Snyders

Snyders Keep Music in Family
By Brian Kelly, Sault Star
Saturday, July 22, 2017

Arranging band practices might be a little easier for Denny Snyder than most other performers.
The veteran blues musician started playing with his daughter, Lorrie, and son, Phillip, in 2011.
The Snyders released their first album a year later.
Snyder estimates 90 per cent of his shows now feature him playing with his two children.Sault Blues Society presents The Snyders on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Algonquin Hotel's Rock Star Bar.
“We have a lot of fun together, we rarely argue and the onstage mental telepathy is great,” said Snyder in an email. “All three of us tend to think quite a bit alike musically.”
Snyder harboured no grand plan to create a family band. The group “started by accident.”
“I never thought about having a family band,” he said. “The concept always seemed strange to me.”
What helped was both kids embraced music from an early age.
Lorrie started singing. Phillip “began beating on pots and pans.”
“We starting kicking things around just for fun in the basement, and before you knew it, we were starting to sound pretty good,” said Snyder.
Lorrie's vocal talents continue to shine. Her dad calls her voice “a strong and very welcome addition to what I was doing before.” Lorrie has also stepped up her bass playing in recent years.
“When you listen to the bass tracks on our new album, you certainly don't picture a skinny, cute little woman on the bass,” said Snyder.
Meanwhile, his son impresses behind the drum kit.
“Phillip is as solid a drummer as I have ever played with, and I have played with some really good ones,” said Snyder. “I have to pinch myself on the stage very often to make sure it's really happening (playing with his children).”
Snyder considered himself “a pretty crazy player” before The Snyders launched. He tempered his approach.
“So I began playing a lot more simple and direct,” he said. “And by doing that I went back and refined what I do, and still am. If I hadn't played with them that may never have happened.”
Lorrie's strength in music theory helps Snyder and Phillip “makes me think more about rhythm.”
“Although they obviously grew up listening to a lot of the same things I did, they have lots of different influences,” said Snyder. “Lorrie is a very big jazz head and loves to sing the old standards. Phillip is into a lot of progressive rock, which gets me listening to it too.”
The Snyders plan to play all 10 songs from their third album, Reaching Higher, that was released earlier this month.
While Snyder handled most of the songwriting early on, he collaborated with Lorrie and Phillip “on most of (Reaching Higher).” He's the sole author of only two tracks on the disc.
Lorrie gets most of the credit for penning Shadow-Like Being. Snyder and his son chipped in a couple of riffs.
The title track started as an instrumental. Lorrie created lyrics and a melody that fit.
Snyder anticipates his son, 17, and daughter, 21, will keep making music, perhaps professionally.
“They could never quit making music,” he said. “They are both too talented and are already developing their own followings.”
Advance tickets cost $12 and are on sale at several locations including Community Theatre Box Office at Station Mall, Stone's Office Plus, The Rad Zone and Northland Music. Door admission is $15.
btkelly@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @Saultreporter - The Sault Star

July 2017

Denny Snyder was born and raised in South Bend, where he picked up the nickname “Southside Denny” as a blues singer and guitarist in the early '80s.

Snyder moved his family to Montreal in 2007, but he still considers South Bend home and frequently returns to perform and visit with family and friends.

Surprisingly, Snyder’s 1994 CD “Rollin’ Home” is the only one of his nearly dozen albums that was recorded in South Bend.

Until now.

The Snyders, the group Denny formed in 2011 with his daughter Lorrie on bass and vocals and son Philip on drums, drop their third album, “Reaching Higher,” today with a CD release show at Vegetable Buddies.

“Reaching Higher” was recorded earlier this year at the Golden Mallard in South Bend. The studio is owned and operated by Bryan Lewis, who was running sound when The Snyders performed at Vegetable Buddies last November.

“We just clicked immediately,” Snyder says of Lewis. “I saw him coming up to the stage to introduce himself while we were loading our gear in. I didn’t know for sure at the time, but I looked at him in the distance and thought that he must be the sound tech. When he introduced himself, I knew that the sound was going to be great. I don’t know why. I just knew that this was a guy that knew what was going on.”

Snyder and Lewis talked again during the break after the band’s first set.

