About The Time Steve Poltz Kidnapped John Prine

The YouTube channel of singer-songwriter and podcaster Otis Gibbs is full of fantastic rock ‘n’ roll tales. Gibbs recently captured fellow singer-songwriter Steve Poltz relating the story of how he took some liberties when picking up the legendary John Prine for an errand.

A fantastic storyteller, Steve begins in 1985, fresh out of college, when he took magic mushrooms with his neighbors only to find himself at an interview for a job selling nipples (PVC nipples for irrigation that is) the next morning, which he aced, and attributed the success to his heightened consciousness.

“…​​it was like I became Tony Robbins or something or Stephen Covey: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Poltz said.

Although he excelled at selling nipples for three years, the job began to wear him down and he asked his boss for nine months off to go busk in Europe. When some friendly Irish folk offered him a place to stay, he dove into their John Prine record collection and cemented a lasting love for the singer-songwriter.

“I fell in love with Diamonds in the Rough,” Steve said, “which is still to this day probably my favorite John Prim record.”

After some musical success of his own in Nashville, Poltz forged a relationship with John’s manager Al Bunetta, who one fateful day tasked him with helping Prine run an errand ahead of a show in San Diego where Poltz lived at the time. Watch Steve recount the full and fascinating story below: