TAMARA SAVIANO
Creative advisor, FILMMAKER, Author, Producer
This IS WISCONSIN - Book and YouTube series in development 2026
This is wisconsin
In 2026, after many years away, I am returning to Wisconsin with fresh eyes and a full heart to travel my beloved home state, listen closely, learn respectfully, and document the people and places that make Wisconsin what it is today. This Is Wisconsin, a statewide, multi-media storytelling project includes a YouTube series and a book and celebrates the people, places, history, culture, and spirit of Wisconsin. Together, these projects will create a contemporary portrait of Wisconsin in 2026.
Inspired by Robert E. Gard’s 1969 oral history This Is Wisconsin, I’ll travel throughout Wisconsin from June through October documenting communities across the state through interviews, oral histories, on-location filmmaking, local history, and cultural observation. At its heart, this project is a love letter to Wisconsin—rooted in connection, heritage, place, and understanding of who we are, what we care about and how we love this place and each other in 2026.
This is not a project driven by headlines or Instagram photos. The first season of the YouTube series will focus on stories of love in its many forms: Love of community, love of the land, love of the arts, love of family, romantic love, friendship, and the many other unique, surprising and powerful ways love shows up in our lives. The goal is to create something uplifting, beautifully made, historically meaningful, and lasting.
This Is Wisconsin the book is a contemporary portrait of Wisconsin—stories, local history, interviews, and hidden and not-so-hidden destinations statewide. This book is intended to be more than a travel or culture book. I hope it will stand as a meaningful record and oral history of Wisconsin in this moment.
SPONSORSHIP ASK
This Is Wisconsin is currently seeking a circle of founding sponsors, in-kind partners, and regional collaborators to help bring the project to life.
For a pitch deck and more information contact Tamara at TSaviano61@icloud.com
POETS AND DREAMERS:
My Life in Americana Music
The rise of Americana music as told by the ultimate insider . . .
Part memoir, part oral history, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music traces Tamara 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.
The first woman president of the Americana Music Association and producer of the early Americana Honors and Awards shows at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium, Saviano takes 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.
Highlights include interviews with artists and colleagues and memories of special events, concerts, and day-to-day life with singers, songwriters, and musicians. Tender stories recalling Saviano’s close relationships with two of her most enduring clients, iconic songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Guy Clark, round out this singular historical work. Including photographs of significant people and moments in Americana music, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music will entertain and inform a worldwide readership of fans, students, and scholars of Americana and roots music.
Without Getting Killed or Caught is the true story of Guy Clark, who struggles to write poetic, while balancing a complicated marriage with wife Susanna, and a deep friendship with Townes Van Zandt, on whom Susanna forged a passionate dependence. Written by Tamara Saviano and Bart Knaggs. Produced and Directed by Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield.