Chris Von Sneidern (born in Syracuse, New York) is an American singer-songwriter. He earned a cult following with a string of

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

releases during the 1990s and 2000s.

Career

Von Sneidern played in a local band called the U-Turns in the early 1980s before relocating to San Francisco in 1985. In the Bay Area he played with several locally based

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and c ...

bands, including the Lost Patrol and The Sneetches (the latter as bassist), before joining Flying Color as guitarist in 1987. After Flying Color broke up in 1990, Von Sneidern hit the road with former Beat leader Paul Collins and lived for a short time in New York before returning to San Francisco to pursue a solo career. In 2017, he toured with the

Flamin' Groovies Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage Hea ...

as their bassist in support of their reunion album, Fantastic Plastic. Von Sneidern issued his self-produced debut album, ''Sight & Sound'', on the Heyday label in 1993. In addition to winning rave reviews from power pop fans, it also featured a guest appearance from

John Wesley Harding ''John Wesley Harding'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on December 27, 1967, by Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to semi-acoustic instrumentation and fol ...

, with whom von Sneidern would collaborate frequently in the years to come. The follow-up, '' Big White Lies'', appeared in 1994, and as word of Von Sneidern's music spread in the pop

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

, he picked up more production work in addition to his own recordings, and opened his own Bay Area recording studio. When von Sneidern released his third album, ''Go!'', in 1996, he was on the local

indie label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Mod Lang; that label also released the follow-up, 1998's ''Wood + Wire''. For his next project, von Sneidern formed a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

/ R&B-influenced outfit called the Sportsmen, which also featured pianist

Khoi-San Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in ...

, guitarist Dave "Shaggy" Gleason, bassist Teenage Rob and drummer Derek Ritchie. Their debut album, ''Spirited'', was released by the Japanese Lazy Cat label in 1999. Von Sneidern subsequently formed his own label, which allowed him to release several

idiosyncratic An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk". Etymology The term "idiosyncr ...

projects in 2000. First among these was ''London Payne'' (subtitled ''Searching the Muse: Memoirs Across America''), which set poetry by John R. Dykes to music; it was followed by ''2-cute 2-be 4-gotten'', a similar exercise that drew from poetry written by teenage girls. Finally, there was an additional live album spanning 1998–2000, ''Live Start Lifting''. In a 2001 episode of ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...

'' called "Wormy", he sings the song, " That's What Friends Do."

In popular culture

"Why Isn't Chris von Sneidern Famous?"

References

External links

Chris Von Sneidern's official site

Chris Von Sneidern on LoveCat Music

Chris Von Sneidern on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Sneidern, Chris Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Syracuse, New York Power pop musicians Singer-songwriters from New York (state)