Published: May 21, 2008 04:46 pm            

Singer/songwriter makes music for art’s sake

In a sense, Cliff Snyder is one of those dreamers that just can’t let go.

Sure he’s got a conventional job selling college textbooks for Wiley Publishing. But at night he morphs into his alter ego, a singer-songwriter who turns the complexities of life into works of art.

“I think a lot of people start out writing songs in their bedroom,” Snyder said. “You get out and do some open-mics and decide you want folks to hear what you’re doing. Then you make that jump into doing it legitimately. I just have a lot of fun with it. But I’m not at the level of doing it for a living.”

But it’s something that’s always been part of him. Snyder’s played music in one form or another since fifth grade.

“I was the biggest band geek in the world,” he said of his school days playing tuba. In fact he was a music education major in college with plans to teach band. Even though it didn’t work out that way, he’s kept music a part of his life. The storytelling aspect of his muse, on full display in his album “Fool’s Highway,” has been there about as long.

“I guess all kids are supposed to hate the music their parents listen to,” said Snyder in explaining his disdain for modern country music. “I liked music that was saying something, not just pop entertainment.” Therefore he gravitated toward gothic narrators like Steve Earle and John Prine. When he started writing his own songs, “What came out was this rootsy Americana music.”

Though it remains a hobby for Snyder, he still has a keen interest in seeing his music and others’ in the area build a grassroots following. It’s why he’s started the Indianapolis Songwriters Cafe, a series of songwriters-in-the-round shows at Boulevard Place Cafe, 4155 Boulevard Place.

“Indianapolis has its ups and downs with local, original music,” Snyder said. “People always like to go out and hear a cover band and drink a beer, and that’s fine. But I know there’s a lot of people like myself who are writing original material and doing shows. They deserve to be heard. I know I’ll benefit from it personally, but I really do care about the big picture.”

He’s hoping his sales background will make the project a success where similar ones have failed.

“My ultimate mission is figuring out where that ‘on switch’ is for people and figuring out how to flip it,” Snyder said.

For all his efforts, music is likely to remain a side project for Snyder. With a wife and 1-year-old son, he’s not willing to make them sacrifice for what is essentially a hobby to him.

“As cold as it sounds, it all comes down to the numbers,” he said.

Then again, it’s never been about that anyway.

“As long as I keep having fun and writing songs, and it looks like other people are having a good time too, I’ll keep on doing it,” Snyder said.

———

Online:

www.indianapolissongwriterscafe.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.