“The way to do Big Ears is to listen to the diversity of music, like in terrestrial radio.” – Ann Powers, NPR Music
Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, isn’t built around headliners. Even with big names like musicians David Byrne or Robert Plant, the draw is discovery. It’s built to overwhelm you, in the best way. This year, I had a press credential and four days to make hard choices. With over 250 events at 20 venues, I packed my schedule and saw 20 concerts, three talks and two film screenings – and still missed more than I caught.
When I told friends where I was going, few knew of the event. So here is my introduction to our Mountain West listeners to a festival of the Mountain East, for which you might just want to block off for March 2027.
I came in without a clear plan for what exactly I’d write about, beyond reporting on the Ukrainian group Yagódy for The World, but left thinking about what a festival like this offers a station like KHOL, and listeners in Jackson.
Though the focus of KHOL’s music journalism is mostly spotlighting local acts, we do occasionally cover national artists on tour through our tiny mountain town or with a connection to our holler. But our focus is also music discovery, pointing listeners toward something unexpected that they might not otherwise come across. This has become especially important now, especially in an era where both music and journalism are more accessible, but also more fragmented and often siloed by algorithms.
The four-day event historically lines up with Boise’s Treefort Music Fest, which KHOL has covered in past years. It shares a similar format – spread across a city, from formal venues to bars and churches. But unlike Treefort, there are no additional stages erected, or portapotties, and the bathrooms are always immaculate. Treefort’s crowd is all ages, kids included. Big Ears is for the masters, both the musicians and, well, the audience too.
Onstage, singer-songwriter and comedian Tim Heidecker joked about the audience, being the kind who will “tell you what music to like.” Violinist Kishi Bashi clocked the same thing, asking the crowd for forgiveness for any mistakes he might make during his set. There were, notably, lots of thick black glasses.
I treated the weekend as a chance to push my ears somewhere new. However, I did indulge a few of my all-time favorites, including a dynamo set by Tune-Yards. (Seriously, how amazing is Merril Garbus’ vocal dexterity?)
I caught everything from indie darling MJ Lenderman to Czech folk songs from Julia Ulehla and a “keynote address” from Laurie Anderson, titled “What War Is This? What Time Is It?”
In one gallery, guitars from Lou Reed’s personal collection were arranged in front of amplifiers, their tuned feedback creating a slow-moving, ever-shifting drone. More of a curiosity than anything, I tolerated it for one walk around the basketball-court-sized room, and then moved on to see Chris Thiele play Bach’s violin sonatas on mandolin. A quintessential example of the sonic contrast available just blocks away.
That being said, Big Ears isn’t about knowing the right names. It’s about showing up with curiosity and letting your ears lead, just like what we try to do at KHOL, too.
So, in an effort to stay useful, below are a few artists that stuck with me, and might be worth your time too.
John Zorn on Harry Smith, and Cobra
The festival featured more than ten performances connected to composer John Zorn, ranging from film to improvisation. I started with a screening of experimental filmmaker Harry Smith’s work, best known for compiling the Anthology of American Folk Music, a landmark collection of blues, folk, cowboy and country songs at the “wild edges of American culture.”
The film screening was actually a collection of Smith’s silent shorts, featuring illustrations and avant-garde cinematography. For the film, Zorn provided a live, improvised saxophone score.
The next day, I saw Cobra, Zorn’s “game” composition for 13 musicians. Guided by cue cards and hand signals, Zorn conducted the ensemble as it lurched between metal, big band jazz and total chaos. I wasn’t always sure what I was witnessing, but I couldn’t look away.
Deantoni Parks
Master drummer Deantoni Parks handles a drumstick with his left hand and a keyboard with his right, as well as a sampler and computer. He triggers a surprising array of sounds, switching grooves and sampling like a DJ. He plays on Flea’s latest album, “Honora,” if you’re looking for a mainstream hook to keep you grounded.
Shankar with Selvaganesh Vinayakram & Swaminathan Selvaganesh
A seated trio led by L. Shankar performed Indian classical music on the altar of Knoxville’s cathedral, St. John’s. Shankar is best known for inventing the stereophonic double violin (known as the LSD, short for L. Shankar Double Violin), which covers the orchestral string family’s range. A standard-bearer of world music, he’s collaborated with Phil Collins, Lou Reed and Yoko Ono. (Yes, another reference to Lou Reed. His ghost is everywhere at Big Ears.) If this has piqued your interest, check out L.Shankar’s 14-hour set at Chicago’s World Music Festival this September.
Sam Amidon
Steeped in American folk music from shape-note singing, to contradance and the Bread & Puppet theater company, Amidon began playing violin at an age when most kids don’t yet know how to read. Now he blends all his traditions with a modern take backed by a drummer, bassist and a digital sax that looks like a child’s toy.
The Westerlies
This Seattle-based quartet was introduced to Bill Frisell, the Grammy-nominated composer and guitarist known for his ambient style, when he gave a guest workshop at the band’s high school. Now decades later, Frissell composed tracks, sometimes just “little sketches” that the band later adapted, arranged and recorded for trumpet and trombone. It’s beautiful and elemental and filled the high cathedral ceiling with harmonics. I can’t wait to test out the sound in my 600-square-foot apartment.
Saha Gnawa
If the desert blues and Tuareg sounds of Tinawerien and Bombino move you, check out Brooklyn-based (by way of Morocco) Saha Gnawa. Led by Maâlem Hassan Ben Jaafer the band’s loping grooves and pentatonic scales lend themselves easily to “fusions” with Western music. It will have you moving in no time. Or rather in 4/4 time.
