Todd Snider

MUSIC Todd Snider, the satirical troubadour known for his lyrical understanding of the great balladeers including Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joe Shaver, hits the road with countrified protest-tinged tunes from his new album, "The Excitement Plan. " El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Fri. $25. (323) 936-6400; http://www.theelrey.com.

MUSIC Todd Snider, the satirical troubadour known for his lyrical understanding of the great balladeers including Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joe Shaver, hits the road with countrified protest-tinged tunes from his new album, "The Excitement Plan. " El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Fri. $25. (323) 936-6400; http://www.theelrey.com.

Open the CD booklet of Todd Snider's new album, "Viva Satellite," and you'll find a shot of him walking disheveled and apparently tipsy along the center stripe of two-lane Tennessee Highway 100, oblivious to what passes for rush-hour traffic in his adopted hometown of Fairview. Snider said the unorthodox, 5 p.m. photo session in front of his house caused enough of a stir for somebody to call the police.

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Gibson Amphitheatre Amanda Miguel & Diego Verdaguer, Feb. 26 (now); Eric Clapton, March 9 (Mon.); Luis Miguel, Jan. 29 (Fri.) Honda Center New Kids on the Block / Backstreet Boys, July 6 (Sat.) Long Beach Performing Arts Center Jackson Browne, March 8 (now) Fred Kavli Theatre Jackson Browne, March 9 (now) Music Box Beach House, Feb. 16 (Thurs.); Yann Tiersen, March 11 (Fri.

The back cover of Todd Snider's latest CD, "Step Right Up," shows a Grateful Dead logo, a peace sign, a yin-yang symbol, bumper stickers with such slogans as "Truck Naked!" and "Only Users Lose Drugs." You get the picture: indications that Todd's a party boy with roots in the '60s and '70s. What the cover doesn't tell you is that the 29-year-old singer-songwriter--who plays Saturday at the Coach House--is among the most gifted pop musicians to come down the pike since Fogerty, Hiatt and Prine.

When you run away from home at 16, it takes skills to work what Todd Snider calls "the couch circuit" -- especially if you're still trying to finish high school. You've got to earn every couch you crash on after gigs with charisma and salesmanship, and it doesn't hurt if you're a born entertainer. Or a smart aleck.

People who want to make it in the music business usually are advised to find a manager, a lawyer, a publisher, an agent, a producer, or all of the above, if they want to get ahead. Todd Snider's story points to the advantages of finding a good record store. Taking tips from the keepers of a mom-and-pop shop in the sleepy college town of San Marcos, Tex.

Todd Snider, "Songs for the Daily Planet," Margaritaville/MCA (** 1/2). Snider is a first-class wit who has a way with an array of folk, rock and country styles--the tracks on this debut range from power pop to stone honky-tonk to the goofy Dylan/Guthrie-esque bonus track "Talkin' Seattle Blues." But the wordplay and style-play come on so thick that it's hard to see if there's any heart behind it.

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Gibson Amphitheatre Amanda Miguel & Diego Verdaguer, Feb. 26 (now); Eric Clapton, March 9 (Mon.); Luis Miguel, Jan. 29 (Fri.) Honda Center New Kids on the Block / Backstreet Boys, July 6 (Sat.) Long Beach Performing Arts Center Jackson Browne, March 8 (now) Fred Kavli Theatre Jackson Browne, March 9 (now) Music Box Beach House, Feb. 16 (Thurs.); Yann Tiersen, March 11 (Fri.

The songs of Todd Snider are all wry storytelling and righteous common sense, with lyrics scattered across the usual folk-rock-country-pop rhythms. It may not be revelatory, but the man sings with such energy and conviction that at least it is clear that he means what he's singing about. At the Coach House on Saturday, he spent two hours singing-rasping-shouting about all the laughs and troubles he's seen.

Sonic Youth "The Eternal" Matador * * * * For nearly two decades, Sonic Youth followed its experimental whims under the Geffen corporate banner, making forward-looking rock as exciting and truly distinctive as anything they'd created for the guerrilla indie labels SST and Blast First. Their newest, "The Eternal," is the first to be released through the proud indie vet Matador, and the transition begins with a moment of clanging, atonal guitars.

When you run away from home at 16, it takes skills to work what Todd Snider calls "the couch circuit" -- especially if you're still trying to finish high school. You've got to earn every couch you crash on after gigs with charisma and salesmanship, and it doesn't hurt if you're a born entertainer. Or a smart aleck.

Open the CD booklet of Todd Snider's new album, "Viva Satellite," and you'll find a shot of him walking disheveled and apparently tipsy along the center stripe of two-lane Tennessee Highway 100, oblivious to what passes for rush-hour traffic in his adopted hometown of Fairview. Snider said the unorthodox, 5 p.m. photo session in front of his house caused enough of a stir for somebody to call the police.

The back cover of Todd Snider's latest CD, "Step Right Up," shows a Grateful Dead logo, a peace sign, a yin-yang symbol, bumper stickers with such slogans as "Truck Naked!" and "Only Users Lose Drugs." You get the picture: indications that Todd's a party boy with roots in the '60s and '70s. What the cover doesn't tell you is that the 29-year-old singer-songwriter--who plays Saturday at the Coach House--is among the most gifted pop musicians to come down the pike since Fogerty, Hiatt and Prine.

The songs of Todd Snider are all wry storytelling and righteous common sense, with lyrics scattered across the usual folk-rock-country-pop rhythms. It may not be revelatory, but the man sings with such energy and conviction that at least it is clear that he means what he's singing about. At the Coach House on Saturday, he spent two hours singing-rasping-shouting about all the laughs and troubles he's seen.

People who want to make it in the music business usually are advised to find a manager, a lawyer, a publisher, an agent, a producer, or all of the above, if they want to get ahead. Todd Snider's story points to the advantages of finding a good record store. Taking tips from the keepers of a mom-and-pop shop in the sleepy college town of San Marcos, Tex.

Sonic Youth "The Eternal" Matador * * * * For nearly two decades, Sonic Youth followed its experimental whims under the Geffen corporate banner, making forward-looking rock as exciting and truly distinctive as anything they'd created for the guerrilla indie labels SST and Blast First. Their newest, "The Eternal," is the first to be released through the proud indie vet Matador, and the transition begins with a moment of clanging, atonal guitars.

Todd Snider, "Songs for the Daily Planet," Margaritaville/MCA (** 1/2). Snider is a first-class wit who has a way with an array of folk, rock and country styles--the tracks on this debut range from power pop to stone honky-tonk to the goofy Dylan/Guthrie-esque bonus track "Talkin' Seattle Blues." But the wordplay and style-play come on so thick that it's hard to see if there's any heart behind it.