According to my Last.fm profile, Todd Snider is my favorite musician by a country mile. And they prolly don't lie. Todd's music hits me where I live, even if I don't always buy into his politics. (Although they're often the politics I'd buy into if I could shake the analytical side of my brain.) He sings songs that I'd like to think I'd write and sing if I had any talent for songwriting. Or singing.

(Tenuous local connection -- Todd and Jack Ingram are best buds, and Todd appears on Jack's Live @ Adairs.)

Todd has a new album out next week, although it's been available for a couple months on Itunes.Like most of his albums since his debut, Songs for the Daily Planet, my initial reaction was to not like it as much as what had come before. Then, on multiple listenings, it's become a favorite. Todd's music gets more lyrically challenging and rewarding with each outing.

While my life seems to be a series of lyrical quotes from the Snider oeuvre, the title track of this disc, "The Devil You Know," has become the theme song of my summer. On a literal level, it tells a story that could easily happen in my neighborhood -- and "Helicopters over the house again" is a familiar refrain in our home. Also, lyrically reminds me of some of the issues being discussed in the wake of recent club shootings in Dallas.

And, on a deeper level, it resonates a lot with the work and decisions I'm making this summer. Like many of Todd's songs, this one won't get outta my head:

sometimes you rise above it


sometimes you sneak below


somewhere in between believing in heaven


and facing the devil you know

I was going to post the audio here, even though Todd isn't local and that's a no-no for us. But fortunately, I can instead link to it via this video created by the daughter of a Todd fan-- It's Todd and his band as Sims performing the song of the summer of aught-six.

Of course, as anyone who has listened to Kris Kristofferson knows, "the silver-tongued devil is me."

Todd performs at the Silverado Ranch on September 9, with Bruce Robison opening. If his management doesn't stiff me again, I'll try to get an interview.