Savannah music community rallies around one of its own for Homegrown Summer Jam

Homegrown Summer Jam is returning to Victory North with another incredible line-up of beloved local artists and bands. Founded by Eric Britt of Hazel Virtue and American Hologram, the Homegrown Summer Jam highlights Savannah’s rich and collaborative music community, with a focus on American roots genres like folk, country, bluegrass, and rock and roll.

“The idea behind the Summer Jam started four years ago with a handful of great local bands that had new albums to showcase,” said Britt. “We pitched the idea of doing this collectively to Brian Goldman at Victory North and they took a chance on its success. Fortunately, the music loving community in Savannah got behind it, and it's grown every year. While the tribute shows are great and usually well attended, it's truly remarkable to have enough music lovers in Savannah to put on original showcases.”

This is the fourth annual Homegrown Summer Jam, and it promises to be a particularly special one. The stacked line-up already includes folk singer Matt Eckstine of The Accomplices performing new material, indie/folk singer-songwriter Susanna Kennedy performing songs from her upcoming EP “It’s Raining in My Dorm Room,” and a high energy headlining set by Savannah’s favorite string band Swamptooth, but Britt’s indie-rock band American Hologram is bringing something unmissable to the event.

Return of American Hologram to support one of its own

American Hologram will be performing songs by their former bandmate, Craig Tanner, from his soon to be released records, Park Bench Revelator and Diamonds on the Water. Tanner was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease (similar to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) in October 2021. It is a disease that attacks the neurons in the spine and has left Tanner disabled and unable to play guitar or sing anymore.

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Tanner met Britt in 2006 through the local open mic scene and was eventually encouraged to start playing music with him.

“I was teaching photography workshops in Savannah,” said Tanner over the phone from Atlanta where he lives and is cared for by his brother and his wife. “I fell in love with Eric’s music, and we became friends, but it wasn’t until I moved to Savannah in 2011 that Eric and I started playing together.”

Britt added, “We laughed, drank, talked art and music, went to the beach, and so much more. Eventually he sat in on a gig of mine in City Market, I found out he could play guitar! Our chemistry was undeniable. From there, I invited him to almost every gig I played, and not long after that we started writing music together. Enter the amazing vocalist Britt Scott and we had a band called American Hologram!”

In 2017, after fiveyears with American Hologram, Tanner moved his family to Missouri. Tanner had written several unrecorded songs during his time with the band and continued to write more after he moved. The songs have now come together into an album and EP.

“What I’m releasing is a record called Park Bench Revelator, and it has a lot of the songs I wrote after the American Hologram record,” said Tanner. “Then I’m releasing an EP that has some songs that I wrote for my daughter. I never finished recording Park Bench Revelator. When we moved to the farm, I was taking care of my daughter and running a homestead by myself, and music just fell by the wayside.”

When Tanner learned that he was sick, he wanted to finish recording his music, so in April of 2022 he returned to Savannah to finish recording as much as he could, before he couldn’t sing anymore.

“I’d already lost the ability to play guitar,” said Tanner. “I got a lot of work done then. Now there’s this EP that’s being recorded, pretty much from scratch. Everybody involved in the project is a dear friend that I either played in a band with or I knew them from the open mic scene, with the exception for Andrew Sovine.”

Sovine is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who has lent his talent, time, and studio space to help Tanner complete his projects. The album and EP include contributions from Britt, Scott, Kennedy, Stan Ray, Ethan Stewart, Eric Dunn, Miles Karp, David Alan Marchant, Phillip Reynolds Price, Ira Miller, Eckstine, Tom Scott, and Devin Smith.

“I started writing the songs on Park Bench Revelator before I left Savannah, and I was moving to Missouri to homestead and to homeschool my daughter, to really step away from a culture and a system, that quite frankly, disgusts me,” explained Tanner. “I think the world has gone completely crazy culturally. A lot of it has to do with technology. The subtitle to Park Bench Revelator is ‘Songs for the Apocalypse,’ and I do think we are living through a very dark time and a lot of people can feel it. A lot of the record is about that. It’s definitely a political record—not to the extent that I’m a left or right person when it comes to politics. The system has owners, so I’m not political in terms of choosing a side. I’m political in terms of trying to wake people up to the idea that for things to get better people have to change themselves and they have to create community at the local level.”

The strength and importance of community will be on full display when Tanner’s friends come together to sing his songs for him at the Homegrown Summer Jam on Saturday. Tanner plans to be in attendance, although he will be lying down and connected to oxygen.

“The EP “Diamonds on the Water” was written for my daughter June, and I really wish she could be there, but we’ll make videos and she’ll see what happened,” said Tanner. “She was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 2015 in Savannah. She is a music kid—she plays piano, sings, and is starting to learn guitar, and has big dreams for her music.

“Music is such a powerful connector. More than ever human beings need music made by human beings. I’m grateful to my friends for doing this, and I’m grateful to Eric and my connection to him because that’s where it all started for me. Eric, very generously, encouraged me and then put me in his band. It was idea to do this.”

“I have a lot of love and gratitude for my friends and for the whole Savannah music community. That’s really my home.”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for food and drinks in the courtyard by Garage, and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at victorynorthsavannah.com.

If You Go >>

What: Homegrown Summer Jam 2024

When: 7:30pm, July 20

Where: Victory North, 2603 Whitaker St.

Cost: $15-30

Info: victorynorthsavannah.com