What impact will the Enmarket Arena have on local entertainers?

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Eric Jones’ day job finds him in a classroom at Savannah State University.

“Been here since 2013, 2014 something like that,” says Jones.

Jones teaches a variety of music related classes.

Lessons he commonly puts into practice himself, “I’m playing a lot in Savannah,” and he has been since he moved here back in 2001.

“Savannah is a musical city. I mean, when I came to Savannah, and I came from a small town, there was so much stuff going on,” Jones said.

Of course, there’s still plenty of stuff going on especially with the new arena coming to town, and big artists flocking to play there.

“We’re listeners too, we’re music lovers and we consume music too, so, we like to hear music as well,” said Jones.

If they’re lucky it could provide an opportunity to do more than just listen.

“There’s been times where maybe somebody will come to town and they need a band of musicians or they need to put together a band and they’ll pull from local talent. It’s all about the skill set,” Jones says.

But when it comes to local comedic talent, “It doesn’t really affect us,” said Brendan Townend. “They kind of have their own crew and tend to bring their own opener who they know and love and that’s fine, not saying it hasn’t happened.”

Townend runs Savannah Comedy Underground, “sans the year of the great pandemic that we all took off, I’ve been doing comedy about six years now, so, five if you’re doing the math.”

Although it’s unlikely to see local talent on the big stage, Townend says these big acts can have a local impact.

“Anything that gets people noticing stand-up and noticing comedy in Savannah is always good business for me.”

So, whether you’re craving music, or comedy, the arena not only brings in big names but serves as a reminder of what we can find in our own backyard.

“Big names show up maybe once a month, maybe once every two months but there’s always comedy going on in Savannah every single week. So, you really don’t need to go any amount of time without seeing something funny live in Savannah these days,” said Townend.

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