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Friday, March 20th was just another typical Friday for most of America, despite the fraught news that seems to meet every day. But not in Luck, TX—the little Western town just outside of Austin owned by Willie Nelson. It was there that a large group of Todd Snider understudies, contemporaries, and fans assembled to remember Todd who passed away on November 14th, 2025. Nothing about Todd Snider was ever “typical,” and neither could any tribute to Todd be and be true to his spirit.
Utilizing the stages, setup, and crew that were already assembled thanks to the annual Luck Reunion the previous day, “Todd Snider Rules!” took place on the main “World Headquarters” stage, inside Willie’s tiny country chapel, as well as the barn stage where songwriting rounds and storytelling took place, all in remembrance of Todd.
During the day, Todd’s nephew Levi took the main stage to perform a set of his uncle’s songs. John Craigie also performed a set, as did Hayes Carll. Meanwhile in-between these sets, the crowd meandered between the barn and the chapel, checking out the songs of folks like Kevn Kinney, Shelby Stone, Jack Ingram, Ashleigh Flynn, Kat Hasty, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Tommy Prine, Garrett Boys, Dallas Burrow, Olivia Ellen Lloyd, Briscoe, Travis Roberts, Sterling Finlay, and more.
Many played Todd songs. Other played their own songs, including some inspired by Todd. For the performers who trekked to Luck and many beyond, it’s difficult to impossible to not be influenced by Todd Snider in some capacity, especially if your center of gravity revolves around East Nashville, Memphis, or Central Texas.
As good as the songs and the performances were, so were the stories.
Amanda Shires told the story about how when she was first trying to strike out as a songwriter, nobody would take her seriously. In Texas, she was a fiddle prodigy that had come up playing with The Texas Playboys and Billy Joe Shaver. But Todd saw her as a songwriter and was the first to take her out on tour, which also meant she was subject to what Shires characterized as “hazing.”
This took the form of Snider taking a bong out he nicknamed “Gandalf,” of which Shires partook of, and then was required to accomplish certain tasks, like listening to Carole King’s Tapestry in its entirety before passing out, or going shopping at Target for certain items. Shires often failed.
Kevn Kenney of Drivin’ and Cryin’ told the story of how when Aaron Lee Tasjan first showed up in East Nashville, he was a little bit Kevn, and a little bit Todd Snider. The two songwriting veterans were going to take Tasjan out on a boat and tell him he just needed to be himself. The boat trip never happened. But fast forward multiple years, and they were both asking Tasjan to produce their albums. Tasjan did produce Snider’s last album High, Lonesome, and Then Some.
Speaking of great stories, nobody has better stories than John Craigie. Even fewer can stand on a massive stage with just a guitar and their stories and hold an audience. Todd Snider could. So can Craigie. That’s why he was a perfect pick for the tribute, and did a superlative job, including with the song and the story about the time he tried to steal weed from Todd (see video).
But when it came to Todd Snider stories, Hayes Carll might have bested everyone. Like so many of the other performers, Todd helped Hayes early on in his career. This theme came up over and over again throughout the day. Todd took Hayes out on tour as an opener early on in Carll’s career. As a thank you, Carll bought Todd Snider a planter that was in the shape of a dog.
Later as Todd was being interviewed for an upcoming album, he would totally change the subject with journalists and DJs. “What I really want to talk about his what happened to Hayes Carll’s dog. It really is a tragedy,” Todd would say. This became a recurring theme in Snider interviews at the time, and a subtle way to shout out Hayes. Nobody ever really knew what had happened to Hayes Carll’s dog. The gag evolved into how the dog had been kidnapped by the FBI. In truth, Hayes Carll didn’t even have a dog. It was just Todd Snider’s gonzo sense of humor.
One time Hayes Carll was throwing a festival and he called Todd’s agent. The agent asked for too much money for Todd to perform, so Hayes went directly to Todd who said yeah he would play, but only if there was an ounce of weed, and a golf cart that said “Todd Snider Rules!” in purple on the side. Sure enough, Todd got his wish, and played the festival.
Though a lot of the stories and anecdotes were humerous, some were sad, and sweet. At the end of the day, all the others stages went dark, and everyone assembled in front of the main stage for a more formal Todd Snider tribute. Tommy Prine helped start it off. Todd Snider was famously a huge fan of Tommy’s father, John Prine. Fighting back tears, Tommy said that as much as Todd Snider looked up to John Prine, John Prine has a little boy that looked up to Todd Snider.
Lot’s of amazing performances of Todd Snider songs ensued as the respective songwriters took their turn on stage in front of a house band that included Pedal Steel Noah, who’d also performed early in the day and made a large impression, not just with the steel guitar cover songs he’s known for, but for providing sweet steel solos throughout the main stage tribute set.
Another notable moment is when Mike Harmeier of Silverada had the distinct honor of making his debut on the Luck, TX stage … as a human teleprompter for Amanda Shires. Granted, Shires was singing “Too Soon To Tell,” which has NINE verses, and is a five-minute song. But she was going to milk it for all she could anyway.
By the time Shires took the stage, the tribute was already running 38 minutes late. She decided to embellish it by taking four fiddle solos, including one where she announced herself, “Amanda Shires on fiddle!” The whole thing might have been the most “Todd Snider” thing that happened during the whole tribute. You know Todd would’ve approved.
The tribute crescendoed into a singalong of “Alright Guy” led by Jason Boland, and accompanied by most all of the guys who participated in the tribute throughout the day, including Hayes Carll, Cody Canada, Jack Ingram, and Levi Snider.
At “Todd Snider Rules!” nobody needed to be convinced about the importance and the impact of Todd Snider’s songs, stories, performances, and overall body of work. It was all illustrated simply by the respective songwriters taking the stage and exuding that Todd Snider influence out through their own artist expressions.
Some tears were shed, but many laughs were had as well. It’s through that wide range of emotions inspired by his work that Todd Snider will rule on, forever.
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The evening portion of the tribute is available on nugs.net. For more photos and videos, follow Saving Country Music on Instagram.
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