Photo: Jay Blakesberg

Mayor of Nashville, Freddie O’Connell, is recognizing the self-proclaimed Mayor of East Nashville, Todd Snider, in a big way. 

April 20 will now be observed as Todd Snider Day, highlighting the late musician’s influence on the east side of Music City and the creativity and charisma he exuded throughout his career. Nashville’s mayoral proclamation comes on the heels of Hard Working Americans’ 2013 archival cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s “Work For Peace,” which arrived on Friday for the first time on digital streaming. 

The official letter from the Office of the Major reads: 

WHEREAS, Todd Snider’s songwriting helped define the artistic voice of East Nashville, reflecting the humor, grit, humanity, and creative independence that have become hallmarks of the neighborhood and the city of Nashville; and 

WHEREAS, his landmark album, East Nashville Skyline, introduced the spirit of East Nashville to audiences across the nation and helped establish the neighborhood as a celebrated home for songwriters, musicians, and independent creators; and 

WHEREAS, Todd Snider became widely known as the unofficial “Mayor of East Nashville,” a reflection of his lasting role in shaping the community’s cultural identity and creative renaissance; and 

WHEREAS, his music and mentorship encouraged generations of emerging artists, songwriters, and storytellers whose work continues to strengthen Nashville’s reputation as Music City; and 

WHEREAS, his commitment to authenticity, artistic freedom, and neighborhood community embodies the values that make Nashville a global center for music, creativity, and cultural innovation; and 

WHEREAS, it is fitting for the city of Nashville to recognize Todd Snider’s enduring contributions to Nashville, to the broader musical heritage of the city, and to the artists who continue to follow in his footsteps; 

NOW, THEREFORE I, Freddie O’Connell, tenth Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, do hereby proclaim Monday, April 20, 2026 as 

TODD SNIDER DAY 

in Nashville, Tennessee, and urge all Nashvillians to join me in this observance.

…

In addition to news of a day honoring the late artist, his former band, Hard Working Americans, has visited its vault and recovered a new digital single, Gil Scott-Heron’s “Work For Peace.” Released via Thirty Tigers, the song was tracked in 2013 at Bobby Weir’s TRI Studios in San Rafael, Calif. Reflecting on Snider’s contribution to the band, Dave Schools says, “At first the idea of doing Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Work For Peace (The Military & The Monetary)’ seemed almost incongruous to us. After all, it was more of a rap/poem than the rest of the material that made up the first HWA record.”

Schools continues, “In the studio it quickly became apparent to those of us who had never worked with him before that Todd Snider could not only turn a phrase but also that he could imbue that phrase with a poet’s innate rhythmic sensibility. And once there’s an inherent rhythm, that poem can be placed into any groove that fits. I think that’s how this songwriting thing works or is supposed to work…LOL.”

Snider and Schools are joined by Neal Casal, Chad Staehly, Duane Trucks, and Jesse Aycock to cut the track. Schools comments, “The process for creating the first HWA record was taking songs that Snider loved and deconstructing them down to just the lyrics and melody and then rebuilding them into what became our sound.

“Will Kimbrough’s ‘I DON’T HAVE A GUN’ was reconfigured with a slinky smoky nightclub groove….and Todd discovered that the vibe and tempo felt right for him to deliver the Gil Scott-Heron piece…so when we recorded the master take for Kimbrough’s tune we kept jamming for a while so that Snider would have enough runway to land THE MILITARY & THE MONETARY.

Those few days of recording that first HWA record were filled with the kind of lucky and fruitful misadventures that one would expect to occur in Bob Weir’s amazing studio TRI. It all worked out ‘just exactly perfect’ as Weir himself would have said.” Hear the single below. 

Reflecting on his friend and collaborator’s creative impulse, Schools told Relix, “Let me say at the outset, if there’s anyone who might’ve been Mark Twain in a previous life, then it was Todd Snider. To me, Todd was the Mark Twain of singer-songwriting.” Read the complete Snider tribute here.