White Lake Music Review publishes local live music news, reviews, and perspectives around Whitehall and Montague, Michigan. This submission is shared as part of our community coverage, and we encourage others to contribute..
Saturday January 17, 2026
I arrived at the Wayside an hour before showtime, finding my way through a deserted looking Montague in a full-blown snowstorm. The sparsely populated room was mostly snowmobilers. Colt was already there setting up.
Per promotional material he sent me: “Hailing from Colt Snuffer & The Dead Horsemen as well as the one-man show of Danbury Shakes; Colt Snuffer has been creating and performing a blend of dark blues, jazz and bluegrass enveloped in a nightmare-fueled collision of sound and story for the ears to devour. From cautionary tales to murder ballads, Colt delivers both song and style to the musical landscape.”
Worrying that the above may seem a bit too dark, he also assured me that he does “plenty of old-fashioned and classic covers as well.”
Colt M Snuffer (Mīkhā’ēl)
Colt Snuffer and The Dead Horsemen
By the time he began his first set, with Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” the room had started to fill in. His guitar rig, a Bigsby-equipped Gretsch solid body routed through effects into a Fender amp, absolutely nailed that vintage reverb sound.
I’m not referring to a little added reverb to thicken things up. I’m talking about dripping, echoing, screen door slamming deep reverb that’s equal parts Blues Saraceno and Dick Dale. That guitar sound complemented his gritty, deep vocals perfectly.
After rolling right into the Marty Robbins cowboy classic “Big Iron”, he changed things up with the unexpected Michael Buble’s “Sway” (featuring articulate jazzy guitar accompaniment), before doing a killer version of Tom Jones’ “Delilah”, adding a foot tambourine and harmonica (video).
The songs rolled on, unexpected ones like Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and one of my favorite John Prine songs “That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round”, before landing on one I hadn’t heard before, Casper Allen’s excellent “Pawn Shop Hero” (video). Colt introduced that one as “a sad song that sounds happy.”
After that, he performed his first original of the night “Black Gold” (video) a dark western saga about miners trapped “in a deep dark mine”. Check it out below.
Soon followed an insane amalgamation of varied material that, in theory, shouldn’t go together. Like a demented jigsaw puzzle created by a mad genius, everything flowed together perfectly: Kenny Rogers “The Gambler”, Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Somethin’ Stupid”, Eric Clapton’s “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”, A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, and to wrap it all up, Pink Floyd’s “Time”.
That’s the thing about a Colt Snuffer show. You never know what you’re going to hear. But with that voice, that reverb drenched guitar, you find yourself entering a strange world where stories and scraps of things swirl around you in a slightly unsettling but deeply satisfying way.
Make sure you check out the videos below for two more originals: “Screen Door” and one I didn’t catch the name of, but it had the repeated hook “All of This Bad Luck Will Have to Do”.
Also check him out next time he’s playing locally to hear songs like Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” and Tim Berry’s “Church of Level Track” with the poignant closing lyric:
“And I sat and I thought
All that ain’t right is over, for at least tonight
And if I die trying now, I won’t die wondering
How life could have turned out.”
Check out his Facebook page, not only for upcoming shows, but for his incredible artwork. If you catch his next local show, you’ll see me there if I’m not playing with one of my bands. I know one thing for certain, when it comes to Colt Snuffer, I haven’t had enough!
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