Songtrust Spotlight | Eva Snyder

Eva Snyder is an indie singer-songwriter from South Hadley, MA. She found her home away from home in the Outer Cape, but is now based in Nashville where she blends her coastal roots with the breeze of her pop-rooted melodies. Snyder’s hard-earned and gutsy storytelling explores inner discovery, gaslighters, and the dopamine of everyday romance.

In May 2024, Snyder released her debut album, seventeen, a deeply personal and powerful collection created entirely by women, chronicling her journey of healing from assault. The album struck a chord within the music community, landing Snyder on Spotify’s “Noteable” and “Created By Women” playlists, and culminating in her being featured as the cover artist for Spotify’s “Next Gen Singer-Songwriter” editorial playlist. This recognition highlights the raw honesty and emotional depth of her songwriting, solidifying her place as a compelling voice in the indie scene. In March 2025, Snyder released “…who am i?” her introspective note-to-self, signaling the end of the seventeen era and a bridge into the next chapter. Snyder is currently working on her sophomore album, which she exclusively penned all tracks and co-produced alongside Femke. The record is slated for a Fall 2025 release.

LET’S START AT THE BEGINNING! WHAT FIRST SPARKED YOUR LOVE OF SONGWRITING? WAS THERE A SPECIFIC MOMENT, ARTIST, OR EXPERIENCE THAT MADE YOU REALIZE THIS WAS SOMETHING YOU HAD TO PURSUE?

I have been around music my entire life. My grandfather was the lead of a Polka band, so I started playing polkas as well as classical violin at the age of three. My earliest memory of “writing a song” was in fourth grade, when I rewrote the lyrics to a song from The Princess Diaries soundtrack, and performed it in front of my class. I always wrote phrases and verses, but didn’t have a way to accompany myself. So when I taught myself guitar in middle school, it felt like coming home and was the emotional outlet I was looking for. Every night, when I finished my homework, I would retreat to my bedroom and write songs about my life, and honestly not much has changed. Songwriting and playing music has always come naturally. It’s the thing I’ve turned to when I can’t find the words, but I can find the lyrics.

YOU’VE LIVED IN MASSACHUSETTS, SPENT TIME IN CALIFORNIA, AND NOW YOU’RE BASED IN NASHVILLE. HOW HAVE THOSE DIFFERENT CHAPTERS IN YOUR LIFE SHAPED YOUR VOICE AS AN ARTIST?

I grew up on Polkas, Hansen and Hilary Duff. A trifecta, if you will.  Believe it or not, Massachusetts had a lot of country music influence, so my teenage years were spent glued to our country station, 100.9. Then moving to California, it was my incubator. It was a time when emotionally, I really wanted to be in Nashville, but spiritually I needed the three years to be by myself and dissect who I was and what my sound was. I did collaborate with a few people, but mostly was introspective and figured out what being “Eva” in music meant. Having those years to build confidence in my abilities before moving to Nashville was critical. It carved out the space for me to be in a high pressure town, while trusting my gut and knowing, deep down, that I had what it took to follow my dreams and not the dreams that others told me I should want.

YOUR SONGS FEEL DEEPLY PERSONAL, RAW, BUT ALSO REALLY RELATABLE. HAS THAT LEVEL OF HONESTY ALWAYS COME NATURALLY TO YOU, OR WAS IT SOMETHING YOU HAD TO GROW INTO AS A WRITER?

For better or for worse – it has always come naturally. I gravitated to songwriting because I needed a way to express what I was feeling when nobody listened or I had no one to talk to. Writing honestly has kept me grounded, and is what makes my music feel like my music. It also holds me accountable for what I’m experiencing. We all want to sugar coat the truth sometimes, but when it’s just me and some strings or keys, what’s there to hide.

WHETHER IT’S ON STAGE OR ONLINE, CONNECTION SEEMS TO BE A BIG PART OF WHAT YOU DO. HOW DO YOU STAY GROUNDED AND INTENTIONAL WHEN BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH YOUR LISTENERS?

Ultimately, when building a community, I’m trying to find people who have shared similar experiences.  We’ve gone through it, we have similar emotions, feelings, and reactions to things… there’s a deeper reason they’re connecting to what I’m writing. So I try to look at myself in a mirror and ask myself “what would make you feel connected to an artist” and it always leads me back to wanting to feel like I’m friends with that person.

Writing seventeen was deeply personal and emotional, but I did it so I wouldn’t feel alone. I hoped that in releasing that album, I could extend that feeling to others. I received many DMs from people sharing their stories and how much those songs meant to them. It was a beautiful but saddening feeling to see how many others could relate to seventeen, and I wanted to do more. I reached back out to all those fans, over 100 of them, who commented consistently or DMed me, and I sent each of them a handwritten note and seventeen-themed tarot cards I designed, but never sold anywhere. I loved seeing their reactions and hope to keep doing something like this with future releases. And hopefully one day I’ll have a P.O box so more folks can write to me, or we can even write back and forth.

