Denny Snyder

Artist profile

The electric blues band is the device that began Denny’s reputation.  After many different bands, Denny decided to start his own to begin honing his own musical ideas.  In 1984, he formed the group “Southside Denny and the Skintones”, which became regionally known across a few states, and also began working in Canada, mostly in Ontario and as far west as Vancouver.  This band also produced two albums, the first of which received a good enough amount of airplay to put them on the road.  The second one featured legendary harmonicist Sugar Blue (of Willie Dixon and Rolling Stones fame).  

The rest of the band members wanted to play only locally, but Denny saw the territory growing and wanted to continue as a musician.  That brought about the Chicago years of the Southside Denny Band, which produced a great disc titled Rollin' Home".  It is his only effort to date with a Chicago rhythm section, featuring bassist Frank McClure and Jay Davenport on the drums.  This disc strongly represents their live show that they played all over the U.S. midwest and parts of Canada over a period of three years.  

A few years and two electric discs later (Rendez-Vous Blues, and Movin’ On), Denny got adventurous and produced “Eclectic” in 2003, which is a collection of acoustic guitar pieces that was quite the surprise to many of his fan base, and also brought in some new listeners.  “Roots and Branches”, in 2006 was also a total solo effort, yet steeped more in his blues roots (as the title suggests) and half instrumental pieces. 

The move to Montréal in February of 2007 has breathed new life into Southside Denny.  Thanks to an old friend named Jean Monarque (aka Gros Jeanbon) who passed some of Denny's old material along to a DJ named Dan Berhman from Radio Canada, who began playing them on the air. A new version of the band is now in existence (Simon Meilleur on drums, and Lindsay Pugh playing the bass) and has already graced the stages of Le Festival Mont Tremblant, and various other venues.  

In March of 2009, the disc "Full Circle" was released with the above mentioned Lindsay Pugh on Bass, and drum parts being shared by Simon Meilleur and Cliff Alloy.  This disc captured Denny at his best in both electric and acoustic settings, and included some surprising collaborations.  Producer Rick L Blues lent his skillful harp playing to a couple of tunes, as well as creating some background vocals on "Pays Cool".  Ivanhoe Jolicouer added trumpet and Flugelhorn to "Delirious Frank", and it even features the recording debut of Denny's daughter Lorrie on singing background vocals on two songs.  This disc is recieving more critical acclaim than any of Denny's efforts to date, and is being played on blues radio shows all over North America, Europe and Austrailia.  You can get it and the others here on our online store , as the saga continues!