Savannah, Georgia – The opening weekend of the 2008 Savannah Music Festival (SMF) now features a standout country music reunion in place of the originally scheduled appearance by Marty Stuart and deceased country music legend Porter Wagoner. An Evening with Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart is a special acoustic duo performance including the platinum-selling artist and Georgia native Travis Tritt alongside the inimitable Stuart.
The two take the stage at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 21. “Though Porter Wagoner is irreplaceable, we look forward to presenting Marty Stuart with long-time collaborator and accomplished Georgia-born entertainer Travis Tritt,†says SMF Executive & Artistic Director Rob Gibson. This is yet another production unique to the 2008 Savannah Music Festival. Others include The World of Slide Guitar featuring Jerry Douglas & Derek Trucks, the premier of an original piece by Stewart Copeland, the Savannah Jazz Party, and many more.
In 1991, Stuart and Tritt co-wrote the Grammy-winning song “The Whisky Ain’t Workin’,†released on the Travis Tritt album It’s All About to Change. Stuart put out an album in 1992 with a title track called “This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time),†another duet with Tritt that became a hit. The duo toured together in the early 1990’s on their “No Hats†tour, bucking the day’s trend of Nashville performers donning cowboy hats. In 1996, Marty Stuart released another Travis Tritt duet as a title track on his album Honky Tonkin’s What I Do Best.
This special duo performance holds true to SMF’s efforts to provide unique musical experiences for Savannah audiences. Other opening weekend highlights include: Yundi Li, The Blind Boys of Alabama with Adolphus Bell, Steep Canyon Rangers, Sensations chamber music with Daniel Hope & Friends, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, Nrityagram Indian Dance Ensemble, Hamilton de Holanda Quintet, and Blues in the Night with Nappy Brown, Adolphus Bell and “Steady Rollin’†Bob Margolin. After a light schedule on Easter Sunday, SMF hits full swing with concerts through April 5.
About the Savannah Music Festival
The Savannah Music Festival is Georgia’s largest musical arts festival and one of the most distinctive cross-genre music festivals in the world. SMF is building a robust history on its devotion to living, vibrant musical traditions, regularly producing premieres, commissioned works and rare regional appearances by renowned artists in jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other styles of American and international roots music. Artists collaborate, students and master musicians intermingle, vocalists showcase their talents and communities uplift and celebrate over seventeen specially conceived days and nights. For 2008 details visit www.savannahmusicfestival.org.