On Friday, November 9, 2018, Savannah Music Festival announces the lineup for its 2019 festival season (March 28 – April 13) with ticket sales starting the same day at 10am. To kick off its 30th festival season, the organization presents Georgia Soul & Blues at the historic Lucas Theatre for the Arts. The concert features original soul man and Stax recording artist William Bell and rising star of the blues Jontavious Willis, and is presented in partnership with Explore Georgia. Doors open to the public at 6:30pm and the concert starts at 7:30pm. Tickets to the concert are $30 (with reserved seating) and are available online at savannahmusicfestival.org, by phone at 912.525.5050 and in-person at the Savannah Box Office at 216 E. Broughton Street.

Tickets to all performances in the 2019 festival go on sale November 9, at 10:00am Eastern, and will also be available online at savannahmusicfestival.org, by phone at 912.525.5050 and in-person at the Savannah Box Office at 216 E. Broughton Street.

About William Bell

William Bell has enjoyed a distinguished career as a singer, songwriter and producer since his 1961 solo debut for Stax Records. He co-wrote the blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign,” which was later made popular by both Albert King and Cream. In the decades since, his songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Linda Ronstadt, Rod Stewart and Etta James. In 2016, Bell teamed up with producer John Leventhal (Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Shawn Colvin) to record his first album in 30 years, for which he won a Grammy Award. The Atlanta-based musician is a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and last wowed SMF audiences with a performance at the sold-out North Garden Assembly Room at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in 2017.

About Jontavious Willis

Referred to by Taj Mahal as “a great new voice of the twenty-first century in the acoustic blues,” 22-year-old Jontavious Willis grew up singing gospel music at church with his grandfather. At the age of 14, the Greenville, Georgia native got hooked on the blues when he came across a YouTube video of Muddy Waters playing “Hoochie Coochie Man.” He promptly started teaching himself the guitar, harmonica, banjo and cigar box, and just four years later, he was sharing the stage with Taj Mahal. In 2016, Willis released his debut album Blue Metamorphosis, which won him a Best Self-Produced CD award from the Blues Foundation earlier this year.