Join us for a conversion with Tamara Saviano, the filmmaker behind the documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught that covers the true story of Guy Clark—the dean of Texan songwriters whose distinct, poetic take on American folk and country music elevated him from obscurity to reverence. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has had his songs covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and others. Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, both influential artists in their own right who were close friends with Clark, will be joining the discussion moderated by Paul Barnes.
Tamara Saviano’s film follows the story of Clark, his wife Susanna Clark, and his friend, singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt with never-before-seen exclusive interviews as Saviano had Clark’s complete cooperation before his death in 2016. Featuring the voice of Sissy Spacek, the film speaks from Susanna Clark’s perspective while offering poignant reflections from Guy Clark’s closest friends and musical allies like Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Verlon Thompson, and Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, as well as record executive Barry Poss.
Speakers
Tamara Saviano is an author, editor, filmmaker, and Grammy and Americana Award-winning producer. Saviano’s biography on the legendary songwriter, Guy Clark, won the Belmont Award for the best writing on country music in 2016. In 2017, Saviano was honored with the Darrell K. Royal Texas Music Legend Award by the Texas Heritage Songwriter Association. In 2020, the Austin Music Awards honored Saviano with the Margaret Moser Award, dedicated to influential women in the music business. Saviano lives in Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee with her husband Paul Whitfield.
Jo Harvey Allen is an actress, playwright, poet, and pioneer of women in radio. Her critically acclaimed plays have toured throughout the United States and Europe. She is the author of Cheek to Cheek (1983), a collection of poems. Jo Harvey Allen has starred in the radio and musical theater pieces of husband and collaborator, the artist, singer/songwriter Terry Allen. Allen has appeared in numerous films including co-starring roles in David Byrne’s cult classic True Stories (1986), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and The Client (1994). She has been the recipient of Art Matters and NEA fellowships.
Terry Allen is an American Texas country and outlaw country singer-songwriter, painter, and conceptual artist from Lubbock, Texas. As a musician, Allen has recorded twelve albums of original songs, including the landmark releases Juarez (1975) and Lubbock (on everything) (1979). As an independent, contemporary, interdisciplinary artist, his works are represented in the collections of many international museums including the New York Museum of Modern Art, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and others nationally and abroad.
Paul Barnes works as editor include WASN’T THAT A TIME (1982, Best Documentary Editing Award from the American Cinema Editors), SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY (winner, Best Documentary, Boston Film Critics), and THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988 Best Documentary Award, New York Film Critics). Paul was editor of Ken Burns’s Oscar-nominated STATUE OF LIBERTY, beginning a 25-year collaboration that resulted in THE CIVIL WAR (1990, highest-rated series in public TV history and winner of 40 awards); BASEBALL; EMPIRE OF THE AIR: THE MEN WHO MADE RADIO; THOMAS JEFFERSON; the ten-part JAZZ series; THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY and THE VIETNAM WAR.
