Ray Davies as A.P. Carter. Not too mention my own self. Oh, and it didn’t hurt to have Maura O’Connell and Gretchen Peters and Amythyst Kiah to sing with me.
AH: Have any other performers recorded your songs?
ES: Mostly notably, Jerry Douglas (“Pearly Mae”), Sam Bush (“Majestic”) , John Cowan, and Missy Raines.
AH: How did it come to be that the Country Music Hall of Fame used the verse of your song, “The Diamond Stream” on their wall?
ES: It just happened. The song first appeared on a Brother Boys record. The museum got a copy of it and for several years sat on the desk of Paul Kingsberry. He kept pushing the powers that be that this was the song. The song almost didn’t make because I’m not famous. A feather in their hat for letting the song speak.
AH: How is it that you can be a songwriter, a musician, a club owner, and an adjunct professor
ES: Because i’m a jack of trades and I like a mixed bag of things. Fortunately what I like is music related and the variety serves something that gives back to the community I live in.
AH: Can you share an interesting or humorous anecdote or two in the making of the ES Pearl Presents Ed Snodderly Flies Free record?
ES: I’m not sure about anything sticking out per say but when you get a studio full of pickers like this, it a constant story after story. From George Jones, Marty Robbins to Del to mama’s. Truly there’s nothing like the rush you get when everyone is playing your song for the first time. We recorded live the singing and playing all together. Afterwards Tim O’Brien comes up and says to me, “if you need any harmony I’d like to do it”. Yes, yes!
AH: What do you see in the future for you?
ES: I see lots of money for writing such fine songs. I see myself standing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry singing Fixing This Old Gate.(laughs) I see… Oh, wait you said, “see,” not dream.
Find more details and information here: https://www.edsnodderlymusic.com
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Ed Snodderly & The Shoestring Seven “Chimney Smoke”
Listen to the album here, and be ready to grab a copy or find it streaming on May 1.