Jackson Free Press

Herman Snell was driven. I don't know why--or by what, exactly, but it was fascinating to watch. Herman wanted people to know what was going on in the arts, particularly film, and he wanted them to hear good music. And to him, that meant keeping up with the details.

As you may know by now if you follow the Jackson Free Press in print and online, Herman Snell passed away suddenly Sept. 19 after what we had initially thought was a successful surgery.

One thing I'll always remember about Herman was the effort he put into programming the music for the Crossroads Film Festival each year. While a film festival is generally about, well, film, Herman would program the after-parties each evening like it was an Austin indie-music showcase. He'd expect sizable budgets (always fodder for heated discussion during board meetings) and then reach out to bands and their management around the country to entice them to Jackson.

He was good at it. I was floored the year that a Latin brass band from Austin blew the electricity in the Red Room during a phenomenal show. Herman could book bands that, six months later, we could never have afforded, thanks to the meteoric rise they were on. To this day, I wish he'd had more of a venue and budget for booking independent music in Jackson; I think the town would have been richer for the effort.

Most recently, Herman served as our music columnist and music listings editor. (In previous years, he'd taken full responsibilities as music editor; more recently he'd taken a new job and scaled back somewhat.) Herman had fully prepared us for his time out of the office for his surgery--he was a very diligent and responsible freelancer, and wanted to make absolutely sure that we could cover for him in his absence; he prepped ahead of time by loading up the calendars and quickly began sending texts and e-mails once he was out of surgery and in recovery.

"Everything good. In room recovering," was the text I received from Herman's all-too-familiar cell number on Monday, Sept. 13, at 4:34 p.m. (Herman was big on calling from that cell phone of his--any problem, any perceived mistake, any e-mail misunderstanding, any complaint from a reader or band. Here came the call, the explanation ... and usually a solution; sometimes an assignment!)

That Saturday, Sept. 18, we exchanged texts. Herman said he was "going slow and sore" but was checking e-mail and would be back in the saddle. I told him to rest up. On Sunday, he wrote to Latasha, Donna and me: "I'm back on my computer updating. Picks will be in on Wed, on schedule. It'll be another few days before I'm driving. Thanks guys."

He died later that day.

That Monday, when I learned of Herman's passing and subsequently saw the outpouring of grief on the web, it occurred to me that I'd made a mistake in past publisher's notes, particularly those that I use to take stock of the JFP's staff, freelancers and contributors. I often note the founding bunch of folks who made the JFP possible--Donna Ladd, Stephen Barnette, Jimmy Mumford--but because Herman generally worked outside our offices, I don't think I said often enough that Herman was absolutely instrumental in the launch and success of the Jackson Free Press.

As Donna noted in a story about Herman a few weeks ago, Herman was right there at the beginning of the JFP. Upon learning of our plans, he graciously rolled his online music listings into the JFP's print and web listings at the very inception of the paper and kept them up for eight long years. When the JFP started, Herman's listings were on his own site; he brought not only his energy and work ethic, but his followers to the JFP as well.

Herman weathered all sorts of changes to the system, including, most recently, changes and adaptations he had to make to accommodate the JFP Mobile iPhone app. (If you're a JFP Mobile user--and I know we've got some die-hards out there--it was Herman's music listings you were tapping through every day.)

He was extremely diligent and thorough; he often fed us information about important shows, festivals and events that we could pursue for longer stories and (occasionally) ads; he was a persistent jovial presence at local events, festivals and JFP parties. He was a taskmaster; if it came to his attention that an ad had been approved with listings he hadn't received, we would hear about it, because it meant his print listings were incomplete. He would then doggedly update the web version so that people had the latest info online.

Not only Herman's family and friends feel this loss, but a community of local artists, venues and musicians who were rewarded with bigger audiences--sometimes a few folks, sometimes a crowd--thanks to Herman's dedication to the often thankless task called "letting folks know what's going on."

If there's a bright note at all for us at the JFP, it's that another wonderfully driven person has stepped up to edit music listings and contribute music columns in Herman's absence. Natalie Long is well-known among local musicians for her own determination to "let folks know what's going on" in the music scene, so much so that she's actually been willing to rally the musical troops (or herd the musical cats, depending on your perspective) to build a wonderful local institution that is Singer/Songwriter Night at Hal and Mal's every Wednesday.

Natalie is already doing a great job with her new JFP responsibilities and plans to expand on them further; reach her at [e-mail missing], and particularly let her know if your music listings have slipped through the cracks during the transition.

Meanwhile, this Sunday, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Hal and Mal's Red Room in downtown Jackson, we're celebrating Herman's life with a benefit--in Herman's honor, it'll be a music-fueled good time. The $10 cover (more is welcome) goes to defray funeral costs incurred by Herman's family, with music by Lhay Thriffley, Adam Perry, Lizz Strowd Band, Cucho Gonzalez, Lazy Jane (Laurel Isbister & Wes / feat Scott Albert Johnson), Scott Albert Johnson band and Flamenco Louisville, as well as a silent auction. Please come out and help us celebrate Herman's memory!

Previous Comments

ID

160305

Comment

I expect to see every single person who reads this on Sunday afternoon in the Red Room! There is also a coffee table book of Herman's writings being produced for sale at this event.

Author

Kevin Slark

Date

2010-10-13T13:06:42-06:00

ID

160306

Comment

Herman was extraordinary! He will be missed by many.

Author

Nola Gibson

Date

2010-10-13T13:08:04-06:00