“We started talking about recording,” Snyder says. “At the time, we didn’t have a plan or a time frame, but I mentioned to him that we were starting to think about recording something and we didn’t know where. I told him that I wanted to do it analog and he said that he had an analog studio.”

Beginning Feb. 27, The Snyders recorded live to tape — with some overdubs — over a four-day period at Golden Mallard.

“We went in there and banged it out,” Snyder says. “It seemed that we were on the same page all the way through. The first song we recorded took quite a few takes to just get the feel of the room. Once we got everything with that first song, every other song was almost one take. The first day we were there, I think we did seven songs. It just started rolling. We were almost going to do another one, but I was like, ‘Man, my head is starting to hurt, I have been here so long. Let’s just come back tomorrow.’”

Lewis had heard of “Southside Denny” over the years and was impressed with how relaxed it was to work with him and his children.

“They were easy, professional and a ton of fun to work with,” he says. “All of the stress and pressure that normally exists in a studio was not even remotely evident.”

With nine originals and one cover song, “Reaching Higher” is Snyder’s most accomplished album to date. His children are more than a backing band for Snyder. They are fully involved in all aspects of the band, including songwriting.

“Lorrie and Philip collaborated a lot more this time,” Snyder says. “They have both grown so much musically over the past couple years. It has been kind of crazy. They make it a lot of fun. They have different influences than I do. Sometimes they come up with an idea and I go, ‘That makes sense. Let’s try it.’”

The album opens with “Chasing Fear,” a funky Freddie King-like blues song and closes with a remake of Snyder’s “You Would Think by Now,” from his 2009 solo acoustic album “Roots and Branches.”

“I always wanted that song to be electric,” Snyder says. “We played it at a couple gigs and all three of us agreed that it is a nice group tune. We ended up using it because it felt good.”

Lorrie has truly come into her own — in Canada, she and her dad often perform as the Lorrie Snyder Duo, with Denny as a sideman — on “Reaching Higher” with her rich, jazzy vocals pitched perfectly on the title track and a version of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.”

“I suggested that song to Lorrie a few years ago,” Snyder says. “We’re always looking for songs for her to sing. She has got such a particular voice that it can’t just be anything. I asked her if she knew the song and she did. We tried it and started doing it at gigs and it just kept getting better and better. We decided to put it on the album.”

Snyder updates the blues with “That Gives Me the Blues” by singing through a cab microphone, giving it a disorienting, distorted vibe.

Lewis liked the effect so much that he also used a cab microphone with Lorrie’s vocals on “Shadow Like Being.”

“I think the cab mic gives it a wailing effect, almost like desperation, that you can’t get on a regular microphone,” Snyder says. “I feel like that song is modern blues. That is the direction that blues should be going in.”

The Snyders also put a contemporary spin on the blues with the instrumental “Snyder Slider,” featuring Denny on slide guitar.

“It is basically a Robert Johnson riff, but we went nuts with it,” Snyder says. “It is modern devil’s music, that’s what I have been calling it.”

The Snyders will play all the songs from “Reaching Higher” in the first set on Thursday and past favorites in the second set.

Lewis says that the Snyders are welcome back to Golden Mallard anytime.

“Philip is a phenomenal drummer and brought his A-game,” he says. “Lorrie is an incredible bassist, a terrific singer and performed flawlessly in the studio. Denny lived up to his legendary status and laid down some serious tracks. He is one of the meanest and nicest guitarists I’ve ever worked with.”

Snyder is justifiably proud of the new album, and anticipates that this is the beginning of a continuing working relationship with Lewis.

“He understands the dynamics of music and how to record it,” Snyder says. “We’re hoping to collaborate on other stuff. I might play on some of his stuff. At this point, if we were planning another album, it would be with Bryan. There is no question.” - South Bend Tribune

