Snail People is a multi-instrumental, multi-genre and multi-hairstyle touring music duo for kids and families. Re-imagined classics and creative originals encourage slowing down, being at home wherever you are, problem solving, and compassion. Snail People shows are interactive, with singing and dancing along and on-the-spot song creation!
Mindy Dillard is Mindy Snail. This 5’7″ lady didn’t realize she was actually 5’7″ until she was 27. This goes to show the good in slowing down and looking more carefully! She has always sung and about six years ago she graduated from theatre school in Salt Lake City, Utah. After that, she trekked not-so-slowly in a Toyota Corolla to Portland and discovered she wanted to play instruments. She has since taken up guitar, banjo, ukulele, the fiddle and songwriting.
She now lives in SW Portland and does not like escargot. She does like teaching music and theatre lessons to kids and playing in the joyful Americana band for grown-ups, Heartroot.
Eric McEuen is Eric Snail. This bald guy comes from a dry place where there are few snails. Maybe this why he moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Portland four years ago. In Albuquerque he used to play in a desert rock band. He left the band. Maybe this is because rocks are dangerous to snails. He plays just about everything, including his face.
He now lives in SW Portland and does not like mushrooms. He does like playing the electric guitar and taking long walks. Maybe this is because he’s looking for snails? He also teaches music lessons and plays in Heartroot.
Snail People is a multi-instrumental touring music duo for kids and families made up of Mindy Dillard and Eric McEuen. In the course of a Snail People event you may hear guitar, banjo, ukulele, fiddle, mandolin, drums and percussion. And sometimes they just use voices. They especially love to get the audience singing and dancing along. They’ve also write original songs – with the audience, too!
They’ve been playing and singing in Oregon schools, libraries, farmer’s markets and more since April 2010. Snail People have also played shows, school residencies, house concerts and more around the country on their Snail-sca-pades to Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, North Dakota and where you are soon!
Remember to Slllooowww Dooowwwnnn
For Booking click the ‘Contact‘ tab
Even more In-Depth info about Snail People!
Mindy Dillard is a musical performance artist and multi-instrumentalist originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. She grew up singing in choir, taking classical musical theatre and jazz vocal lessons and singing/dancing/and acting in plays and musicals. She performed in over 20 professional and community theatre productions in high school and collelge. She trained as an actress in college, receiving a B.F.A. in Theatre at the University of Utah. Then she moved to Portland to work as an apprentice with Sojourn Theatre company, creating shows and original music with them as part of the ensemble. From there she discovered she wanted to be writing songs and playing several instruments. She began honing her existing guitar skills and writing songs. (She has since added the banjo, ukelele, and several percussion instruments including the washboard and her tap shoes. She has been performing theatre and music for over fifteen years. In addition, she has also been teaching and directing kids theatre classes, camps, and plays for over 6 years, most notably with University of Utah Youtheatre, Northwest Children’s Theatre and and Oregon Children’s Theatre. Since forming the Snailpeople! music duo, Mindy and Eric have performed in after-school programs around the Portland metro through Artichoke Music foundation. She is also a yoga teacher, certified at the 200-hr level and has developed her own kids yoga curriculum, that she has taught at Exhale Yoga Studio and Woodstock Wellness center. She currently collaborates with Eric McEuen on Snailpeople! for kids and their other musical endeavor, Heartroot, for more general audiences, teaches guitar, yoga and theatre and has been working on developing her own one woman show “Snow White and Submarines” about finding connection with what’s real even in the midst of a stream of negative input. She is also in graduate school, working on a M.F.A in Interdisciplinary Arts at Vermont-based school Goddard College combining her theatrical and musical studies with sustainabiltiy.
Eric McEuen is a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter originally from near Albuquerque, New Mexico. He started playing rock and folk guitar in high school, at a time when he was also heavily involved in theater (both performance and backstage work). He received a B.A. in music from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, singing along the way in the university chorus, a Renaissance music ensemble, small folk groups, and rock bands. Back in his home state of New Mexico, he spent five years as the lead guitarist and one of three singing songwriters in a self-described “Desert Rock” group, and also played lead guitar in two other blues- and jazz-influenced rock bands. Since moving to Portland in 2007, Eric has performed as a solo singer/songwriter, played mandolin in a bluegrass group, and played lead guitar for several artists ranging from folk to rap to experimental. He also has entertained both children and adults as a solo singer/songwriter since his teens. He currently teaches guitar lessons and performs around the Portland area as a solo artist and backup musician.
Happy Snails to You!
