Todd Snider Died While Working on an Ambitious New Album. His Friends Finished It
Todd Snider’s friends and collaborators have completed *My Second Rodeo*, an album he was making when he died aged 59 in November 2025. The 10-track release preserves his final studio work and the musical direction he had hoped to develop, giving listeners a posthumous record shaped around his own performances.
The album was about 70 per cent finished, according to producer Robbie Crowell, who worked with engineer and producer Joe Bisirri and guitarist Aaron Lee Tasjan to complete it. Snider had recorded vocals and guitar first so the band could build around a sound he could perform solo; the songs continue the mellow “slow choogle” style of his previous album. Released around what would have been his 60th birthday, the record includes songs about leaving home, school shootings and a cowboy’s lament.
In short
- Friends completed Snider’s unfinished 10-track album.
- He had recorded vocals and guitar before his death.
- The songs continue the “slow choogle” sound he developed.
Explained simply
Todd Snider was an American singer-songwriter known for story-led songs that drew on country, folk and rock. His music often used humour and everyday characters to explore life in the United States.
For his final album, My Second Rodeo, Snider recorded vocals and guitar before the other musicians added their parts. Producer Robbie Crowell, engineer and producer Joe Bisirri, and guitarist Aaron Lee Tasjan helped complete the recordings after his death.
The album gives listeners a way to hear the musical direction Snider was pursuing near the end of his life. Its songs range across subjects including leaving home, school shootings and a cowboy’s lament.