Todd Snyder, the country-folk troubadour, has died at age 59

Todd Snyder, a singer and songwriter beloved on the American music scene for his funny yet emotional portrayals, died on Friday. He was 59 years old.

His death was announced in a post on his Instagram account, which did not reveal the cause or say where he died. An earlier post signed by “Todd’s friends and family” said he died in Hendersonville, Tenn., after suffering breathing problems. was admitted to a hospital and that he was diagnosed with pneumonia; Earlier, he canceled a tour this month after telling fans he was injured in a “violent attack” outside a Salt Lake City hotel.

Often compared to the likes of John Prine and Kris Kristofferson—both of whom directed him at different points—Snyder wrote about “how poor people sometimes cope with pain and hardship,” he told The New York Times in 2009.

In an extensive recording career that spanned three decades, Snyder produced albums for Prine and Jimmy Buffett and for his own label, Aimless Records. Yet for many he was best experienced on stage, where he would turn his songs into a sort of driving monologue about his rough and tumble life.

One of his most famous tunes was “Beer Run”; “Can’t Complain,” about a man who has “nothing to lose because there’s nothing to gain”; and “Good Boy,” which opens with a scene in which a friend is walking him through a new book he’s writing with pictures of Madonna.

“She never laid a finger on me to insult me ​​before,” he sings, “She said she never wanted to see me / And I still don’t know why.”

In his 2014 memoir, Snyder told a dogged story about the time Garth Brooks called him into the studio to help him record a cover of “Alright Guy” as his alter ego, Chris Gaines.

“I was exhausted before Garth went up and introduced himself,” Snyder wrote. He said, ‘I thought you had red hair, because he saw me on the Austin City Limits’ TV show, and I dyed my hair red for that show. It should not be red, it should be dark brown. My plan was to look like John Fogerty, but instead I ended up looking like a dumbass movie. (Brooks did not publish the cover, although Snyder said the country superstar sent him a check for $10,000 anyway.)

Todd Daniel Snyder was born on October 11, 1966, and grew up in Oregon before moving to Texas and then Nashville. His first album, “Songs for the Daily Planet,” was released in 1994 through Buffett’s Margaritaville label; It closed with a car-fueled acoustic duet called “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” in which he lovingly shined the lights on the era’s alternative rock boom:

Now, to fit in quickly, we wear flannel shirts

We raise our amps until it hurts

We got bad behavior, and what else

When we play, we look directly at the floor

A critical favorite, Snyder won rave reviews with 2004’s “East Nashville Skyline,” highlights of which include a particularly lyrical portrayal of the culture wars that have engulfed America in the wake of 9/11 — “Conservative, Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, American, Ballads,” “The Kings, Straight, Ballads, Ballads,” in which he “Bigger” takes into account the meaning of the lyrics.

Among the many other LPs he went on to release were 2009’s “The Excitement Plan”, produced by Don Wass, and a 2012 collection of songs by Jerry Jeff Walker, a country folk singer who served as a major influence on him. Snyder’s most recent record, “High, Lonely and Then Some,” was released in October.

Snyder spoke openly about his life-long struggles with drugs and chronic pain related to spinal stenosis. “I do a lot of things to help with it, but I also have to make peace with it,” he said of the condition in an interview with Rolling Stone last month. “Which wasn’t easy.” There was no immediate information on Snyder’s survival.