Ed Snodderly 2014 Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts Ed Snodderly has dedicated his life to the arts and is a well-respected musician, writer, actor and co-owner of one of the country’s longest-running music venues, The Down Home located in Johnson City, Tennessee. His low-key personal demeanor belies a wealth of accomplishment and talent that distinguishes him in the world of Southern music.
When Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled its new building in 2001, Snodderly was permanently honored when his song lyrics were literally inscribed into the wall. It is quite an honor to be recognized by an institution that could have picked any one of hundreds of legendary and renowned songwriters to distill the essence of what the Museum embodies. But it was the simple eloquence of Snodderly’s pen that gave his artistry immortality, and he comes by that honestly.
Born in East Tennessee, Snodderly’s love of music and his ability to inspire others began with his own grandfather who was an old-time fiddler. Together with his father on guitar and his uncles playing fiddle, piano and banjo, his family’s band played for the same square dances back in the 1930s that the then-young Roy Acuff played on the alternate weekends. And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Snodderly comes from a family of tobacco and cattle farmers, with music an inherent part of family life. His own down-to-earth outlook and artistry draws from his background where his rich musical heritage nurtured the artist within.
In the 70s, Snodderly spread his wings to take advantage of a record deal with Philo Records and then moved to Boston, later migrating briefly to the West Coast to record another album. It was Snodderly’s native Tennessee roots that called him home when, in 1976, he and a friend decided that East Tennessee needed a quality listening venue, and The Down Home Pickin’ Parlor was born. Surviving through numerous ups and downs of the music business, The Down Home continues to present the finest in Southern and national artists.
As Snodderly continued his various musical projects, it was in the 90s that his musical brilliance was to be feted in a duo with Eugene Wolf known as “The Brother Boys.” Almost as a testimony to all that Snodderly absorbed in his early musical years, Ed & Eugene were acknowledged critically for a decade with their three classic recordings on Sugar Hill. Continuing to perform in a variety of situations, he recently became a member of a “writers in the round” group that tours from time to time, featuring some of the best artists the south has to offer – Tony Arata (noted for writing Garth Brooks’ “The Dance”), Malcomb Holcombe and Jelly Roll Johnson. Additionally Snodderly’s own songs have been recorded by artists such as Missy Raines, former New Grass Revival’s John Cowan and Sam Bush, as well as Jerry Douglas.
However, alongside his musical endeavors, Snodderly has also been an actor for most of his life. His most famous role occurred in the movie phenomenon Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?, where his fiddling took center stage in the character of the Village Idiot. Snodderly has worked as an actor in theater companies around the country such as The Denver Center Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, Kentucky, and The Barter Theatre in Southwest Virginia. Most recently Snodderly has been a contributing actor and musician, playing guitar, mandolin, dobro and fiddle in Fire on the Mountain, a play honoring coal miners.
The name Ed Snodderly is just about synonymous with Southern music and culture, by just doing what comes naturally, Ed has established himself as one of the South’s valued treasures.