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Weekly 150: Mike Snider

Gleason’s Grand Ole Opry Star

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Most communities have a claim to fame and even a favorite son. For Gleason, the town is Tater Town U.S.A. and they too have a favorite son, banjo champion and Grand Ole Opry star Mike Snider.

Born William Michael Snider on May 5, 1961, to Billy and Ruby Snider. At the age of 16, Mike picked up his first banjo, a gift from his father. The young man’s interest in music started when he was six years old and the family dogs drugged up an old bugle. This led to Mike learning how to play the trumpet.

But a Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ record Billy brought home turned him onto the banjo. They listened to recordings of Scruggs’ three-finger picking style of the banjo. “Daddy loved the banjo,” Mike said in a 2005 interview. “He’d say, ‘Boy, ain’t that fine!”’ After Billy bought Mike the banjo, that’s all the boy cared about.

“Mama said I needed to stick with the trumpet. But I had lost interest in it.”

“It was two days before my birthday,” Mike said of his father bringing the banjo home. “It was brand new and it was a good one, too, and it was in tune and everything.”

He began taking lessons from Gene Harkey from Sharon, who came to the Snider home a day or two later and agreed to teach Mile how to play.

“He was real nice to teach me everything he knew; it took me about two years,”Mike recalled. “He was a good teacher and after I got better I helped him learn something he wanted to know.”

He admits learning the banjo didn’t come easy, “It was really hard and it took like what seemed like forever before I could do anything. But I would not let up. I knew I could do it, deep down. I could hear it in my head and I knew what it would feel like if I could just do it right.”

Mike’s days and nights were filled with practicing his beloved instrument.

“I had to go to school and work on the farm, so I played before breakfast, then I played ‘til the school bus came. After school, I’d play, then go do what I need to do. And come back and play along toward midnight...Lots of times, I carried my banjo to the field with me.”

Between music, farming and girls, Mike had very little interest in academics.

“All I wanted from school was to get out,” he reminisced. “I already knew how to read, write and spell and enough math that I could do in my head and be able to handle money. I thought I’d be a farmer, I never thought I’d play the banjo for a living.”

In the spring of 1982, Mike asked Sabrina Goodwin out on a date. It was then he knew she was the one.

“On our first date, I knew. I don’t know why but I knew.” After a few more dates, he built up his nerve and asked her to marry him. On December 12, 1982, they were married. The following year, he was contemplating retiring his banjo after winning the state banjo contest two consecutive years.

He was encouraged to enter the national banjo contest in September 1983. Mike said of entering, “I thought, well before I put it away, that would be nice to show the grandkids someday. I lucked up and won that thing, then came back home.”

Still convinced he was bound for the fields, it wasn’t until Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires was in Gleason to visit family, that things began to change for Mike. Gordon’s brother, Wayne, encouraged Mike to play for the famed musician. Mike visited him one afternoon and played a few songs for him.

“Me and him kind of made friends right there,” he said. “When he asked what he could do to help, I said, ‘Well I’d like to be on the Grand Ole Opry one time,’ and he said, “I believe I can get that done.”’

Gordon was a man of his word as Mike was invited to perform on the Opry. They also invited the entire town of Gleason, sending 1500 tickets, to watch him on stage.

After the tickets ran out, 500 more locals purchased tickets. On January 21, 1984, Mike made his Opry debut with 2,000 friends and family from the Tri-County area in the audience. His stellar performance earned him an appearance on Ralph Emery’s Nashville Now Show.

“Everybody laughed at everything I said, and I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Mike said. His easy-going demeanor and strong country accent drew in the audience.

Over the next 30-plus years, Mike’s star continued to shine in Nashville. From being in the cast of Hee-Haw to becoming a regular member and a host on the Grand Ole Opry, Mike never forgot his roots. His stardom didn’t affect his home life.

“When I’m gone for a show, It’s not a vacation, I’ve got getting there, getting done and getting back on my mind, my favorite place to be is home.”

The talks of his success always bring him back home,

“I’m mighty grateful towards the people of Weakley and Carroll counties for supporting me and coming to see me when I was on the Opry and other shows. Without the help of everybody around here I’d never made it in the music business.”

Now semi-retired, Mike still calls Gleason home.