The Snyder Family Band is the latest band to sign for Mountain Roads Recordings.
The Lexington, North Carolina, based Snyder Family Band has recently signed for Mountain Roads Recordings, the Bristol, Tennessee, based label run by Karl and Gail Cooler.
The family band, guided by father Bud Snyder, who plays bass for the group, features ten-year old Samantha on fiddle and fourteen-year old Zeb on guitar and their mother, Laine, who rounds out their beautiful three-part harmonies.
Samantha Snyder began playing classical violin as a three year old. At age of seven she made the transition to bluegrass by taking fiddle lessons and in 2007 she won first place at the Jimmy Edmonds Homecoming Competition at the Blue Ridge Music Centre in Galax, Virginia. A year later she became the youngest ever to win the prestigious Fiddler of the Festival award at Fiddler’s Grove in Union Grove, North Carolina. As well as playing fiddle, Samantha enjoys singing lead and harmony vocals with playing fiddle, Samantha sings lead and harmony vocals with her mom and brother Zeb.
Zeb Snyder started by learning to play classical guitar at the age of seven. Four years later he began to broaden his horizons by taking up an interest in bluegrass music, which prompted him to begin playing flat-pick style. Subsequently, he has won many guitar competitions. In 2007 he won the top prize, a Wayne Henderson guitar, at the Jimmy Edmonds Homecoming Competition at the Blue Ridge Music Centre in Galax. Like his sister, Zeb sings both lead and harmony vocals.
Ever the supportive father, dad Bud took up the bass, providing a smooth, steady beat that adds depth to the growing talents of his children.
While mum, Laine, often has her hands very full with the youngest member of the family, four-year-old Owen, a budding banjo picker, she occasionally manages to get on stage adding her voice to create three-part harmony.
The Snyders, who already have one album, Snyder Family Band, released in September 2008, are becoming known to many bluegrass greats and were recently invited to perform on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree with Dailey & Vincent during their trip to last year’s IBMA World of Bluegrass convention. They have appeared on the Song of the Mountains television show on PBS and performed at the Wayne C. Henderson Festival, Bluegrass First Class, the Rex Theatre and many other great festivals and venues.
Karl Cooler says…
“We are extremely excited to have the Snyder Family Band join our family of artists. It’s not often that we are able to associate ourselves with a group at the top of their game musically and at such a tender age. The potential for this group is endless and we can’t wait to let the bluegrass world hear their music. They are an amazing family.”
Their first release for the Mountain Roads Recordings label will include original material written by Samantha Snyder and is expected in the next few months.
