by Sean Kelly, Jenna Moore, and Frank Ricci

AS THE 2025 Savannah Music Festival comes to a close, we wanted to highlight the 36-year history of this cultural staple by talking to some of the people who have been involved in the production and the evolution of the festival, and ask them about their role in getting it all on stage.

Getting On Board:

Ryan McMaken (Artistic Director): My wife and I were visiting from Portland, Maine in November of 2006, and I saw a poster at the airport while leaving. I remarked to her about the mix of artists on the poster, which included flamenco, jazz, classical and blues. When we got home, I looked up the organization and saw that they had a position open that aligned with experience from my first job. I interviewed in person on New Year’s Day of 2007 and moved here for the position by MLK weekend that year.

Tony Clarke (Long-Term Festival Contractor): In 2004, I was hired to play a local event with the then Production Manager, Ricardo Ochoa, and during the event, we chatted about my skills and ability to make things happen. 

The next day, I was offered a job.

Erin Tatum (Former Interim Director): I was on staff from 2014 to 2021 in three different roles. Then I was a contract grant professional for the festival for two years after that, from 2022 to 2024. The position I started in was director of artist relations, which was all things artists. Keeping people fed, housed, making sure they got paid, about 500 musicians in 17 days. So that was a logistics-heavy position. I then moved in 2018 to 2021 into the managing director role where I took a lot of those previous responsibilities and then carried them out across the organization. And then for the last seven months I was with SMF I served as interim executive director. That was from April to December of that year to bridge the gap between David Pratt leaving that spring and then Gene Dobbs Bradford being named in December of 2021.

Kevin Rose (Recording Engineer): I believe it was in 1989. It was the American Traditions Competition which also included a component called Savannah on Stage, and I did sound for that, but not every year.

And then in 2002, I believe, Rob Gibson signed on to basically create the Savannah Music Festival, as executive director. I met Rob at Randy Wood’s Pickin’ Parlor. He was complimenting the sound and asked Randy who was doing it, and I was standing next to him…and here we are, 23 years later. I started as an engineer, then worked on recording and sound, eventually becoming lead engineer. I handed that off, and became lead recording engineer of the festival. And that's where we are now.

First Impressions:

Tatum: I thought they were doing amazing things. I was coming from a year-round Performing Arts venue. The University of Georgia was programming and renting the space the entire school year, so from September or August to May. So, my very first impression was how nice it was to have everything happen in a three-week period in March and April and have a normal life the rest of the year, right?

Mary Dugas (Board Member): I was obviously a really big fan of live music, and it was a festival that brought really eclectic things that I used to see when I’d tour with artists I managed like Widespread Panic. When they did the big outdoor multi-stage festival in 2018, that was one of the things that pushed me over the edge to become a board member. 

Rose: Once Rob was involved, the level of talent and everything increased a thousandfold. And the one thing I will say over and over about the Savannah Music Festival is it doesn't matter what ticket you buy, it's going to be 100% amazing quality music, musicianship, and talent on the stage. I always tell people, pick it, pick something you haven't heard of and go and be prepared to be amazed.

Tatum: I had wondered before I started at SMF if what I was seeing was real because I did a deep dive on their website before I was interviewing with Rob Gibson. And I knew all about their education programs, and there were things that I was seeing in those programs that I had wanted to do myself in my previous position at UGA.

And, of course, I already knew the high quality of the artists that they were bringing in and then I got into the organization and realized yes, it was for real. They were doing all those things on, frankly, a really small budget, considering the impact that the organization was having in terms of the number of artists they were bringing in every year and the amount of education programs that were happening.

Making It Happen

McMaken: My “before” days are focused mainly on programming, for the upcoming season and the years following. I spend a lot of time listening and keeping up on new projects and tour schedules, also traveling when I can to see live performances. Every day during the festival is a bit different, but it’s really about assisting with solutions to create the best possible environment for the artists and their presentations.

Clarke: I do several festivals and events throughout the world, which require me to travel with a full complement of clothes and shoes. I travel with a trunk of shoes along with a full mobile production office.

As much as my routine is the same each day, no two days are ever alike. Once I am up and have my morning juices I assess what the day holds from production load in artist communication and possible issues that I need to get in front of. It's always best to face and challenge with a number of solution options.

World Music

Dugas: Ryan McMaken knows more about music than anyone I know. He understands all genres of music, and his knowledge of world music and world roots music in particular is just insane. It’s such a huge part of what makes Savannah Music Festival so unique. 

That’s what sets it apart. You can go see a lot of these artists in different places, but to come and see all of these different genres—the original classical programming, the world roots music. I mean, I saw Ladysmith Black Mambazo last night. Just amazing. 

