Today in Savannah they unveiled the Johnny Mercer statue on Eliis Square. Since the filmmaking team didn't really feel like the film was something to celebrate, and none of us went to the big Atlanta screening, most of us convened down here to Celebrate Johnny's birthday.
The highlight of the long presentation was when Ken Barnes premiered a new Johnny Mercer song: "You're In Savannah". These lyrics were never set to music; in fact it maybe have been a poem rather than a song, because Johnny also wrote poetry, but Ken was able to get Richard Sherman to set it to music. Then, since he's friends with Michael Feinstein, Michael recorded it with just him and his piano, and it was presented before the unveiling. It was a top secret thing because Dianne, who has done an amazing job organizing the Mercer events throughout the year, wanted to surprise Johnny's family members. So it was really special to be in Savannah the first time this song was heard by everyone!