Monday, January 16, 2012

Artist: Bob Snider, Album: The Street Takes You In, Song: Ash Hash

"I can't remember where I put the bed.  Well I ain't moved it since '71.  I got a real sneaky feeling that I'm about to fall down.  Oh I hope I can find my way to the ground.  I'd hate to spend the whole night up floatin' around in the condition I'm in."  Bob Snider is a singer songwriter from Toronto.  While born and raised in Toronto, he moved to Nova Scotia where he began writing his own songs during the mid to late eighties.  He decided to give music a shot at that point and he moved back to Toronto.  He started busking on street corners as well as playing open stages around the city.  The musical community embraced him with open arms as did fans alike.  He released his indie debut in 1989 which was produced by former Blue Rodeo member, Bob Wiseman (see blog 1/6/11).  He was signed to EMI and released his major label debut in 1995.  He would go on to release 2 albums with EMI and the last release entitled, Words and Pictures, was nominated for Best Roots and Traditional Solo Album of the Year at the Junos in 1998.  However, he lost out to Ron Sexsmith (see blog 9/9/10) that year.  The label also released a live tribute concert in 1996 called, Poetreason.  A who's who of Toronto's independent scene at the time, had contributed songs like Moxy Fruvous, Johnny Trash (see blog 8/9/10, 1/21/11), Change of Heart (see blog 6/30/11), Kids In The Hall, The Leslie Spit Treeo (see blog 8/26/10), The Lost Dakotas (see blog 4/26/11) and The Sympathy (see blog 7/20/11) to name a few.  His songs have also been recorded by artists such as Ashley MacIsaac (see blog 7/30/11) and Strato-Chief (see blog 8/9/10).  Bob is back in Nova Scotia these days.  He has published two books on songwriting and performing and is now with Borealis Records (http://borealisrecords.com/.  He has six albums to date and you can follow him at http://www.bobsnider.ca/.  Ash Hash is actually one of the first songs he ever wrote and it originally appeared on his indie debut album entitled, You.  That album is a very difficult find today.  However, in 2001, an independent U.S. release entitled, The Street Takes You In, was released which includes this song along with a number of his other earlier compositions.  You can check out the song on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxOPL-hPLlU&list=UUppSJ2-WmKhVgELd07MXO3w&index=3&feature=plcp).  It is available for download from Itunes.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!