WFUV Pop Quiz with Todd Snider

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Todd Snider has a stoner image, but he’s got it all together, with sharp-witted songs that talk about real life. He visited WFUV recently for a conversation with Darren DeVivo, and while he was here, he shared a few secrets with the WFUV Pop Quiz.

Aside from your gear, instruments or your band, you do not go on the road without?
My weed.

I told you this was going to be a lot of fun.  What song do you wish you had written and why?
Oh boy, there are so many.  Off hand, I can think of “The Gambler,” “Louie Louie,” “Happy Birthday,” and “White Christmas.”

Who do you wish had recorded one of your songs? Living or dead.
Elvis the King, the greatest of all time.  My tour manager is an Elvis fanatic and we both love him very much.  So yeah, it would be Elvis for sure.  Or, you know, the Stones maybe too.  Those are my two favorite things in the world.  Elvis, Dylan and the Stones – that’s the big three for me.  Chuck Berry! Eh I can go on.  I should have stopped earlier.

I’d like to hear Elvis do “Precious Little Miracles.” That’d be a lot of fun, right?
I would love to hear that.

What’s the first album you bought?
A: Led Zeppelin with the guy with the sticks on his back. It had “Stairway to Heaven” to on. I was a 3rd grader.

Someone finds your iPod and hit shuffle, what do you think will most surprise us?
Let me think. Michael Jackson or something like that probably.

What job would you have if you weren’t a musician?
I suppose I could work in a haberdashery.  I don’t know if I’m fit anything besides this.  I would be some sort of other type of grifter.  I don’t know if it would be honest work.

Do you have any hidden talents?
Yeah, I am a proficient gambler, and that’s about it.

Do you cook?
No, not really.

What do you suppose the biggest misconception that your fans or the media might have about you?
I think people think you get tired of your song.  You know, you have a song that people want me to play sometimes, and I love that.

Lastly, what wacky thing would you do if you had the time or guts?
I would go to college.