YOU JUST RELEASED “EVERYTHING IS COMING UP EVA.” WHAT INSPIRED IT—AND DOES IT REFLECT HOW YOU’RE FEELING IN THIS SEASON OF YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?

“everything is coming up eva” is a phrase my husband says to me when something goes right, or rather doesn’t go terribly wrong haha. It’s a reminder that everything happens when it’s supposed to, even if it feels like things are taking the long way home. It’s been engraved in my psyche that I’m not going through life alone. I didn’t sit down with the intention to write a new song, but when I did, it seemingly fell out of me. I’ve learned that when those moments happen – where a song is flowing out, coming from somewhere larger than me – to trust it and not try to stop it. I wrote the bones of it in under an hour and then revisited it the next day just to tweak the lyrics a bit. This is also the first song that I’ve played my violin on since high school! I cried while recording it. I am so deeply proud of this song and proud of the message is conveys… and yes, it’s a love song. ❤️

THE NEW MUSIC FEELS A LOT LIKE YOU’RE ON A JOURNEY AND TRAVELING TO THIS NEXT CHAPTER OF YOURSELF. IF YOU WERE ON A ROAD TRIP RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD BE PLAYING IN THE CAR?

Good thing I road-trip 17 hours back up to New England multiple times a year. 😄 I’m ready! If I’m driving: I’ve been loving Medium Build. The two Ethans in my life right now are Ethan Regan and Ethan Tasch. I’ve got the new Chelsea Cutler mixtape on repeat, and give me Bon Iver any day alongside some Rainbow Kitten Surprise. To top it all off, some Taylor Swift with a side of Role Model. And for some nostalgia, definitely Hilary Duff; she’s my dream collab!

If my husband is driving: we’re oscillating between podcasts. On Fire with Jeff Probst, Armchair Expert, Call Her Daddy, And The Writer Is, Songwriter Soup, Ten Year Town and Lore just to name a few. And on our drive the other weekend we made it through almost the entire first season of The Telepathy Tapes. 

AS A COLLABORATOR AND TOPLINER, YOU’VE WORKED ACROSS GENRES. WHAT MAKES A WRITING SESSION WORK FOR YOU, AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN A CO-WRITE IS CLICKING?

I’m a big fan of saying what’s on my mind lyrically/melodically and getting it out there before I can move on. When I’m in a co-write, I usually have a lot of random thoughts come into my head, whether they’re lyrics or melodies. If I don’t feel comfortable sharing those crazy things, I know it’s going to be a tough write for me. Creativity is not predefined.  It’s something that ebbs and flows and mirrors to reflect the space it was allowed to breathe in. If the space is confined or judgmental, I can’t let myself be fully free and neither can my creativity.

I love collaborating, but I have worked a lot independently for my own artist project. Part of that is because I often don’t follow the norms of a typical Nashville session. I like to give myself space and air to breathe. I am a firm believer that sometimes a song can’t be written in 3 hours. And instead it needs time to nap and come together while I’m eating dinner or watching Survivor. 

LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT’S BEEN FUELING YOUR CREATIVITY LATELY, WHETHER IN YOUR MUSIC OR IN LIFE? ARE THERE ANY UPCOMING PROJECTS OR IDEAS YOU’RE ESPECIALLY EXCITED TO BRING INTO THE WORLD THIS YEAR?

Recently, my creativity has been flowing the most when I’m looking at who I’ve become and who I want to be. Releasing my debut album, seventeen, was a lot harder than I thought it would  be. There are pieces of me that I abandoned along the way, and I’ve been trying to go back, retrace my steps and pick those pieces up to put myself back together. I think I’ve been doing an okay job and it’s what I’ve been inspired to write about recently… it just might be the kind of songs you’ll hear later this fall… maybe even later this month!

IF WE RAIDED YOUR WEEKEND PLANS, WHAT WOULD WE CATCH YOU DOING BESIDES MUSIC?

Oh I love this!! On a typical weekend, Friday nights are almost exclusively reserved for movies with friends, so I am usually at a friend’s house ordering take out and hanging out on their couch. I also love to crochet so there’s a good chance you’ll catch me working on a blanket or some pot holders for somebody’s upcoming housewarming party.  I also have a wonderful little dog named Mo and he loves to go on walks around the neighborhood and chill outside together on our deck.  Overall, I definitely need my recharge time so a perfect Sunday for me is watching TV, reading a good thriller book or teaching myself how to knit (this is a big one for me… I used to think I was only a crocheter until I tried to make a sweater and I realized I liked the look of a knit sweater more than a crochet one…). 

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