Photo Credit David Simchock
The Scene
Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee, is part of a group of intriguing American music festivals that have cropped up in the spring and fall seasons. Big Ears likes to explore connections between musicians while mixing it up with film, performance, and the visual arts. The venues are varied including the Knoxville Museum of Art, a cathedral, and an ornate theater.
Festival Info
2018 Artist Lineup
- ABIGAIL WASHBURN & WU FEI
- AINE O’DWYER
- ALGIERS
- ALICE COLTRANE TURIYASANGITANANDA
- ANNA & ELIZABETH
- ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR
- ARTO LINDSAY
- BANG ON A CAN ALL STARS
- BANGS (JASON MORAN, MARY HALVORSON, AND RON MILES)
- BÉLA FLECK & ABIGAIL WASHBURN
- BÉLA FLECK & BROOKLYN RIDER
- CLEEK SCHREY & DAVID BEHRMAN
- CRAIG TABORN QUARTET
- CYRO BAPTISTA AND BANQUET OF THE SPIRITS
- CYRO BAPTISTA PRESENTS ‘VIRA LOUCOS’
- DIAMANDA GALÁS
- DUET FOR THEREMIN & LAP STEEL
- EVAN PARKER ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE
- FOUR TET
- GAS (WOLFGANG VOIGT)
- GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
- INNOV GNAWA
- INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
- JAGA JAZZIST
- JAGA JAZZIST FEATURING STÅLE STORLØKKEN & JON BALKE
- JASON MORAN DUO WITH MILFORD GRAVES
- JASON MORAN PRESENTS ‘FATS WALLER DANCE PARTY’
- JENNY HVAL
- JENNY SCHEINMAN ‘MISCHIEF & MAYHEM’
- JUANA MOLINA
- JULIE BYRNE
- KELLY LEE OWENS
- KID KOALA
- KID KOALA’S ‘SATELLITE’ TURNTABLE ORCHESTRA
- KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY STRINGS
- LAUREL HALO
- LIGHTNING BOLT
- LUCIUS
- MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD
- MILFORD GRAVES
- NELS CLINE
- NIEF-NORF
- PETER EVANS ENSEMBLE
- ROCKET SCIENCE
- ROSCOE MITCHELL TRIOS
- ROSTAM
- ROVA CHANNELING COLTRANE: ‘ELECTRIC ASCENSION’
- ROVA: THE ‘SOUND IN SPACE’ PROJECT
- SAM AMIDON
- STEVE GUNN & THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS
- STIAN WESTERHUS
- SUSANNA FEAT. GIOVANNA PESSI, FRODE HALTLI & CHEYENNE MIZE
- SUUNS
- TAL NATIONAL
- THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS
- THE JERRY DOUGLAS