Legendary acts Richard Thompson and Todd Snider take the Stuart's stage
Stuart’s Opera House will be filled with the sounds of Americana and folk music from Todd Snider and Richard Thompson.
Thompson was described as a “legend” by Brian Koscho, marketing director of Stuart’s Opera House, and comes to the House, 52 Public Square in Nelsonville, with more than 40 years of experience Sunday.
“He’s been playing for years and years,” Koscho said. “He’s someone that fits in with our audience. It was kind of a no-brainer when the date was available. I think we were excited to bring him back.”
This British artist started with the seminal defining ’60s folk-rock band Fairport Convention before pursuing a solo career. While his roots are in traditional British folk, Thompson has far moved beyond those constraints to explore a myriad of styles over the years including a cover of Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again.”
Thompson landed a spot on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists” list coming in at No. 69 and his latest album Electric was the highest charting in his long career garnering a great amount of critical acclaim and further displaying the versatility of Thompson’s guitar style.
Both Thompson and Snider have performed at Stuart’s before, Koscho said, adding that while a variety of acts are featured, Americana musicians always seem to do well in Athens and Nelsonville with the Stuart’s audience.
Todd Snider, a singer, songwriter and storyteller, comes to the Opera House on Friday at 8 p.m. for an already sold out show. Snider released his book I Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales this year and will bring his Americana-folk sound to the stage.
“Todd’s just getting more and more fans and more and more notoriety,” Koscho said. “He’s known from beyond being just a singer songwriter and performer, he’s quite a storyteller as well.”
Jesse Aycock will open the show. Snider’s 2012 release Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables, featured a 10-track album with less folk, and more of a jagged, raw sound. He also has been at the Nelsonville Music Festival.
“Stuart’s is a venue that was made and designed when it originally was built for live performance,” Koscho said. “Each of these shows are a guy and a guitar — it lends itself very well to that space.”
Tickets are available for standing room with fold-out chairs for the Richard Thompson show, and the Todd Snider show is sold out.
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