In Rotation: Snacktime

If you were walking through Philly’s Rittenhouse Square in August 2020, you heard Snacktime before you saw them. They were a massive, horn-heavy collective busking in the middle of a locked-down city, turning public parks into block parties. That raw energy took them everywhere. They backed up Ms. Lauryn Hill at Newport Folk Fest, played a six-hour marathon set for Eric Andre’s 40th birthday, and even clocked in as the house band for Jason Kelce’s ESPN late-night show earlier this year. But bands that start in the park usually hit a ceiling. A seven-piece horn section is great for a festival stage, but it gets crowded on a studio record. Snacktime recognized the trap and pivoted. When singer Nico Bryant took over vocal duties in 2025, the septet started shifting their architecture. They are putting the brass down to serve the groove. On recent cuts, sousaphone player Sam Gellerstein is holding down the bass guitar. Trombonist Michael Spearman is working the keys. You can hear the evolution clearly on their latest single "Can't Imagine Why You'd Stay," mixed by Josh Lucas. Bryant’s vocals glide right over a tight, unhurried drum loop. The bassline anchors the melody instead of competing with it. They still have the funk, but they traded the sheer volume for pocket. Most busking collectives that try to cross over into pop and R&B end up sounding like a cruise ship novelty act. Snacktime avoided that fate because the players actually know when to stop playing. On their stripped-down acoustic sessions and Will Yip-produced tracks like "Smoking, Drinking, Talking sh*t," they let the negative space do the heavy lifting. The rhythm section locks in, the guitars hover in the background, and the vocal melody drives the car. The rest of the country is catching up to what Philly already knew. They just pulled in 13 new radio adds from Dayton’s Novaphonic.FM to Wyoming Sounds. This week, they are packing up the gear to hit the road with Devon Gilfillian, kicking off a West Coast run that hits Seattle’s Crocodile and LA’s Roxy Theatre in October. They finally found the sweet spot. Check it out below.