New Connection

Todd Snider’s fifth album finds the singer/songwriter mining the pathos and humor motherlode. He spins heartbreakers (“Anywhere,” “Class of 85,” the downright mournful “Waco Moon”) and jokesters (“Vinyl Records” and the absolutely alchy-essential “Beer Run”) alongside country-tinged thumpers (the title song and “Easy”) and bluesy asides (“Statisticians Blues,” “Broke”). Snider is backed by a wondrous cast of players, including members of John Prine’s touring combo, some true Nashville studio maestros, and the esteemed Will Kimbrough (Emmylou Harris, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle). The musicianship shows; the arrangements are sturdy yet loose-limbed, so the playing never gets in the way of the songs. The whole thing is a chuckle-filled, self-deprecating tour that takes you deep into lazy Southern nights, blue-collar hoods, and beat barrooms with killer jukeboxes where “you ain’t worth a dime when you’re broke” and outsiders “make lucky breaks look easy.” John Prine himself cameos on his own “Crooked Piece of Time.” Here, Snider was well on his way to becoming an avatar of a modern-day American storyteller, humorist, and songwriter.

New Connection -- Todd Snider's fifth album and the second for John Prine's Oh Boy label -- finds the singer riding atop a warm band featuring Jason Wilber and David Jacques (both of Prine's touring unit), Paul Griffith, and Will Kimbrough.