When she was 14 years old, Laurie Snyder tried out for her school chorus and didn’t make it.
Discouraged and hurt, Snyder did not sing again until college, when she began attending song circles with friends. One of these friends dragged Snyder on stage to sing the Celtic folk song “Fields of Hehenry.”
All of Snyder’s fear and insecurity vanished when she heard applause from the crowd, she said.
These days, Snyder said she sings regularly in song circles similar to those she attended in college.
“Singing is such a wonderful release for me,” Snyder said.
Her interest in folk music started as a child when her grandmother sang her favorite song “Froggie Went-A-Courtin’.” She said she loved the picture book as well, especially the cute drawings of the frogs and how happy they looked.
“Frogs are so sweet and innocuous,” Snyder said.
Toads are also comical, Snyder said, and she still giggles when remembering how the first toad she held as a child urinated on her little sister.
Snyder said her fascination with toads and frogs extends to her office in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, where she juggles her love of folk music with a fast-paced job as graduation analyst at The University of Memphis.
The office is covered from floor to ceiling with frogs in various poses and degrees of life-likeness.
The frogs keep her company during her days filled with double-checking that all students in majors from theatre to public relations complete their coursework before graduation, and that is only half of her job, she said.
The other half involves advising students who are new to the college.
Snyder’s office is the last stop before majors in the College of Communication and Fine Arts can graduate because she must make sure every student meets departmental requirements.
As fall graduation and checkout deadlines for spring approach, Snyder said she is busier than ever.
This time of year, if students haven’t already scheduled a meeting with Snyder, they may struggle to get one, she said.
Outside of the office, Snyder said she shares her love of music through a folk music organization that she helped create six years ago, the Memphis Acoustic Music Association.
“The group wouldn’t be what it was today without her,” said Judy Kitts, founder of the organization and friend to Snyder for more than 10 years. “Laurie is filled with ideas to promote and improve the association and to make us more visible.”
Kitts described Snyder as enthusiastic and goofy with a contagious energy. She said she likes to recount an event where she and Snyder were volunteers.
Snyder’s job for the North American Folk Alliance was to drive the shuttle bus from Midtown to the event at Crown Plaza. By the end of the day, she said, Snyder had everyone on the bus embarrassedly singing camp songs.
The daughter of an artist and an opera singer, Snyder said her love of the arts came from her family.
In addition to singing, Snyder said she plays the guitar, the spoons and the mountain dulcimer, a type of harp used in Celtic music.
She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in art history from the U of M before landing an advising position at Memphis College of Art and Design. She came to work at The U of M in 1996.
Snyder said one day she would love to teach art history.
“My first love is art, but I am very happy with what I am doing now,” Snyder said.
