Jeff Snopkowski

Age:

     32

Gear:  

     Gibson, Fender, Martin, Traynor, Boss

Favorite Band:

     Dave Matthews Band

Favorite Drink:

     Guinness

Once upon a time... not kidding. I had my first official interaction with music in 5th grade with the recorder. From there, bands like Bruce Springsteen and movies like Eddie and the Cruisers led me towards the saxophone.

I picked it up and played from 6th grade until shelving it the fall of 10th grade. This was done because 8 months prior, I received my first guitar as a Christmas present. From that point forward, I’ve had a tough time putting the guitar down for any extended period of time. I practiced throughout high school and only managed to become proficient at learning signature riffs and reading every piece of tablature I could get my hands on. I went to college and quickly realized the value of time and money…and that I had none of either…and sold my gear for extra beer money and a basic Washburn acoustic to keep playing. I finally found the time (and money) in my last year of college to make guitar and music a focus again. Meeting a bass player at a co-op and convincing my roommate to not study as much and play my old saxophone, we put together the Jammin Crackers. Not having a drummer made it tough, but we were able to write 7 songs and play a few open mics in the last 4 months of my college life. This experience made a huge impact on the value of music and songwriting in my life…I realized I don’t function without it. Nevertheless, I accepted a job in Maryland that occupied too much of my time to write or jam with other musicians. A year and a half later I found myself in Rochester, NY with a clear head, new job and a fervent desire to get back to my passion…music.

I wrote on my own for the next year and a half until I had to start jamming with people again, so I registered myself on the Musician.com website and ended up jamming with a couple people with no luck. Then I received an email from a drummer/guitarist that invited me over for a Saturday afternoon jam session. Well, things just clicked and I found myself playing with this group and a larger group weekly. This continued for about 6 months, and then the bass player, the drummer/guitarist and I decided to try something different. We started getting together regularly with another singer/guitarist. We created and played for about 10 months until that too lost steam, but the drummer/guitarist and myself still got together and messed around with different ideas. Then, one day my friend the drummer gets a call from another guitarist/singer that just lost steam with their band and was looking for a drummer…I was invited to the jam session tryout. The result is what is now Seven Green. The drummer/guitarist is Paul Francisco and the guitarist/singer is Mike Panessa, and I can say that every time we get together is a fun, creative and satisfying experience. Come to one of our gigs, and I’m sure you will feel the same energy and excitement listening as we do playing.