(AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 12, 2020; source: Juice Consulting) – On the evening of March 11, 2020, author, filmmaker and producer Tamara Saviano, whose papers reside in The Wittliff Collections, was awarded the 2020 Margaret Moser Women in Music Award at the 38th Annual Austin Music Awards held at ACL Live. This distinguished award is named after the woman who was considered “the patron saint of Austin Music.” For 32 years Margaret Moser served as the director of the Music Awards and paved the way for women in the music industry. This award is presented to a legendary woman in the music business who has deep musical roots and continues to create a space for women in the industry. The award was presented by Circuit of the Americas and was personally presented to Tamara on stage last night by musician Jack Ingram. Tamara’s phenomenal career in Texas music includes co-producing Kris Kristofferson’s GRAMMY-nominated album “The Cedar Creek Sessions,” and her latest work on the documentary film “Without Getting Killed or Caught,” among many other accolades.
“Margaret was a friend and a constant source of inspiration,” said Tamara Saviano. “To get an award with her name on it is a wonderful honor. The Austin music community has welcomed me with open arms. I feel the love and I love being part of this community.”
Tamara Saviano is also excited to announce upcoming screening dates for her and co-producer and co-director Paul Whitfield’s SXSW 2020 Official Selected film, “Without Getting Killed or Caught.” On Sunday, May 17, there will be an Austin premiere of “Without Getting Killed or Caught” with the Austin Film Society at the AFS Cinema located at 6259 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin, Texas 78752. The screening coincides with the fourth anniversary of Guy Clark’s death. The screening is at 4 p.m. and tickets will be available for purchase in April. See here for more information.
“We were disappointed that SXSW was canceled, but we understand the reasons and agree with the city’s decision to put the safety and well being of its citizens first,” said Tamara Saviano. “We have partnered with the Austin Film Society to premiere our documentary in Austin. The Austin Film Society is an important institution and we are thrilled to work with them.”
On Wednesday, May 27, there will be a Nashville screening “Without Getting Killed or Caught” in Nashville, Tennessee at the Belcourt Theater, located at 2102 Belcourt Ave, Nashville, Tenn. 37212. Doors are at 6:45 p.m. and the screening is at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 and go on sale on Friday, April 3 and can be purchased here.
Additionally, “Without Getting Killed or Caught” has been accepted into the Newport Beach Film Festival taking place April 23 – 30 in Newport Beach, California. The film screening dates during that festival are to be announced. For more information see here.
Saviano and Whitfield’s remarkable documentary film details the complicated relationship among legendary songwriters Guy Clark, Susanna Clark and Townes Van Zandt, and the art it inspired. “Without Getting Killed or Caught” features narration by Academy Award-winner Sissy Spacek (as Susanna Clark) as well as interviews with Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Jo Harvey Allen, Terry Allen, and Verlon Thompson, along with archival soundbites, photos, and vintage footage. For more information, see here.
“Without Getting Killed or Caught” follows Guy Clark, Susanna Clark and Townes Van Zandt on their journey from obscurity to reverence. The film makes use of Clark’s songs, family photographs and archives, vintage film footage and radio talk shows to tell its story: Guy, the “Pancho” to Van Zandt’s “Lefty,” struggles to establish himself as the Dylan Thomas of American music; Susanna pens hit songs and paints album covers for top artists; and Townes spirals in self-destruction after writing some of Americana music’s most enduring and influential ballads. The real emotional zing comes from Susanna’s pained remembrances, culled from her private journals and secret audio diaries, as well as taped conversations that Susanna made of the trio and of the “salon” that regularly gathered around them – all serving as witnesses to this seemingly fated intersection of love, art, and tragedy.
Left to right: Townes Van Zandt, Susanna Clark and Guy Clark
Based on the diaries of Susanna Clark and Saviano’s 2016 book, “Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark,” which No Depression called “an intimate, affectionate, sometimes sad, often hilarious, and vibrant chronicle of one of our most memorable artists,” the film tells the saga from Susanna’s point of view.
“Guy and I were friends for 18 years and spent the last eight of those years working together on his biography and then the documentary,” said the filmmaker Tamara Saviano. “It is bittersweet that after all of that, Guy did not survive to see this documentary come to fruition. It is an honor to continue to work on his legacy. I hope the documentary will give fans new insights into the extraordinary artistic life Guy shared with his wife Susanna and best friend Townes Van Zandt.
Guy Clark, who died in 2016, wrote and recorded unforgettable songs (“L.A. Freeway,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train”) for more than forty years. His lyrics and melodies paint indelible portraits of the people, places and experiences that shaped him – and no one inspired Guy more than his wife, painter and songwriter Susanna Talley Clark, and their best friend, fellow songwriter Townes Van Zandt.
In early December, Saviano and Whitfield recorded Sissy Spacek’s narration in Austin, Texas, and Whitfield spent the rest of the month laying in the voice track and making last-minute tweaks to wrap the film at the end of 2019.
Saviano, a longtime figure on the Americana scene, as journalist, artist manager, and Grammy-winning producer, wrote the film with Austin entrepreneur Bart Knaggs. She had the complete cooperation of Clark, who sat for numerous interviews on and off camera. “Without Getting Killed or Caught” (the title comes from “L.A. Freeway”) also offers poignant reflections from Clark’s closest friends and musical allies, most prominently Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Verlon Thompson and Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, as well as record executive Barry Poss.
Left to right: Guy Clark, Susan Walker and Jerry Jeff Walker