Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee, US, March 27-30, 2025

Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky, Waxahatchee, Yo La Tengo, Sun Ra Arkestra

Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee, US, March 27-30, 2025,

Apr 05, 2025 By Jessica Mlinaric Photography by Jessica Mlinaric Web Exclusive

“I feel like I’m among fellow pirates,” British saxophonist Alabaster DePlume told the crowd at Big Ears Festival. Held in Knoxville, Tennessee, the festival assembled 40,000 music fans at more than a dozen venues around town from March 27-30. The focus at Big Ears Festival is on community and creativity, attracting an eclectic mix of artists and attendees with its genre-bending lineup of jazz, ambient, avant-garde, folk, rock, and more.

Since 2009, Big Ears Festival has showcased both musical icons and emerging artists. With nearly 200 concerts, discussions, film screenings, and workshops to choose from, no two Big Ears experiences are alike. This year’s lineup featured headliners including Yo La Tengo, Waxahatchee, Rufus Wainwright, Darkside, ANOHNI and the Johnsons, and Explosions in the Sky.

Knoxville’s artsy, laid-back vibe is the perfect setting to experiment with unexpected musical collaborations. For example, Grammy winning banjoist Béla Fleck took the Tennessee Theatre stage with Mexican drummer Antonio Sánchez and Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda. As Sánchez said, “What’s weirder than a banjo, drums, and harp?”

I can’t think of another festival where one moment you can hear the dulcet tones of Mary Lattimore’s harp ringing through the Bijou Theater and then plunge into the cacophony of a dozen members of Water Damage filling the Standard with noise rock. Water Damage bassist Nate Cross wasn’t kidding about the nature of their single-song set of one repetitive groove, wearing a baseball cap embroidered with “25 Minutes No Encore.”

Creating “transcendent cultural experiences” is part of Big Ears’ mission. Where else can you sip chrysanthemum tea with Carlos Niño and ask him about producing André 3000’s New Blue Sun or taste borscht with Ukrainian folk quartet DakhaBrakha?

In the course of the four-day festival I saw a couple slow dancing to Swamp Dogg’s raunchy country soul, a grey-haired man flexing footwork dance moves to Tunisian-American singer Emel’s powerful performance, and a young fan moshing with glee to Tortoise’s jazz-infused post-rock set.

The collaboration and cultural exchange fosters a kinship at Big Ears, and several artists commented on the need to extend this sense of community beyond the festival weekend. As Mary Lattimore said, “We need art, and we need to be taking care of the most vulnerable people in our community, and we need to keep our eyes open. For right now, I’m happy to be in this inspiring place.”