Rose: It's a world of music in one city, right? I think that's the line, but there's always been a world music component. There's a huge jazz component to it as well. The classical series has been, bar none, one of the best that you can find on the East Coast or in America. It's all about kind of bending genres and getting people introduced to new things. 

Some of my favorite concerts are the World music concerts like DakhaBrakha, like Anda Union that's coming up from Mongolia. A lot of our Latin music and other Malian and Senegalese artists like Ablaye Cissoko and other amazing storytellers from their home countries.

Fondest Memories

McMaken: Some of my fondest memories relate to what my former co-worker would refer to as Type 2 fun, in that the setup and execution of a production was extremely challenging, but still resulted in an incredible show. Our big outdoor productions at Trustees’ Garden have fallen into that category. Most often, that satisfaction of overcoming elements of chaos with the festival team to serve the show carries a lot of weight. I’ve had several cathartic moments mid-festival, where shows such as The Hallelujah Train, or Asif Ali Khan, or Stile Antico’s music have washed over me in a moment of exhaustion and elation. I’ve also really enjoyed being on the festival team when the organization has been the first to stage performances in new venue spaces. 

Additionally, I love those spontaneous moments that can only happen at a festival, when artists collaborate on stage, and also when SMF performers pop up in the audience to check out other artists. One such memory is when mandolinists Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg were playing a show on the east side of town with Chris Thile, but really wanted to catch a few minutes of pianist Lang Lang with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Johnny Mercer Theatre. 

There was a limited window, and only two bikes. Caterina quickly said (paraphrasing) “it’s no problem, Mike and I can take this one if you can show us the way over there.” She courageously rode side-saddle as Mike pedaled the bike to the theater. We took it slowly, but made it just in time to catch some of the performance before returning to their second set. It’s a long answer already, but I also have to point out that it’s incredible to see artists develop from being young participants in our music education programs to returning as festival performers. 

One of those just happened two nights ago, when fiddle player and vocalist Bronwyn Keith-Hynes brought her band to the festival. The same goes for audiences – those who might have seen a school show but return as festival patrons as young adults.

Clarke: I rarely watch an actual performance, but my memories are things leading up to the performance.  The most memorable is me walking into the newly hired CFO’s office, informing her I needed to charter a jet to get an artist to the city in time for a show. We had an artist who decided to drive to SAV from Dallas and just because I am the “Mother of the Bride”, I called the artist manager to inquire about his arrival time because it was 1 pm and I had not seen or heard anything from the artist.  The manager said he’s on I-20, just crossing the Alabama state line. 

Clearly, neither the manager nor the artist understood geography.   

This meant he was 7 hours away from Savannah, and we had a 5:30 p.m. performance time.  To avoid canceling the show, I convinced the team we could pull this off.  

So we chartered a plane to get the artist to town, and with a police escort, got the artist on stage at 5:45 p.m. 

My favorite performer memory is spending time with Dr. John,  as he shared stories I will take to my grave.

Rose: There’s just been so many moments, you know, whether it's a Latin artist coming for the first time to the United States and there's a language barrier and like with Anda Union, the people that are bringing them to Savannah—the woman that's here—her grandmother introduced The Beatles to Ravi Shankar and Indian music. So, there's a pedigree there that’s unheard of.

Tatum: I'll probably be among the few to talk about a chamber music performance, but one of my favorite groups, and I was actually listening to their new album last night, is the Danish String Quartet.

They are a classically-trained quartet based in Copenhagen that has also done three albums of folk tunes that they have arranged for string quartet. This was 2016 or 2017, and the quartet performed both the folk concert at the Morris Center and a classical-focused concert at Trinity United Methodist Church. I was and probably will always be a fangirl for the Danish String Quartet. So that was really incredible to see and meet the musicians, who were all very friendly.

I had one of the jobs in production that really gave me a good insight into all of the musicians we were bringing. I was working either with the musicians directly or with their agents and managers directly, so I could see that most often the best groups were also the best humans.

Another one that comes to mind is Sharon Jones who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. But she was such a light and her performance at SMF was just incredible high energy.

If I remember correctly. She was actively undergoing cancer treatment when she was touring and still put on a phenomenal performance at the Lucas.

Dugas: I saw Endea Owens and the Cookout this year, before the Warren Haynes show, and I told Ryan that it might be my absolute favorite Music Festival show. Not just for the level of musicianship that was on the stage, which absolutely blew my mind. But she’s an absolutely incredible performer. As an artist she just beamed from the stage. She had some technical difficulties, and coming from artist management that is not easy to deal with, and she dealt with it with humor and grace. She took technical difficulties and turned it into entertainment. Everything about her show was amazing. 

Something that everyone says about the festival is that, if there’s a band in a genre you have any interest in seeing, just go see that band. I guarantee you’ll be knocked out by it.