Todd Snider is a man of many talents. He’s toured the country as a folk troubadour as well as the frontman for jam band supergroup Hard Working Americans. A master songwriter a quarter-century in the making, Todd Snider christened himself a preacher over the pandemic and opened up the First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder. His congregation met every Sunday on YouTube, where Snider ascended to his pulpit to deliver weekly sermons filled with music, reflections, and laughter.
On Thursday, Snider announced his 19th studio album, the First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder. Derived from his livestream series—which has since pivoted to the non-denominational The Get Together—the album carries that same tongue-in-cheek slant on religion that has remained a constant theme throughout the singer-songwriter’s expansive catalog. Out on April 23rd via Aimless Records / Thirty Tigers, Snider described the First Agnostic Church as a house of worship run by “a preacher who’s full of shit, and when everyone starts to realize it, he asks God to help and God does, proving once and for all that God is hilarious.”
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While the First Agnostic Church promises to abound with Snider’s trademark wit, it is also full of touching remembrances to lost friends. Snider offers “Handsome John” as a tribute to his late friend and mentor John Prine, about whom he once remarked, “nobody had ever been kinder to me, more vulnerable with me.” The album also features “Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never Be The Same)”, an off-the-cuff one-liner once shouted by another late hero, Jerry Jeff Walker. Snider also pays tribute to Col. Bruce Hampton, Neal Casal, and Jeff Austin, the latter of whom is memorialized on the album’s lead single, “Sail On, My Friend”.
A familiar sight for many, the performance video released today for “Sail On, My Friend” finds Snider in his Purple Building studio in Nashville. From the opening harmonica phrasings, the song establishes the intimate, friendly nature of Snider’s writing—despite the presence of a backing band. Along for the ride with Snider on the First Agnostic Church are drummer Robbie Crowell and multi-instrumentalist Tchad Blake, who help him capture the “fatback” rhythms of the funk and reggae stars of the 60s and 70s.
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Watch the performance video for Todd Snider’s “Sail On, My Friend” from the forthcoming album the First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder. The album is available here for pre-order.
Todd Snider – “Sail On, My Friend” (Official Video)
[Video: Todd Snider]
