“Good things happen to bad people,” Todd Snider sings in “New York Banker,” a cut from his 2012 album “Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables.”
It is a typically honest, if sardonic, sentiment from the singing-songwriting troubadour, who will make his latest visit to Durango on Sunday night at the Henry Strater Theater.
What Snider has to say about that banker and many others is what makes his concerts feel much like a night in a comedy club.
Rolling Stone magazine’s chosen moniker for Snider – “America’s sharpest storyteller” – isn’t too much of a reach. Wits like his usually are suited for the talk-show circuit, but Snider’s musical talent sets him apart as a social commentator. “Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables” made Rolling Stone’s Top 50 album list last year as his fans and critics learned the pleasures of recreational drugs and the evils of organized religion through his songs.
In May, Snider spent time at Bob Weir’s TRI studio in northern California recording with a new band, the Hard Working Americans. Playing with Snider on the 2014 release will be Dave Schools (Widespread Panic), Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Duane Trucks (Col. Bruce Hampton) and Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi).
Snider also is working on his first book, a mix of memoirs and short stories to be released in summer 2014.
If you go
Todd Snider, with special guest Ashleigh Flynn, will play at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., Tickets cost $20 for general admission, available by phone at 375-7160 and online at www.henrystratertheatre.com.
