Ed Snodderly

Ed Snodderly was born into a musical family in East Tennessee, and his grandfather and great-uncle won awards and ribbons at fiddlers' conventions in the 1920s and ‘30s. Snodderly started playing the guitar when he was 12 and, while he was enamoured by the British Invasion, the old traditional music his family played was a part of his DNA.

Snodderly left for Boston in the 70s to record for Philo Records, and then toured and performed in the western U.S. His debut album, Sidewalk Shoes, was released in 1977, after Snodderly had returned to East Tennessee to co-create “Down Home Coffee House and Picking Parlor” in Johnson City, Tennessee. Now known as "The Down Home Eclectic Music Room," this venue and small listening room has hosted scores of musicians, artists, poets, gatherings, and conversations.

Since the late 70s, Snodderly has mixed running a club with performing all over the country, writing songs, and appearing as a small-town musician in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

A songwriter, singer, and guitar picker, Snodderly performs a genre that some call “Americana Southern” music. His original songs certainly are rooted in the South and an older style of music, yet they feel familiar to listeners from small towns anywhere.

In 2020, the Southern Region Folk Alliance graced Snodderly with their lifetime achievement award for his contributions to southern folk music. While those contributions are real and considerable, Snodderly’s original songs offer his view of the modern world.