Poets & Dreamers

Poets and Dreamers traces Tamara's remarkable journey through more than thirty years inside Americana music, a movement she helped shape from its earliest days.

“A brave and inventive spirit, Tamara Saviano has created a thrilling and affective chronicle of the Americana phenomenon that she is uniquely qualified to deliver. Hers is a view from the inside—rich, authoritative, and always honest.” —Michael Streissguth, author of Johnny Cash: The Biography and Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville (and many more books)

“Americana is more than the music, it’s the stories and soulfulness of the people who bring it to life. One of them is Tamara Saviano, a journalist turned industry insider, who, in this memoir, skillfully peels back the layers to show how the genre became the powerhouse it is today. But far from a forensics report, this book is told through her own story of facilitating projects and careers that together helped drive the new century’s revival of American roots music. A thrilling behind-the-scenes look that shows both the rewards and the toll of making the music a vocation for life.” —Mark Guarino, author of Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival

“Tamara Saviano wasn’t just there for the infancy of the Americana music scene—she helped birth it. Her deep friendships and professional relationships with Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson anchor this evocative memoir of a genre’s fight for industry recognition. But in recounting her own scrappy and remarkable life—populated by the likes of Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and John Prine—she also shows just why she is such a respected leader in a male-dominated field. Winning a Grammy as a rookie producer is one thing, but when Elvis Costello feats you in public, you know you’ve rung the bell.” —Alanna Nash, author of The Colonel: The extraordinary story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley and Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch (and many more books).