March 4, 2015

The Snyders are a family trio from Indiana comprising of father and lead bandsman previously having had several solo releases under name of Southside Denny Snyder this is their second release and comprises also on electric bass guitar and vocals his daughter Lorrie and finally brother Philip on drums there are also back up musicians namely trombonist Alex Desjardins on the title track Growing Pains an interesting groove showing Denny’s undoubted guitar talents and this an ongoing feature of this release. It is a mixed bag of differing music genres mostly fusing a bit of bluesy tones and jazzy instrumentals namely Symphony and the band really shows off this talent on Funky G. A particular stand out song is Laundry Blues a fun easy going New Orleans type tone with trombone complementing slide guitar and fine vocals. Lorrie takes the front role on vocals on Poupee adding French lyrics to an organ inspired take by Robert Messier. Back to a bluesy feel on Two Left Feet with a gutsier guitar tone and good backing harmonies this a roller coaster of a song. Chili Jeff is another instrumental showing off the bands musical talent with each instrumentalist taking their share of a powerful though laid back sound. Final track titled Makes You Feel Like You’ve Got Something probably sums up the bands creativity and not awed by changing styles. This is a release filled with energy and vigour and experimentation a gem.
COLIN CAMPBELL - Blues Matters

July 3, 2014
A lot has changed for Southside Denny Snyder since he left South Bend in 2007 to move north with his family to Montréal, Canada.

For one, he has mostly dropped “Southside” from his name. It made sense when he was in South Bend. Not so much in Canada.

Snyder fronted the Skintones and the Southside Denny Band during his years in Indiana, but now the band he leads as singer and guitarist is The Snyders, consisting of daughter Lorrie, 18, on vocals and bass, and son Philip, 14, on drums.

And the most shocking change: Snyder has cut off his signature ponytail.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” he says. “I was just tired of it, but I didn’t know what to do. I went to the lady that cuts my hair all of the time and said ‘Just do something.’ I was tired of having it tied back. I have been using that look for about 15 years and it was time to change. Also, I wanted to start wearing my hat again.”

On The Snyders’ new album, “Growing Pains” — released June 8 and available at the CD release party at Fat Tomato in Elkhart on Monday — Snyder is tossing off tasty blues licks like he did 30 years ago.

“I feel like the haircut goes along with the rest of this project,” he says. “Maybe it’s because my band members are so young, but I feel kind of like I’ve gone back to my beginnings. I went back to the type of guitar sound that I had many years ago.”

Snyder’s first guitar was an old Les Paul SG Jr., and now he is traveling with it as a backup to the Godin LG he used to record “Growing Pains.”

“It’s the first album I have ever recorded with no Stratocaster,” Snyder says. “I didn’t even realize it until it was all over. I had a Strat there at the studio, and never bothered to plug it in. So, in a lot of ways, I’m thinking and feeling about music more like I did a long time ago.”

The Snyders released their self-titled debut album as a family band in 2012, and although Snyder says there was no actual pain involved, the growth of the family as a band is unmistakable on the new album.

“I really feel that way,” he says. “The whole thing really came together in the last year or so. We have had two years of playing shows. This time, Lorrie and Philip collaborated a lot more with me.”

Snyder and son co-wrote the instrumental “Funky G” while all three Snyders worked together on “Chili Jeff” and “Makes You Feel Like You’ve Got Something.”

“Lorrie wrote one song, ‘Poupée’ all by herself, words and music,” Snyder says.

“Another one, ‘You’ll Never Change,’ she basically wrote and I just spiced up a chord progression for her.”

Singing on the songs she wrote, Lorrie is a jazz vocalist beyond her years. Along with the New Orleans jazz on the title track and “Laundry Blues,” The Snyders have opened their blues-based sound to some jazz influence.

“Poupée means doll in French,” Lorrie says. “I wrote the lyrics when I was younger. Everybody was scared of dolls because of horror movies and all of that. I find them really cute and pretty and I wondered how they would feel if they were living beings. And I really like jazz and it is pretty jazzy. The other one, ‘You’ll Never Change,’ I was just mad. I was mad that day and I wrote a song about somebody that says they will never change.”

The Snyders remade “Highway 8,” which appeared acoustically on Snyder’s 2006 solo album, “Roots and Branches.” Written about a stretch of road in northwest Indiana, the song is even spookier and freakier in the new version.

“That was originally what I wanted,” Snyder says. “I wanted it to be electric and I wanted it to be scary sounding. At the time, I was having so much trouble keeping a band together, so I did the solo stuff. I just had the attitude, ‘I’ll do this by myself.’ I tried ‘Highway 8’ before with other guys, but it just never really gelled. With Lorrie and Philip, right away, it sounded really cool. It was a scary sound, so let’s take it a step further and make a bunch of weird noises.”

Growing pains or not, Lorrie says she likes performing with her dad and has learned a lot from him.

“It is like working with a friend,” she says. “You get to mess around a bit more because he is your dad. He is a good boss. He doesn’t boss us around too much.”

At 55 years old, Snyder says his kids have re-invigorated him and reminded him of why he got into playing music in the first place.

“I’ve re-listened to a lot of the old stuff I learned from and started realizing how much I love that kind of sound,” he says. “Lorrie and Philip are so young and musically curious that sometimes they ask me about things I had forgotten about. Just being around their youthful energy has made me lighten up and have more fun and just think about sounds and experimenting more.” - South Bend Tribune

July 11, 2014, PLYMOUTH —

This Friday, tonight, Encore Performing Arts’ Music in the Park features the return of Southside Denny & the Snyders, blues artists extraordinaire. There’ve been some changes since their last appearance two years ago.

Though locals still remember them as ‘Southside’ referring to South Bend, Snyder moved his family north to Montreal, Canada in 2007. And the rest of the band, his offspring, have sprouted.

His daughter Lorrie, now 18, does vocals and bass and son Philip, 14, still plays the drums. And Denny cut his hair. The ponytail is gone.
They’re excited about the release of their new album, ‘Growing Pains’ just released last month in which the youngsters have collaborated a great deal more. Snyder feels the growth of the family as a band is unmistakable on the new album.

Snyder, a native of Quebec, took to the road and enlisted his children in his band’s live concerts six years ago. At only 12 years of age at the time, Lorrie had already appeared on two songs in Snyder’s eighth album ‘Full Circle’, winner of blues album of the year in Québec in 2010, and performed at various festivals with him during the summers of 2009 and 2010. Some of these include the Salon du Guitare of the Montréal Jazz Festival, the Mont Tremblant Blues Festival and the Canadian Guitar Festival.

Denny’s son, Philip, began playing the drums at three. He first performed with his father at the Boite à Chansons de L’Assomption in October, 2010.

The band is now using their given family name, The Snyders. Deeply rooted in Chicago blues, the band crosses many musical styles and influences, making it difficult to categorize their music. They merge such diverse musical elements as blues, rock, funk, francophone pop and even manouche into their sound. Staying true to the roots of the entire group, they are also bilingual and have several songs in French in their repertoire.

For more information, check out their website at http://www.the3snyders.com/

All Music in the Park concerts are in Centennial Park in the Young Amphitheater. Bring a lawn chair, your favorite beverage and a picnic to enjoy this special music.

Gates open at 6 p.m. with the performance at 7:30. All tickets are $10 for adults. Children and students are free. - The Pilot News

''Everybody's got growing pains'', sings Denny Snyder, the front man of the funky family trio the Snyders in the band's 2014 song ''Growing Pains.'' But judging by the band's seasoned sounds, the Snyders are well past developing their musical chops.

That's an achievement, considering the group's bassist is Snyders' 18 year old daughter, Lorrie, and the drummer is 14-year-old Philip. But the funk roots inspired Snyders sound nothing like teenagers. In fact, their kicked-back beats and precise vocals blend right in on a classic rock mixtape you'd use for a countryside road trip.

The Snyders originate from South Bend but now call Montréal home. They produce liner notes and website descriptions in both English and French.

The group's musical inspirations vary widely with each member. Snyder draws from the blues greats - ''Luther Allison, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter and of course Indiana's own Lonnie Mack,'' he said. ''I could go on for days about musical influences.''

Yet Lorrie loves Ella Fitzgerald - that's evident in her flute-like voice - and Philip equally loves Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Marley and Avenged Sevenfold.

''There's a lot of joy in our music when we play together,'' Denny Snyder said. ''We hope that people pick up on that and that it brings a little joy to their day.''

The concert is the first of four in the Purdue Memorial Union Summer Concert Series, taking place at 6 p.m. Wednesdays through July, with a double-bill on July 23rd beginning at 5:30 p.m.
When: 6 p.m. on Wednesday
Where: Purdue Memorial Front Lawn, 101 N. Grant Street, West Lafayette, Indiana - Lafayette Journal & Courier