Vallejo singer-songwriter donates song proceeds to fire victims By Amy Maginnis-Honey VALLEJO — Amber Snider is finding a way to blend motherhood and music, albeit gradually. The singer-songwriter gave birth to her daughter, Autumn Snider, two years ago. Since then, it’s been difficult to lay down tracks. She and her husband, Aaron Snider, the lead guitar player in her band, venture into their home studio when family stops by to help take care of their daughter. She recently released “A Love Song for Humanity,” which was penned during the 2016 presidential election. Stevie Wonder inspired her to finish it and release the tune when he spoke at the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers Expo this year in Los Angeles. Snider was there and heard him say, “What we need is a love song for humanity.” Proceeds from the tune benefit California fire victims until the end of the year. “Napa is a second community to me,” she said. She said she has dual citizenship because she lives in Vallejo. Aaron Snider hails from Napa. His family stayed with in the couple in Vallejo during the October fires. Many of her solo gigs are now close to home, where Snider performs at retirement communities and some memory care units that are also on the same site. “I like being in a room full of 100-year-olds and they sing along,” she said. “It’s kind of surreal.” A few tunes from Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin seem to quench the audience’s thirst. Snider said the audience in the memory care units may not recognize their surroundings or anyone near them, but they can remember the lyrics to songs from their earlier days. Snider took a break when she was pregnant. After giving birth, she planned to keep up the busy schedule she had prior to becoming a mother. It was a challenge. “For the past few years I haven’t tried hard to get gigs,” she said. She loves to sit with Autumn and play music with her. “I’ll take that moment over being in a bar where people don’t care what I’m singing and just watching a game over my head,” she said. Snider was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area to a musical family. She started playing music when she was 4 and composing songs at 12. She primarily plays guitar, piano and harmonica but also enjoys playing the banjo, mandolin, accordion, lap steel guitar, ukulele and more. The Amber Snider Band was formed during weekly shows at Downtown Joe’s in Napa from 2007-09. After using monikers such as Hypnosis Company and Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie (named after a sandwich board special), the Sniders wed and The Amber Snider Band was born. Respect is the secret to being bandmates and spouses, Amber Snider said. “You have to listen to the other person and try to understand where they are coming from,” she said. “There are times you feel passionately and you have to explain why. You plead your case to the jury.” The family’s dream is to record and focus on music as a full-time business, which may include touring and/or song licensing opportunities. In the interim, the Sniders are working on about three or four songs, hopefully one they will finish in a few weeks. “We are trying to find the most impactful song,” she said. It should be released for the holidays, she said, but not necessarily a Christmas song. “We are slowly collecting tracks we want to work on,” she said. She said the band hopes to release an album in 2018. Learn more about Snider, her band and her music at www.ambersnider.com. See article here: Daily Republic Solano News http://bit.ly/2zDN5hM