Join us on Tuesday, September 9th at 4:00 PM as we kick off AmericanaFest in Nashville with a special event in the record shop featuring Nashville’s own Tamara Saviano. Saviano recently published her latest book, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music, which she’ll be reading from and discussing with Nashville-based singer-songwriter Laurel Lewis, who will be performing Kris Kristofferson songs for the occasion. After the performance and book discussion, Saviano will autograph books for those in attendance. You can reserve your copy of Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music on our site here or you can swing by the store to pick up your copy in person. Everyone who purchases or reserves a copy of Poets and Dreamers from Grimey’s will receive a wristband for Saviano’s book signing. Like space in the record store, wristbands are limited. They are required to participate in the book signingand also guarantee entrance to our event.

Part memoir, part oral history, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music traces Saviano’s remarkable journey through the rise of the Americana music genre. Spanning more than three decades, Saviano unfolds the story of Americana—country music’s bohemian cousin—from her unique perspectives as a journalist, historian, Grammy-winning music producer, filmmaker, and artist emissary.

Saviano is the author of Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark, winner of the Belmont Award, sponsored by the International Country Music Conference. A Nashville music and film producer, she also produced Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, which won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, as well as the 2020 documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught. She’s been awarded the Darrell K. Royal Texas Legend Award for her work with Texas songwriters by Texas Heritage Songwriters Association and the Austin Music Awards selected her to receive the Margaret Moser Award, which recognizes women in music. Saviano served as the first woman president of the Americana Music Association and produced the early Americana Honors and Awards shows at the Ryman Auditorium.

Saviano invites readers behind the scenes for some of the most significant moments in Americana history. Poets and Dreamers illuminates the exceptional Americana community: an ever-expanding yet close-knit circle of friends and unsung heroes devoted to the success of roots music and its artists.

Laurel Lewis is a songwriter, singer, performer, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist. Originally from Kentucky, she calls Nashville home these days. Lewis has performed with and worked alongside world-renowned musicians such as Iris Dement, Rodney Crowell, and Billy Strings. She has played historic and hallowed venues including as Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta, The Bitter End in NYC, and our own beloved Bluebird Cafe.

Tamara Saviano’s Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music