An Appalachian Era – Breaking Loose

This Saturday, August 24th, Samantha Snyder will perform on Stecoah’s Grand Old Stage. (Click here for concert details.) Today we are sharing another article from our An Appalachian Era publication celebrating 25 years of mountain music through the Stecoah’s An Appalachian Evening concert series. This article, titled Breaking Loose, introduces readers to Samantha Snyder, a very talented performer who has graced the Stecoah stage for many years. (p. 16-19). You may purchase this commemorative publication either at the Stecoah Valley Center or the Welcome Center on 474 Rodney Orr Bypass.

There’s an awareness of space and skill that comes with small groups. The average band requires five musicians to give a full sound utilizing vocals, rhythm, fills, and lead breaks. Skaggs & Rice, Nickel Creek, Jim Hurst & Missy Raines have all demonstrated proficiency in entertaining a crowd despite the absence of traditional backup. Whenever one retreats from a solo and that musical space becomes available again, the audience is forced to acknowledge just how much that musician was doing. Those veteran performers will tell you there’s plenty of weight to pull by each member of a trio, but imagine that two of three members are still in grade school.

The Snyder Family Band, made up of father Bud, and siblings Zeb and Samantha, pulled off a rich full sound on the Stecoah stage for years, leaving spectators in awe of their talent, discipline, and youth. The siblings point at each other with the credit:

Samantha speaks with enthusiasm, “It blows my mind that we were a three piece and could take up as much space as we did – we had a dream team when it came to that big sound with my dad and my brother. I can truly say throughout my career of 22 years, I’ve never played with another rhythm player as good as Zeb. He has a way of reacting and putting detail into his rhythm without overshadowing whoever’s playing lead. He has the mental ability to analyze sounds and bring them together into the guitar.”

“That’s what made me a good rhythm player on fiddle – I knew that monster of a rhythm player across the stage from me was going to have to play a lead. He could jam out for like three to five minutes and I knew I had to do something that supported that. It was challenging to find a way for the bottom to not fall out when Zeb took his break – but in a very good way. I was always very excited by the rhythm.”

Zeb agreed. “Samantha was always good back up. The further along our band went, she really studied some techniques that were a little bit off the beaten path for fiddle. In particular, Darol Anger had innovated this whole method of chopping that has given her much more complex rhythms on a fiddle. Toward the end of the band, she was pulling even more weight on backup because she had figured out how to fill that space.”

Youth was a fact, but it wasn’t a crutch. Zeb and Samantha, even at the ages of eleven and seven, were highly technical artists – and their brilliance was recognized beyond Stecoah. After hearing them play, festival producer Milton Harkey gave them a last minute set between Rhonda Vincent and Doyle Lawson. Soon, the Snyder Family Band landed in listening rooms, performing art centers, and festival stages throughout the region.

“When we first played Merlefest, it had fourteen stages,” Samantha recalled. “We started in a little tent without a sound system that hosted the welcome stage and played better and better stages until we played the main Watson Stage in 2013.” As their recognition grew, another year of An Appalachian Evening would commence. Two vocal microphones would be raised a few inches higher than the prior year, new material would be presented, new licks executed, and a louder applause would echo in the schoolhouse.

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

There was an expansion beyond the typical genres at their shows that included progressive originals, fiddle tunes, southern rock, gospel, and Texas swing. Skills were layered and showcased to create a dynamic experience. Both siblings will tell you that it was organic and unapologetic. The auditorium that had hosted traditional bluegrass bands for decades, not only tolerated the unconventional, but embraced it.

“I think we experienced more acceptance than anything because we were different at the front gate – we were missing typical bluegrass instruments,” explained Zeb. “Growing up playing this music, sometimes you’ll have a real traditional festival crowd that’s looking for a certain thing that they expect from bluegrass, [but] there’s a great open-minded arts culture in North Carolina. By the time we first played Stecoah, we were already starting to explore – I remember it being a place where that was appreciated.”

“That’s one thing I love about concert series,” voiced Samantha. “The audience literally commits to the idea of coming to hear music, and seeing where it takes them. Those were the audiences that we drooled over because we knew that we would be appreciated.”

Although the Snyder Family Band in its official existence has retired after six albums, the two siblings are still very active in the music industry. They have dedicated years to top notch acts that have recently graced the Stecoah stage, such as Appalachian Road Show and Darin & Brooke Aldridge. The more things change, the more they stay the same – the skills these two have built continue to be showcased across the country.

“The family band allowed me to be a veteran at a young age. Later, when I started playing for other bands, it wasn’t my first time on the road. In fact, I had more responsibility in the family band,” said Zeb. “Me and Samantha were the creative head of that, made a ton of the decisions and I had to do a huge part of the emcee work – so I had more experience as a front man from that. Then when I got other jobs, I just settled into being the side man and enjoying that.”

