Justin Snyder is a creative in the purest sense of the word. Give him a camera, a guitar, or a piano and Snyder can’t help but create something new. Snyder spent his childhood in Ohio surrounded by music. Parents, siblings, and extended family all had the gift. Snyder’s earliest firsthand memory of making music was in 6th grade on his sister’s guitar. “I would write songs before I would learn [to play] other people’s songs,” he remembers. Throughout his teen years Snyder continued to write music and play in worship bands at church. A somewhat bashful type Snyder remembers: “I didn’t like singing without the guitar. If I had the guitar I could sing just fine.” Snyder found inspiration in the music of such artists as Jars of Clay, Rich Mullins, and James Taylor. Over the years Snyder’s creativity led him to hone his skills not only in music but in film as well. After graduating from Liberty University in 2006, Snyder, along with several friends, founded Abandon Films, a film production company based in Central Virginia. Since then Snyder has written and directed over one hundred video projects. Even though Snyder has seen success in film, his heart has never strayed too far from his first love: music. Though known in the region primarily as a filmmaker Snyder has popped up over the years performing live original acoustic sets in coffee shops. Though the goal was always to record an album, the timing never seemed quite right until 2013. With generous support from his father (a musician himself) Snyder recorded his debut EP The Ordinary Things in early 2013. The collection of original tunes was produced by Kyle Cummings. The pair pored through dozens of songs Snyder had written looking for the best collection to record on the album. They narrowed it down to “Sipping Sangria,” “A True Friend,” “Freedom is Not,” “That Kind of Way,” “The Day That I Found You,” “Reality,” “Oh Me, Oh My,” and “It Was the Song.” “A True Friend,” the second track on the album, served as soundtrack and title to an original short film also written and directed by Snyder. The film debuted at the D.C. Shorts Film Festival in 2013. Though Snyder’s first album came some ten or fifteen years after he began dreaming of recording, Snyder’s second offering will likely not take as long to come to fruition. Before The Ordinary Things was released Snyder already began making plans for his sophomore release. “The next album will be a concept [album].” Of the recording process Snyder says: “It’s addicting. I’m hooked.”