Big Ears Festival presents Suttree’s Knoxville: A Hymn to the Past in Music & Film

An archival film with live score based on Cormac McCarthy’s Knoxville novel Suttree Cormac McCarthy’s iconic novel, Suttree, set in Knoxville in the 1950s, chronicles four years in the life of Cornelius Suttree, who has abandoned a life of privilege, lives in a dilapidated houseboat on the Tennessee River and spends his days exploring the gritty underside of the city … Read More

R.B. Morris and his band launch inaugural Big Ears Festival streaming series live from the Bijou Theatre

Knoxville’s “songwriter’s songwriter” and first Poet Laureate R. B. Morris with his band will launch the Big Ears Festival’s new series of streaming concerts and events from the stage of the city’s iconic 111-year-old Bijou Theatre on Friday, August 21, 2020. Joined by multi-instrumentalist Greg Horne, bassist Daniel Kimbro, and percussionist Hunter Deacon, R. B. will perform the richly textured, … Read More

Big Ears Festival announces addition of Aaron Greenwald as managing director

Arts programmer and administrator Aaron Greenwald is joining the Big Ears Festival as managing director, effective February 1, 2020. Greenwald will work closely with festival founder, artistic and executive director Ashley Capps on all aspects of Big Ears, the Knoxville-based not-for-profit organization responsible for producing the Big Ears Festival. Specifically, Greenwald will be charged envisioning the evolution and growth of … Read More

AC Entertainment promotes Ted Heinig to vice president

AC Entertainment has promoted entertainment industry veteran Ted Heinig to vice president of the company. AC Entertainment is internationally recognized as an innovative leader in creating, producing, booking, and marketing first-class live entertainment experiences – from festivals and concerts to all types of special events. Previously serving as AC Entertainment’s vice president of concerts, Heinig’s role will expand to oversee … Read More

Big Ears Festival focuses on 50 years of ECM

During the last decade, Big Ears has emerged as the United States’ preeminent festival for exploratory music. This year, the festival honors a visionary international institution that has always operated with the same outlook—ECM Records, the border-erasing label launched by producer Manfred Eicher that has now spent half a century tirelessly pursuing new frontiers and standards of excellence in jazz … Read More

Big Ears brings special performance of Nashville Ballet to Knoxville

Due to an overwhelming response, the Big Ears Festival will offer a special opportunity to experience the Nashville Ballet’s performance of “Lucy Negro Redux” with Rhiannon Giddens on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Tennessee Theatre. Tickets for the special show go on sale this Friday, Dec. 7. The special performance will be available to the public and will not … Read More

Big Ears Festival celebrates 10 years of genre-defying musical exploration

Big Ears is thrilled to announce the final lineup for its tenth-anniversary, March 21-24, 2019, in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The festival will offer more than 100 performances — plus a film festival, workshops, talks, exhibitions, and a 12-hour drone concert — all taking place in an extraordinary array of venues, from historic theaters and houses of worship to beautiful converted … Read More

Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival announces bold and inventive lineup for 2019

The Big Ears Music Festival returns to historic downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, for its eighth edition March 21–24, 2019. During the last decade, Big Ears has developed a reputation for presenting preeminent musical pioneers and cutting-edge innovators from a wide swath of genres, earning it praise from The New York Times as “a music festival with a rare vision” and from … Read More

Attendees encouraged to buy ‘Maker City Summit’ tickets now

Attendees of The Maker City Summit are encouraged to buy tickets now since they may not be available at the door for the Sunday, Sept. 23, event. The summit is a day of inspiration, practical know-how and dialogue for the maker community to network and learn about growing a successful business. Only 150 tickets remain for the event, which will … Read More