Six acts and seven shows are being added to the 2016 Savannah Music Festival lineup, which takes place from March 24th through April 9th. Additional ticketed acts include Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Dave Rawlings Machine, Drive-By Truckers and My Brightest Diamond. Free events being added include a matinee performance by the U.S. Marine Corps All Star Jazz Band, and a poster signing with illustrator Alessandro Gottardo. Tickets to additional SMF 2016 shows go on sale online at 8pm on Saturday, February 6 at www.savannahmusicfestival.org, and at 216 East Broughton Street and 912.525.5050 beginning Monday, February 8 at 10am.

Additional Ticketed Events:

ANDREW BIRD - March 29 at 7:30pm at Lucas Theatre for the Arts – Tickets start at $32

Violinist, singer and composer Andrew Bird began his career as a member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers before forming Bowl of Fire, and has been recording and touring as a solo artist since 2003. His distinctive voice, wide ranging influences and instrumental versatility contribute to an engaging compositional style that often incorporates sounds and layers rarely heard in pop music, including virtuosic whistling and glockenspiel. Dubbed a “one-man orchestra of the imagination” in a recent TEDTalk appearance, Andrew Bird is an indie-folk innovator and wildly creative performer. He performs with a full band in this SMF debut.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS - April 4 at 7:30pm at Lucas Theatre for the Arts – Tickets start at $32

Since their SMF debut in 2011, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have played major festivals, arenas and clubs all over the world, including The Hollywood Bowl, The Sydney Opera House and multiple sold-out nights at the Apollo Theater in New York City. The band has also been featured on a multitude of television shows from The Colbert Report to Tavis Smiley and The Tonight Show. At the forefront of a retro-soul and funk renaissance, Augusta native Sharon Jones remains one of the most high-energy performers in the genre. The New York Times calls her “the real deal… the epitome of the soul revival.”

DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE - April 5 at 7:30pm at Trustees Theater – Tickets start at $32

Dave Rawlings Machine features himself and Gillian Welch on lead vocals and guitar, Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show) on guitar, Brittany Haas (Crooked Still, Abigail Washburn, Haas Kowert Tice) on fiddle and Paul Kowert (Punch Brothers, Haas Kowert Tice) on bass. Called “one of the hottest stringbands on the planet” by SF Weekly, this acoustic powerhouse delivers the acclaimed songwriting of Rawlings and Welch, which has been at the leading edge of American acoustic music for twenty years. In 2015, the duo received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting from the Americana Music Association. This is their SMF debut.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - April 6 at 8:30pm at Trustees Theater – Tickets start at $27

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, the heralded alt-country ensemble the Drive-By Truckers was co-founded by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, two Alabamans from the Shoals area in the northwest of the state. The two had played in various other bands including Adam's House Cat, which was once chosen as a top ten Best Unsigned Band in the late 1980s. Now with more than a dozen releases and extensive touring over the two decades since their founding in 1996, the Drive-By Truckers has “a current line-up that's as tough and grand on any given night as the best live rock band you've ever seen” (NPR’s Ann Powers).

MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND - April 8 at 10:30pm and April 9 at 3pm at Charles H. Morris Center – Tickets are $35

Not many people can front a rock band, sing Górecki’s Third Symphony, lead a marching band processional down the streets of the Sundance film festival and perform in a baroque opera of their own composing all in a month’s time. But Shara Worden can. Her multi-faceted career as My Brightest Diamond, which began with an acclaimed independent rock record, has reflected her journey into the world of performing arts. She has collaborated with a variety of artists, including David Byrne, Sufjan Stevens, Laurie Anderson, Fat Boy Slim, Bon Iver and The Blind Boys of Alabama. My Brightest Diamond has been praised by NPR Music as “one of the most powerful and dramatic voices of the past decade.” This is her SMF debut.

For the complete 2016 schedule and lineup, visit www.savannahmusicfestival.org. High-resolution photo and press material downloads are available at www.savannahmusicfestival.org/press (password: SMF2016!).

Additional Free Events (no reservation required):

U.S. MARINE CORPS ALL STAR JAZZ BAND - April 4 at 2pm at Trustees Theater – FREE

This 20-piece jazz orchestra has toured annually for almost a decade, performing American and Latin Jazz in the styles of Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and others. The All Stars have played at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center (in a performance featuring Bob Mintzer), the Berklee College of Music, the Illinois State Music Conference, and a Northwestern University showcase with guest soloist Victor Goines. This year, the band will perform at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival, among others. This is their Savannah Music Festival debut.

SMF 2016 POSTER SIGNING WITH ALESSANDRO GOTTARDO (a.k.a. SHOUT) - April 5 at 5pm at the SMF POP-UP SHOP, 220 WEST BROUGHTON STREET

Don’t miss your chance to meet the illustrator who created this year’s Savannah Music Festival poster, which you can have signed. Alessandro Gottardo a.k.a. SHOUT was born in Pordenone, IT. He has won numerous awards, particularly in the United States. These include the most prestigious international accolades in the illustration field, such as gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators and the Society of Publication Designers.