Big Ears Festival

[kh1958]

Yes, I booked my room through the Big Ears site last year. I only booked this early because the hotel I've stayed in the last several years was available through a travel site at about the same price as last year.

[BFrank]

12 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Yes, I booked my room through the Big Ears site last year. I only booked this early because the hotel I've stayed in the last several years was available through a travel site at about the same price as last year.

Nice!

[kh1958]

The 2026 Big Ears lineup will be revealed Tuesday, September 9 at 9:00am ET.

[HutchFan]

On 8/14/2025 at 9:47 AM, kh1958 said:

The 2026 Big Ears lineup will be revealed Tuesday, September 9 at 9:00am ET.

Excellent news!   Thanks for sharing.   

 

[BFrank]

On 8/14/2025 at 6:47 AM, kh1958 said:

The 2026 Big Ears lineup will be revealed Tuesday, September 9 at 9:00am ET.

Of course, whatever they announce on that day is extremely preliminary. They will continue to add on until showtime.

[kh1958]

Perhaps more accurately, the majority of the lineup will be announced.

[clifford_thornton]

A friend's band is playing it, so at least I know that much!

[kh1958]

Big Ears Festival lineup (selections):

Pat Metheny Side-Eye III

Chucho Valdes Royal Quartet

John Scofield Trio

Marc Ribot

Shabaka

Mary Halvorson

Julian Lage Quartet

John Zorn (Various)

Chicago Underground Duo

Marquis Hill Blacktet

Brandon Woody

Brian Marsella

Chad Taylor Quintet

Ches Smith Clone Row

Darius Jones Trio

Dave Douglas Gifts Quartet

Either/Orchestra

Harriet Tubman & Georgia Ann Muldrow

Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen

Matt Mitchelll's Zealous Angles

Miles Okazaki: The Compete Monk

Miles Okazaki Trickster

Nate Smith

Nik Bartsch Ronin

Openness Trio

Orchestre Baobab

Patricia Brennan Septet

Sullivan Fortner Trio

Tim Berne

Tom Skinner

William Hooker Quartet

https://bigearsfestival.org

 

 

[HutchFan]

An excellent lineup, I think!!!

 

[kh1958]

5 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

An excellent lineup, I think!!!

 

Agreed!

Not that I particularly care but the Robert Plant and David Byrne concerts are separately ticketed.

[kh1958]

I would note that the festival website only has nine available hotels, none of which are downtown.

[kh1958]

Per Big Ears on facebook, the schedule will be announced much sooner this year: "These will not go on sale until after we announce the weekend schedule, which will come sooner rather than later (in a couple of weeks or so)."

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Not that I particularly care but the Robert Plant and David Byrne concerts are separately ticketed.

Yeah, that's no big deal to me either.  I probably wouldn't make it to those shows even if they weren't separately ticketed.

 

[randyhersom]

Non-jazz acts of interest to me include Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and Orcutt Shelley Miller.  I note that violinist Charles Burnham is in the WIlliam Hooker quartet.  Dave Douglas' quintet has James Brandon Lewis, Rafiq Bhatia and Tomeka Reid.  Caroline Shaw and Georgia Anne Muldrow (with Harriet Tubman), maybe even Karen Mantler are there to tempt JSngry.  Slightly lacking in star power on the jazz side, but solid.  Marilyn Crispell looks like the highlight at this early stage.

[Aggie87]

30 minutes ago, randyhersom said:

Non-jazz acts of interest to me include Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and Orcutt Shelley Miller.  

Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock should be a great show.  I've seen them a number of times as the Flatlanders (with Joe Ely).

Unfortunately I don't think we'll see Ely with them again - his FB account just announced today that he was diagnosed with both Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease.  

Here's a photo I took from the last time I saw the three of them together, in Philadelphia.

[medjuck]

Where do people stay?  The first hotel I tried is already booked up.

[kh1958]

35 minutes ago, medjuck said:

Where do people stay?  The first hotel I tried is already booked up.

Recently I've stayed at the Marriott Knoxville Downtown, but I booked a couple of months ago. It currently has only a few rooms left at a pretty exorbitant price.

[randyhersom]

I drive, so I'm willing to stay further out.  The Baymont on I-75 is a good value.