Thoughts on Becoming Teachers

“Coming up in bluegrass, I was already very familiar with the lifestyle and the mindset of a musician,” said Samantha. “Specifically, the flexibility and the creativity that you have to have. That’s the thing I’ve used the most. Those years growing up were like bootcamp for being an adaptable musician. We had studio experience from putting out six albums, we played with other people on stage and we performed in all these different types of places. Sometimes it takes me a few passes to figure it out, but I haven’t encountered a situation yet that I haven’t known what to do musically. And I credit that to how I came up in music.” Naturally, the two are sharing that same dedication and draw with newcomers by teaching music themselves.

“I’ve been teaching full time since 2017. It’s important to me and a huge part of how I make a living,” shared Zeb. “I recognize the same thing in students that was in me when I really got going – chasing inspiration. What makes the difference at the end of the day is your influences. The whole knowledge thing’s constant. You need practice hours and diligence, but the time you spend listening to music and asking the right questions without even having a guitar – that’s what makes musicians.” (Zeb’s lesson info.)

“The things that you care about are worth every bit of effort and priority that you give them. I do think that a lot of kids are being spread too thin nowadays with fifteen different sports and multiple instruments at the same time,” said Samantha thoughtfully. “When you’re in an area where it seems like there’s not a lot of resources for the things you want to learn more about, it’s important to first remember that it is worth pursuing. Don’t just let it fall by the wayside when it seems like it’s hard to pursue. If you’re hungry, chase after it – start grabbing a hold of every little scrap you can.” “I can tell when they are eat up with it – they start to bloom and it makes me understand why mentors were so supportive of us when we were young,” she reflected. “That feeling makes you want to turn around and do it for the next generation. So it truly is a circle of life moment when that happens.” (Samantha’s lesson info.)

With a duo of this virtuosity, teaching seems practical, if not benevolent – but the cutting edge is still there. The microphones will once again be placed for a Snyder at Stecoah this year with Samantha being billed as her own show this time around. Clearly, the Snyder Family Band legacy continues to grow as boldly as ever. Furthermore, what we’ve been waiting to hear since the family band hung up its hat has been confirmed. We’re getting two separate solo projects after twelve years of playing professionally away from the Snyder Family Band!

Samantha Snyder

“I’ve got a couple things going on. One of those is an Americana band, The Contenders with Jay Nash and Josh Day – they’re incredible. I got to know them through the bass player for Darin and Brooke Aldridge, Billy Gee. He’s one of my closest friends in the world and he’s a rocker at heart. My boyfriend, Josh Berry, is a great bass player, guitar player, and a great singer too – he can really play pretty much anything. We had a songwriting retreat towards the end of last year and are working on a kind of string band – the first that will be solely my name. I’ve been kicking around different versions but it’s basically the Sam Snyder band. It’s kind of a mix and match with which musicians are available when, but it’s all acoustic Americana in the progressive bluegrass type of world. We’re starting to book some dates soon and we’re all really excited about it.

“I’m also working on my own solo album. I’ve been tracking a song that I wrote back in the family band days that I’ve been wanting to release for forever. I can’t share many details yet because it’s in the early stages. It’s kind of funny, I’ve been writing songs for forever – with the family band, I wrote a lot of our material towards the end. Then for a couple years I just wrote songs and bottled them up. I’ve got a lot of them in the tank that are just raring to go.” (See samanthaclairesnyder.com)

Zeb Snyder

“I love the Roadshow and I feel a lot of identity in that band as well because I’m heavily involved in the creative side of it. We’ve done two albums with our actual lineup and we’ve got another one in the works right now that’ll be coming out very soon.

“I’ve been trying to do a solo project for years, I just couldn’t find the direction. But last year I had the idea of an acoustic blues album and it helped bring together a lot of material. And then this past week I had the sessions for it. I had Sam Bush playing mandolin, Jason Carter on fiddle, Todd Phillips is going to be doing the bass parts and I’m doing all the singing. Five original songs and five covers on it; four instrumentals and six vocals. So there’s a pretty good spread of material and it’s – it’s just me. It’s this very, very good representation of my musical taste.

The timing is right because it took this long for the creative ideas to come together, but I feel like it was very important for me to do one so that I could keep sort of track of my identity. For me personally, for fulfillment, and also just in a business sense, you want to keep your name present. I feel like it’s high time and I’m really excited about it. In the studio, the guys that I was working with, all of whom are my heroes, told me they enjoyed the material. I know I’m going to enjoy the creative part of this no matter how the album’s received.”