W. G. Snuffy Walden
William Garrett Walden, known as W. Snuffy Walden (born February 13, 1950), is an American musician and composer of film and television soundtracks. Walden is an Primetime Emmy Award winner for the theme music to the television series The West Wing, has been nominated for numerous other Emmys throughout his career, and has received 26 BMI Awards.
Also recorded as Snuffy Walden · W. G. Walden · WG Snuffy Walden
W. G. Snuffy Walden

Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA · Sara Niemietz 06/11/2016 #7 · CC BY 2.0
- Full name
- William Garrett Walden.
- Born
- 1950. · Louisiana.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- composer, actor and musician.
- Fields
- instrumental music.
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William Garrett Walden, known as W. Snuffy Walden (born February 13, 1950), is an American musician and composer of film and television soundtracks. Walden is an Primetime Emmy Award winner for the theme music to the television series The West Wing, has been nominated for numerous other Emmys throughout his career, and has received 26 BMI Awards.
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W. G. Snuffy Walden (born 1950) is an actor, composer and musician, of American nationality. The actor was born William Garrett Walden in Louisiana. The work spans instrumental music.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q921216 · wikipedia · W. G. Snuffy Walden
In this article
Early life
Early life
Walden was born in Louisiana on February 13, 1950 and raised in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas in 1967. In college he studied science and math, and he put himself through school working on a late-night radio show at KRBE in Houston and playing guitar in a strip club. Walden's middle name was his mother's maiden name, and this was the origin of his nickname. Members of his mother's family had sometimes been called Snuffy after the Southern snuff manufacturer Levi Garrett. His family and schoolmates addressed him as Garrett, but Snuffy began to stick when he was away at summer camp and the name was preferred by fellow musicians as his career began.
Career
Career
In the late 1960s, Walden dropped out of school, quit his job, and devoted his energies to the guitar full-time, picking up a bass player (Al Roberts) and drummer (Randy Reeder) to form a three-piece band named Aphrodite. They started touring and wound up in Denver, playing local clubs and opening for acts like Buddy Miles. It was in Denver that Emerson, Lake & Palmer's road manager, Neville Chesters, saw them in a club and offered them a recording contract with ELP's label, Manticore. In 1972, the group moved to England and was reformed, keeping Al Roberts and changing the name to Stray Dog. There, they were signed to Manticore and Greg Lake produced three songs from their first album Stray Dog. The new group toured with ELP as the opening act, but never really took flight, and eventually folded. Following the breakup of the band, Walden supplanted the ailing Paul Kossoff by providing guitar tracks for Free's final album Heartbreaker, which was released in 1973 (Walden plays on 'Common Mortal Man', 'Easy on My Soul' and 'Seven Angels'). He also played electric guitar in 1973, on the debut solo album Still by King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield. In 1975, he joined The Eric Burdon Band and performed with them for a year. In 1975, Walden moved to Los Angeles and spent the rest of the decade performing as a solo artist and supporting artists such as Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, and Eric Burdon. Notably, in 1975-6 he again filled in for Paul Kossoff as a session musician on Back Street Crawler's Second Street album. By the mid-1980s, television agents and producers became aware of Walden through his local performances in Santa Monica. When approached to score a new television show, Walden had mixed feelings but accepted the offer. "I could see the handwriting on the wall for touring," he would later remember, "and it wasn't pretty. I kept envisioning Holiday Inn at age 60." The television show he was hired for was Thirtysomething, which turned out to be a major hit television series and dramatically altered Walden's music career. Following his success as a touring and session musician and an Emmy nomination for the "Theme from Thirtysomething", Walden scored numerous television series, including The Wonder Years, Roseanne, Ellen, My So-Called Life, Felicity, Early Edition, Sports Night, The West Wing, George Lopez, I'll Fly Away, The Stand, Huff, Once and Again, Friday Night Lights and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In the summer of 2001, Walden released a solo album of mainly acoustic guitar pieces titled Music by... W. G. Snuffy Walden. The album included expanded or full versions of many of Walden's themes, such as "Once and Again", "Eugene's Ragtop", "Thirtysomething (Revisited)", and "West Wing Suite". In July 2002, Tom Guerra conducted a comprehensive interview of Walden for Vintage Guitar Magazine. In April 2008, Stephen J. Abramson interviewed Walden for a four-hour, multi-part video series for the Television Academy. In March 2018, Up to Snuff, a documentary film about Walden's career, won the documentary competition in its premier at the Pasadena International Film Festival. In September 2018, Walden starred in a 1950s style cover of "Africa" by Toto along with the musical collective Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube.
Nominations
Nominations
1988 Main Title, Theme Music – Thirtysomething 1992 Main Title, Theme Music – I'll Fly Away 1994 Best Original Score – Stephen King's The Stand 1995 Main Title Theme Music – My So-Called Life 1997 Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – Early Edition 1997 Main Title Theme Music – Early Edition 2000 Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – Felicity 2000 Outstanding Main Title Theme Music – The West Wing (won) 2001 Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – The West Wing 2003 Outstanding Main Title Theme Music – Miracles 2005 Outstanding Main Title Theme Music – Huff 2007 Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – Kidnapped 2018 Outstanding Main Title Theme Music - SEAL Team
Solo albums
Solo albums
Music by... W. G. Snuffy Walden (2001, Windham Hill Records)
Stray Dog albums
Stray Dog albums
Stray Dog (1973) Fasten Your Seat Belts (1973) While You're Down There (1974)
Guest appearances
Guest appearances
Free - Heartbreaker (1973, Island Records) Rabbit (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - Broken Arrows (1973, Island Records) Rabbit (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - Dark Saloon (1974, Island Records) Back Street Crawler - Second Street (1976, Atlantic Records)
Compilation albums
Compilation albums
Still (1973, Peter Sinfield – Command Studios) thirtysomething Soundtrack (1991, Geffen Records) Babylon Minstrels (1992, Hollywood Records) The Stand (1994, ABC Circle Music) My So-Called Life Soundtrack (1995, Atlantic Records) A Winter's Solstice VI (1997, Windham Hill Records) Celtic Christmas III (1997, Windham Hill Records) The Carols Of Christmas II (1997, Windham Hill Records) Summer Solstice 2 (1998, Windham Hill Records) Sounds Of Wood & Steel (1998, Windham Hill Records) Celtic Christmas IV (1998, Windham Hill Records) Touch – Windham Hill 25 Years of Guitar (2001, Windham Hill Records) A Winter's Solstice, Vol. 1: Silver Anniversary Edition (2001, Windham Hill Records) A Windham Hill Christmas (2002, Windham Hill Records) Windham Hill Chill: Ambient Acoustic (2003, Windham Hill Records) Windham Hill Chill 2 (2003, Windham Hill Records) Friday Night Lights Vol. 2 (2010) The West Wing (2017, Varèse Sarabande)

