Otis Gibbs is an East Nashville character, an indie singer-songwriter, a YouTuber and a podcaster. And now, with the local premiere of A Love Letter to Handsome John making its Nashville debut Thursday night at the Belcourt, he can also add filmmaker to his list of creative bona fides. Gibbs is a tireless DIY grinder, and renting our city’s beloved arthouse to screen a film about his neighbor is right on brand. Of course, when you live in East Nashville, your neighbors may be people like the late Todd Snider. A Love Letter to Handsome John began as Gibbs and Snider’s tribute to the great John Prine, who was one of Snider’s mentors and signed the alt-country troubadour to a slate of albums on his Oh Boy Records in the Aughts. Following Snider’s death from pneumonia in November, the finished film now plays like a portrait of the artist as not-so-young man, capturing Snider in quiet moments at home during his last year.
6:30 & 8:15 p.m. at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
