Todd Snider: New Connection : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On his fifth album, New Connection, Todd Snider approaches an airport counter with most of his earthly possessions -- a bag of clothes, and a bag of old records. He can only take one on the plane. It's a good thing Snider wears his influences on his sleeve, because he's got nothing else to wear after he leaves all his clothes behind in the song "Vinyl Records." The Nashville singer-songwriter name-drops many of his heroes, from Willie, Waylon and Woody Guthrie to Keith Sykes, Townes Van Zandt and the head of Snider's own record label, John Prine. New Connection is equal parts forlorn travelogue, good ol' boy wit and down-at-heel contemplation. Snider's voice matches world-weary songs like the title track ("I need a new direction/I'm so tired of looking at the same reflection in the rearview mirror") and the melancholy "Class of '85." But his deadpan delivery turns something as dull as data into the hilarious "Statistician's Blues," and he squeezes both an homage to pal Robert Earl Keen and a quote from legendary Texas songwriter Joe Ely into something as goofy as a "Beer Run." Sidemen Jason Wilber (mandolin/guitar), on loan from Prine, and Will Kimbrough (guitar/banjo) turn good songs into great ones, while Jim Hoke's woodwinds and Kim Richey's sweet harmonies add a touch of sophistication. It's the best of what Music City has to offer these days -- roots rock with humor and soul.

MEREDITH OCHS
(May 14, 2002)