Sara Niemietz performing live at the Sennheiser booth. Day 1 (January 23rd, 2014) of the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim California.
Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA · Sara Niemietz at NAMM 1/23/2014 #12

Sara Niemietz performing live at the Sennheiser booth. Day 1 (January 23rd, 2014) of the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim California.
Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA · Sara Niemietz at NAMM 1/23/2014 #3
Awards
Awards
2000 Outstanding Main Title Theme Music – The West Wing
BMI Awards
BMI Awards
The Wonder Years (1988, 1989, 1990) The Jackie Thomas Show (1993) Ellen (1994, 1995) Roseanne (1994, 1995, 1996) The Drew Carey Show (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) The Norm Show (1999) Richard Kirk Ward BMI Award for Outstanding Career Achievement (2001) Providence (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003) The West Wing (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) Men of a Certain Age (2010)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Television Academy. W.G. Snuffy Walden: Awards & Nominations.
- 2.W. G. Snuffy Walden. Allmusic.
- 3.Grey, Hilarie. W. G. Snuffy Walden. Jazz Times. 2001.
- 4.Mambo Sons. W.G. Snuffy Walden.
- 5.Nickname. Archive of American Television.
- 6.W.G. Snuffy Walden – Biography & History. AllMusic.
- 7.W.G. "Snuffy" Walden – Movies and Filmography. AllMovie.
- 8.Guitar, Vintage. July 2002. Vintage Guitar® magazine. 2002-07-01.
- 9.W.G. Snuffy Walden. Television Academy Interviews. 2018-01-01.
- 10.Documentary on TV Composer W.G. Snuffy Walden Leads a Strong Newport Beach Film Festival Music Program. OC Weekly. 2018-04-26.
- 11.Pasadena Now » Pasadena International Film Festival Wraps Up a Week of Celebrity Sightings, Screenings, World Premieres, and Golden Era Hollywood Film Parties. Pasadena.com. 2018-03-16.
- 12.Pasadena International Film Festival.
- 13.Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube. September 20, 2018.
- 14.ABC. Emmys: Awards and Nomination. thirtysomething.
- 15.GSA Music. W.G. Snuffy Walden.
- 16.NBC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. I'll Fly Away.
- 17.ABC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Stephen King's The Stand.
- 18.ABC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. My So-Called Life.
- 19.CBS. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Early Edition.
- 20.WB. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Felicity.
- 21.NBC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. The West Wing.
- 22.ABC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Miracles.
- 23.Showtime. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Huff.
- 24.NBC. Emmys: Awards and Nominations. Kidnapped.
- 25.Shared with John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- 26.Shared with Allen Reynolds
- 27.Pesselnick, JILL. Walden Wins BMI Prize. Billboard Magazine. September 2025.
- 28.Shared with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Bennett Salvay
- 29.Music by W.G. Snuffy Walden – W.G. Snuffy Walden – Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic.
- 30.Stray Dog – Stray Dog – Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic.
- 31.Fasten Your Seat Belts – Stray Dog – Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic.
- 32.While You're Down There – Stray Dog – Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic.
- 33.Smith, William Michael. Houston-Born TV-Theme Composer W.G. "Snuffy" Walden Enjoys His Wonder Years. Houston Press. 2009-02-25.
- 34.Taylor & Francis. Variety TV REV 1991–92 17. 444. 1994. 978-0-8240-3796-3.
- 35.Sandler, Adam. Fox Night at the Movies Rise & Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story. Variety. 1994-02-28.
- 36.Scott, Tony. The Drew Carey Show. Variety. 1995-09-13.
- 37.W.G. Snuffy Walden. IMDb.
- 38.Muir, J.K. TV Year: The Prime Time 2005–2006 Season. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. 210. 2007. 978-1-55783-684-7.
- 39.W. G. Snuffy Walden. Hollywood Elite Composers. 1961-12-13.
- 40.Park City Film Music Festival. Stetson, Street Dog of Park City. 2012.
- 41.Lowry, Brian. Under the Dome. Variety. 2013-06-20.
- 42.Parisi, Paula. Nashville Tunes-Up for Season Five. MaxTheTrax. 2016-10-08.
- 43.CBS' 'SEAL Team' to Feature Music by W.G. Snuffy Walden & Patrick Rose. Film Music Reporter. 2017-09-27.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q921216: W. G. Snuffy WaldenWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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- W&G RecordsOrganisation
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