Amber Snider

Amber Snider (formerly Amber Estrada) has been performing original music and carefully selected covers since 2000 and has written over 200 songs to date. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a musical family, Amber started playing music when she was 4 and writing songs when she was 12. She primarily plays guitar, piano and harmonica but also enjoys playing the banjo, mandolin, accordion (and yes, the triangle-- see right). Amber is a folk, rock, blues, and country singer-songwriter who has currently released 6 CDs and has opened for Cat Powers, Clint Black and Gretchen Wilson. Amber's music has been compared to singer-songwriters as varied as Ingrid Michaelson, Jewel, Rickie Lee Jones, Natalie Merchant, Sophie B. Hawkins, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Melissa Etheridge & Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. She is influenced by traditional blues, sixties and seventies classic rock, as well as current indie music. Without much formal training growing up, Amber learned a lot from her musical family & friends, most of which were singer-songwriters/instrumentalists: Mother, Diana Wallis, step-father, Steven Wallis, Mark Winslow, Lori Winship and God-father Francisco Gallegos. Amber started her career as a part of several family musical projects growing up, having performed in her parent's bands in various capacities from drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals before forming a band of her own. After high school Amber moved to LA to pursue opportunities in the entertainment industry and wound up working for one of the top songwriters in pop music, Diane Warren (with hits such as Aerosmith's 'Don't Want To Miss A Thing' and Celine Dion's'Because You Loved Me'). Absorbing that creative environment/business world, Amber brought that experience back to Northern California as a great source of inspiration for her own musical path. In 2002 Snider self-released a 5 song EP 'Acoustic Color'. She was then signed to startup record label Shoestring Angel Records after being discovered at an open mike performance in the Napa Valley. This chance encounter resulted in another 5 song EP 'Asleep To Dream' recorded at Narada Michael Walden' s studio in Marin, CA released in 2004. Amber studied briefly with vocal expert Raz Kennedy a founding member of Bobby McFerrin's. “Voicetra”. One of the tracks from this project was featured in an Indie film, 'The Hunting Season' in 2011. Snider's band was formed while playing weekly shows at Downtown Joe's in Napa and in 2009, Amber married longtime guitarist, Aaron Snider and changed her personal and professional name from Amber Estrada to Amber Snider. In 2010, Amber released two full length CD's, a live recording 'Napa City Nights LIVE 2010' & 'Still Dreamin'. In 2012, The Amber Snider Band worked with producer/multi-instrumentalist, Gawain Mathews (former guitarist for the Mickey Hart Band with a song featured in American Idol) to release a 7 song self-titled CD "The Amber Snider Band". [ “The Amber Snider Band” CD really captures the refreshingly unique sound that the band has been performing live for years at bars, clubs and festivals. High-energy fun, reflective life stories through acoustic-electric music... It's a must have! LISTEN NOW @ www.ambersnider.com ] Amber continually writes, record and play shows solo and with her group, The Amber Snider Band as well as the family duo 'Muse Roots' she shares with her mother -- at venues throughout Northern California. A San Francisco Bay Area favorite, her music has playfully been coined "Amber-icana" after the genre "Americana". "Super talented. Catch her while you can before a ticket to her show is 50 bucks." Rich Freedman - Vallejo Times-Herald " We hear tastes of a New York musical village…and Merchant . The music breathes…A dichotomy exists….storyteller appeal …Her intimate treatment reveals a vocal maturity. Nonchalant Rickie Lee Jones' approach to loose & spontaneous performance. Well done and we look forward to more." earBuzz.com "She's what the music industry needs now...Natalie Merchant mixed with Sophie B. Hawkins and Sheryl Crow. Sensitive lyrics without saccharine and jazz-infused melodies without pretense." Jamie Miller - former KVYN Program Director "style is blues-based pop w/ rock edges that sometimes echoes the work of Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, & perhaps Melissa Etheridge.(Snider's)...voice is an appealing instrument." Vol. XXIX - - Music Connection Magazine www.ambersnider.com