Don't You Know Who Todd Snider Is?

What's wrong with you, Seattle? Don't you know who Todd Snider is? Are you just that lazy that you don't want to drive all the way to Ballard to see some barefoot folksinger? Or are you just that lame?

We were shocked and appalled by how not packed the Tractor was last night for Snider's first show of the week. But it's all good, because he'll be there again tonight, giving "too cool" Seattle music fans a second chance to prove they have some taste after all.

Okay, so maybe you don't know who Todd Snider is. He's basically a big tall barefoot hippy in a leather cap, singing about things that matter like making a beer run, being broke, and developing an enormous crush on some unattainable girl. His songs are witty, insightful, and memorable without being cliched or sounding like every other barefoot hippy folksinger. He spends less time singing about ending wars and more time singing about the more life-sized, everyday injustices of the world, like working construction in a boomtown, or missing what life was like when you lived in Portland.

He's good, in other words. He looks like the guy all the jocks probably gave a hard time in high school, but now he's getting them to sing along with him on his loquacious talking blues tunes—the best kind of revenge.

Are you convinced yet? Tickets are $20 at the door. Rachel Harrington opens with her killer mandolin player, although last night they were both in a NyQuil-induced haze.

Photo from ToddSnider.net, © Jeff Fasano