'A Love Letter To Handsome John': Todd Snider Doc On John Prine Coming To Theaters [Video]

Before Todd Snider suddenly passed away last fall at 59, he started work on a John Prine documentary with his friend, fellow singer-songwriter and musical historian Otis Gibbs. Instead of an objective account of Prine’s career, A Love Letter To Handsome John celebrates the impact the Oh Boy Records co-founder had on Snider, Gibbs, and a generation of folksingers.

In the typical Snider way of the ever-shifting creative goalposts, the film later became a document of Todd’s final years. Though Otis originally intended to release the film on his YouTube channel—a treasure trove of wild stories from the likes of Todd, Steve Poltz, Kevn Kinney, and many from Gibbs himself—Snider was adamant they do a proper theatrical release. According to Otis, Todd wanted to provide that same shared experience fans got at his shows.

“He said there’s nothing more powerful than a community coming together in one room to share something real. Something they’ve chosen to be part of,” Gibbs wrote with the film announcement. “Todd argued that we’ve travelled all over the world with guitars in our hands, hoping to be part of such experiences. That’s a powerful thing. Even if it’s just 25 people. Todd wanted the film to bring that same experience to people. He was right, so I promised him we’d show it in a movie theater.”

True to his word, Otis Gibbs will show A Love Letter To Handsome John in Indianapolis, IN (4/3 at the Kan Kan Theatre) and Nashville, TN (4/9 at The Belcourt Theatre). Find tickets here or sign up to request a screening in your town. Check out the trailer for the Todd Snider John Prine documentary below.

A Love Letter To Handsome John | Official Trailer

A description of the film reads, “An intimate portrait of Todd Snider in the last year of his life. What starts as a film about gratitude, and a way to say thank you to John Prine, becomes a rare glimpse of the artist at home in his most quiet moments.”

In the private Facebook group for Todd Snider fans (The Shithouse Wire), Gibbs went into greater detail on the project.

A couple of years ago, I started making a film with my buddy, Todd
Snider. It started out as a film about gratitude. It’s a long story
that I’ll tell on another day, but it quickly became a way for Todd to
show his love for John Prine.
The film is called, “A Love Letter To Handsome John.”
While making this, I kept telling Todd that 99.9% of the world will
absolutely hate this film.
(He loved hearing that.)
That’s ok, because it’s not for them. The good news is, the other .1%
of people will love it.
Those are our people.
The imperfect ones. The weirdos and
the outsiders. They’ll be so damned grateful that we took the time to make this. No matter how flawed and ramshackled it is (and it is.) They’ll
appreciate it and support it.
(He loved hearing that too.)
At first, Todd didn’t understand why I wanted to put this on my Youtube
channel. I argued that a hundred thousand people, or more would watch
it, if we put it on my channel. People all over the world would see it. People 25
years from now, who aren’t even born yet would see it. That’s pretty good for a couple of folk singers.
Todd understood where I was coming from, but he wanted to show it in
movie theaters. He made a pretty good argument. He said there’s
nothing more powerful than a community coming together in one room to share something real. Something they’ve chosen to be part of. Todd
argued that we’ve travelled all over the world with guitars in our
hands, hoping to be part of such experiences. That’s a powerful thing.
Even if it’s just 25 people. Todd wanted the film to bring that same
experience to people. He was right, so I promised him we’d show it in
a movie theater.
So, I’ve rented two theaters and I’m gonna make good on a promise to
my friend. I hope you’ll come join me.
April 3 -Indianapolis, IN -Kan Kan Cinema
April 9 -Nashville, TN -The Belcourt Theatre
Tickets go on sale this Friday. I’ll put a link in the comments.
At some point, this film will live on my youtube channel where everyone will be able to watch it for free. Until then, I hope to see you at the theater.
Thanks for giving a damn,
-Otis
PS: please help me spread the word

In the trailer, Snider says, “If you know who I am, there’s a good chance it’s because of a man named John Prine.” Ever the lyricist, Snider’s statement works on multiple levels. For one, Prine set the standard for the kind of wiseass singer-songwriting that inspired generations of artists, including Snider, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, and many others.

The other layer to that statement is that Todd Snider worked as Prine’s driver at one point, later signing with Oh Boy Records as the label’s first non-Prine artist (allowing “us to become a ‘real’ record label,” John’s widow wrote). Prine was an integral step in Snider eventually becoming the prolific artist he was, and Todd never shied away from heaping praise on his mentor. After Prine passed away in 2020 due to complications from COVID, Todd Snider released the song “Handsome John”, after the nickname Prine gave to himself.

Todd Snider — “Handsome John”

Now, Todd Snider is the one getting a multitude of tributes. After Snider’s sudden death, Billy Strings, Widespread Panic, Greensky Bluegrass, and many others played his songs at their concerts, and in the months to follow, there were too many tribute shows to keep track of. On March 20th, a massive lineup of Todd’s friends and collaborators will gather at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Spicewood, TX, for Todd Snider Rules. The tribute will feature performances by Kevn Kinney, Hayes Carll, Cody Canada, Jason Boland, Amanda Shires, John Craigie, Jack Ingram, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Tommy Prine, Levi Snider, Sterling Finlay, and many more. Find tickets here.

Todd Snider rules!