Five Questions with Snüzz

Britt Harper Uzzell, known to most long-time local music fans as Snüzz, is easily one of the most criminally underrated pop songwriters I’ve ever heard. And, as anyone who knows him will tell you, he’s also one of the nicest, most self-deprecating people in the world. Unfortunately Snüzz has also been diagnosed with lymphoma, and like millions of Americans, he is uninsured. So a group of his former bandmates have gotten together and are holding Snüzzfest this Monday, Sept. 7 (Memorial Day) at Local 506. Two of his old bands are reuniting for the occasion: Greensboro’s Big Kids, which also included Jeff Carroll of The Desmonds and “Holly Raleigh Christmas” fame, and International Orange, which also included The Old Ceremony’s Django Haskins. There will also be guest appearances by many of Snuzz’s friends, including members of Tres Chicas, Jeff Hart & The Ruins, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Hobex, Simeon, The Jackets and The Robert Sledge Band. The show is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. And the show starts promptly at 8.

And in slightly related news, another benefit is being organized for another ailing local musician, Tom Cushman (Table, The Chickens and many more). The benefit for Tom will happen Sept. 27 at White Collar Crime and will include The T’s, Bleeding Hearts, Sea Legs, Ricky Bacchus, Kenny Roby, Caitlin Cary, Man Will Destroy Himself, Gringo, The Trousers, Rocket Cottage.

Tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 4), Snüzz, Django Haskins and former Squirrel Nut Zipper Tom Maxwell will be interviewed on WUNC’s “The State of Things.” The show starts at noon, and they will be on from 12:40 to 1 p.m. Snüzz also answered Five Questions for New Raleigh.

1. Tell us as much as you are comfortable with telling us about your diagnosis: how you found out, what sort of treatment you’re undergoing, and how you’re feeling.

everything started to get worse for me about a year ago. i would have severe pain in my joints that moved indiscriminately around in unpredictable patterns. “phantom pangs” i called them. after being misdiagnosed twice, with a torn rotator cuff and then with arthritis, i was sent to the forsyth cancer treatment center where they discovered i have a non-aggressive, non-hodgkin form of lymphoma. it still attacks me whenever and wherever it desires, most cruelly in my fingers, which prevents me from performing music. at times i haven’t been able to bend my fingers at more than a 45 degree angel as they can become swollen, stiff, painful and immobile.

the doc says i WILL have to undergo chemo-therapy at some point, but he wants to monitor me every 3 months with a blood test to determine when the best time will be for me to begin. i have very high IGM levels, or protein levels, in my blood and have been found to be anemic.

the good news is over the last two months my symptoms have abated somewhat. my “flare ups” have been less consistent and i have had more pain free days over the last month than i’ve had all year. i have increased my exercise regimen exponentially and am adjusting my dietary habits so this has to be contributing to my currently improved status.

2. Has your diagnosis affected your opinion on national health care? and if so, how?

my diagnosis of lymphoma has not effected my views of health care in this country. it has brought that issue to the forefront for me, but i’ve always been ashamed that this country can be #1 at incarceration but #37 at health care. most democracies have established a much better system than we have and i think it’s time to transform and emulate more successful models. is it news to ANYONE that our system is fucked? that is, unless you watch fox news.

3. Tell us about the last song you wrote.

the last song i wrote is called “hole in the logic”, where i have a chance to rail against a number of things.

we want to hear good music,
we want to hear good sounds,
tell me why the best we’ve got
is always tucked away, hidden underground

like the smugglers of marijuana
breaking laws pushing product in,
to legalize would end it all
but we let criminal elements in

we’ve got a hole in the logic
and it makes no sense
a hole in the logic
and you must be dense

4. How did Snuzzfest come about, and was it difficult playing with folks you hadn’t played with in several years?

snuzzfest arrived by the hands of good friends who knew of my uninsured plight and my mounting medical costs, and wanted to do something to help me. catie braly, django haskins, and elisabeth tyroler are the force behind this extraordinary event and i am humbled that friends would want to assemble for my greater good. it was actually very hard for me to accept this help. at first i plainly said “no” to the event but the accumulative inertia from tons of letters, both from those who would be involved and those who wanted to attend, encouraged me to allow the event to take place. the letter that finally let me see it was ok to do this was from tom maxwell (squirrel nut zippers), who’s son esten has leukemia. his letter was so raw and honest and spoke right to my heart and went straight through to my head.

5. How did you get the nickname Snüzz?

how did i get a negative connotation for a moniker? well, as a kid growing up in fayetteville, i smoked massive amounts of marijuana which left me with an often sleepy demeanor, hence the name.

Read more about local music at Mann’s World.

 

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