The Story

Amber Snider is an award-winning singer-songwriter with several albums, EPs, singles and music videos released to date.  She produced "For Folk's Sake! Music Festival" in 2019.

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, ukulele and more.     

Amber Snider's music won a Silver at The 2022 W.A.M. Awards, Best Song at West Coast Songwriters, Best Song (Akademia), was a nominee for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album of the Year (IMAs) and was a finalist for Best Country/Bluegrass song (IAMAs). She was inducted into the Akademia Hall of Fame in 2023. See awards HERE.

Amber has performed live for 20+ years to tens of thousands of people bringing memorable, high-quality, live music and storytelling to every performance she gives. Amber has written over 220 songs in her career. 

She has appeared on several radio and TV shows including a feature on Best of the Bay KRON TV and hosting her own music segment on Napa's Channel 28. 

Amber and The Amber Snider Band have headlined hundreds shows as well as were featured artists at the Bottle Rock Napa Valley music festival sharing the stage with artists such as LL Cool J, The Cure, Matisyahu, Heart, De La Soul, Smash Mouth, Cat Powers, Clint Black, Gretchen Wilson, Judith Owen, Carl Verheyen of Supertramp, Jared & The Mill, Jim Bianco, The Raw Oyster Cult, Jesse Brewster and more.  

Amber's music has been compared to singer-songwriters as varied as Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Rickie Lee Jones, Sophie B. Hawkins, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Melissa Etheridge,  and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Amber herself finds influence in traditional country & blues, sixties and seventies classic rock, 80s & 90s pop hits as well as current indie and pop music.  

Without much formal training growing up outside of some piano lessons (Amber composed a short piano piece in the 6th grade, a dedication to her childhood friend) and a stint as a clarinet player in band at school, Amber learned a lot from her musical family & friends, many of which were performing singer-songwriters/instrumentalists. Amber started her career as part of family musical projects, having performed in her parents' bands in various capacities; drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals before embarking on solo performance and eventually forming: The Amber Snider Band. As a troubled teen, Amber used writing poetry, stories, songs, drawing and acting in plays as a way to deal with her tumultuous emotions (some things never change). 

  
After some college (mostly theater) Amber moved to LA to pursue opportunities in the entertainment industry and wound up working as receptionist for Diane Warren, one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of our time (with hits such as Aerosmith's 'Don't Want To Miss A Thing', Cher's 'If I Could Turn Back Time', Celine Dion's 'Because You Loved Me'). Absorbing Diane's immensely creative environment & mega-successful female-run business, Amber used the unforgettable experience as a source of inspiration to forge her own musical path as a singer-songwriter back in Northern California. Missing home, Amber felt it would be better to become a big fish in a small pond, thus Puddle Siren Music Publishing & Records was born.  

In 2002 Snider self-released a 5 song EP 'Acoustic Color' (an unintentional misspelling) and after being "discovered" at an open mike performance in the Napa Valley by Jason Mori was then signed to his startup record label, Shoestring Angel Records. This chance encounter resulted in another 5 song EP entitled 'Asleep To Dream' which was recorded at Narada Michael Walden's Tarpan studio in Marin, CA and released in 2004. Vocal expert Raz Kennedy (a founding member of Bobby McFerrin's. “Voicetra”) helped prepare Amber for the recording sessions. One of the tracks from this project was featured in an Indie film, 'The Hunting Season' in 2011.   

The Amber Snider Band was formed while playing weekly shows at Downtown Joe's in Napa from 2007-2009 performing under such names as The Hypnosis Company, The Overtone Series, Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie (named after a sandwich board special) when in 2009, Amber married longtime guitarist Aaron Snider, and “The Amber Snider Band” was born.  It was during this time, the band developed their live sound.

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 enlisted the help of producer/multi-instrumentalist, Gawain Mathews (former guitarist for the Mickey Hart Band with a song featured in American Idol) to release a 7 song EP entitled simply "The Amber Snider Band". This CD really captured the "Country-Pop Pie/Americana" sound the band had been performing live at bars, clubs and festivals: High-energy, fun yet reflective life stories through acoustic-electric music.    

In 2014, Amber's band was chosen to play at the Bottle Rock Napa Valley music Festival along with artists such as LL Cool J, The Cure, Matisyahu, Heart, De La Soul, Smash Mouth and more. 

In 2015, Amber self-produced and released an album entitled 'A Little Heart' in part to showcase more of her song repertoire as well as a dedication to the "little heart" that beat inside of her. In November of that year she also "produced and released" a daughter named "Autumn" along with husband, Aaron Snider.  

In 2016, Amber followed with 'Heroes & Heartaches' another dedication album (this time to her god-father, Francisco). This work won her a prestigious Independent Music Award nomination for Best Folk/Singer-songwriter Album of 2016 as well as Best Song in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter Category for the track 'Should've Known Better' in the July 2016 Akademia song competition. 

In 2017, during the worst California fire disaster in history, Amber released the single 'A Love Song For Humanity' after the 2017 ASCAP Expo in Los Angeles when Stevie Wonder said to Amber and the other audience members, "What we need is A Love Song For Humanity". Amber took that as a sign, finished the track and released it donating all proceeds to the fire victims through the end of the year.

On Thanksgiving of 2018, Amber premiered the psychedelic 60's-esque music video for 'I Will Be True' a song that went into 2019 as a Finalist for Best Country/Bluegrass in the Independent Acoustic Music Awards. 

In July 2019, Amber was a guest on on SF radio station's KXSF 102.5. Her song 'Bagel Song'  Winner of Best Song of the Month West Coast Songwriters  competition.  Her song 'I Will Be True' was a finalist in the 15th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards for Best Country/Bluegrass song of 2019. 

During the 2020 pandemic, Amber and her husband, Aaron recorded and released 'Ride The Wave', 13 reflective, acoustic gems with an intimate honesty.  They also welcomed their 2nd child, "Atlas" into the world. Amber was laying down tracks right up until going into labor!

2022 Amber won a Silver in the Singer/Songwriter Folk category at The 2022 W.A.M. Awards for her song 'Gravel'.

2023 Amber and Aaron welcomed their 3rd child, "Austin" into the world! Amber was inducted into the Akademia "Hall of Fame", was featured on IndieTalk podcast and interviewed "Behind The Song: I Will Be True".

Present Day - Amber is working with music supervisors to get more song placements in film and TV.  She and Aaron are working on a new album for The Amber Snider Band and another project to be announced shortly.