Festival founder Ashley Capps never stops listening
The 2027 Big Ears Festival promises to be as eclectic and musically adventurous as ever.
The line up for the festival, which will be presented April 1-4, 2027, includes jazz legends, including Brad Mehldau, Chucho Valdez and Bob James, modern rock masters, including Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco), Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), Natalie Merchant, The Melvins and The Meat Puppets, Americana greats, including Rosanne Cash and Sierra Hull, gospel and R&B legend Mavis Staples, comedian Hannibal Buress, classical artists, avant garde acts, world music acts, singer-songwriters and artists that do not really even have a category. Beloved veterans of the festival, including the Kronos Quartet, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Vijay Iyer and Dirty Projectors, are also among the more than 170 artists that have been announced. (A full list of the 173 acts is included at the end of this story.)
Ashley Capps, who founded and has spearheaded the festival since its beginning in 2009, said that planning for the 2027 event is way ahead of any in the past.
“We have the tremendous good fortune to be embraced by so many artists that are wanting to play the festival that the challenge is what to leave out,” says Capps.
He says that ideas for bookings emerge from conversations that can go on for sometimes years before coming to fruition.
“Natalie Merchant playing is a conversation that’s been going on for two to five years,” says Capps.
Another act on the bill, the Big Star Quintet, is a supergroup formed by Chris Stamey (of the dB’s), Mike Mills (of R.E.M.), Jon Auer (of The Posies), Pat Sansone (of Wilco), and Jody Stephens, the original drummer and only surviving member of the legendary band Big Star. That booking occurred because Capps and Stamey shared a mutual friend who put them in touch.
He says some of this year’s inspiration came from Jeff Tweedy. The Wilco frontman recently released the sprawling solo album “Twilight Overdrive.”
“It just gradually seeped under my skin,” says Capps. “Then I became almost obsessed with certain songs. Then, encouraged by a friend, I started reading his books.”
Tweedy’s “World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music” made Capps think hard about how important music is in shaping lives and helping people cope with things.
“It also made me think about opening up yourself to new experiences and not being reflexively dismissive of things you didn’t think were cool,” says Capps.
For anyone who had followed Capps’ career it’s easy to see how Big Ears has ended up as his most lasting accomplishment. At the dawn of the 1980s, Capps was hosting and programming a WUOT radio show called “Unhinged” that championed many of the critically-acclaimed and sometimes unclassifiable artists that he would begin booking for Knoxville concerts. Near the end of that decade, Capps opened the music venue Ella Guru’s, one of the first new businesses in the Old City. While the venue quickly became legendary, the business failed mostly because Capps was bringing in more world-renowned acts than Knoxvillians had the money or time to see.
“Ella Guru’s was important because I learned a lot,” says Capps. “I knew you couldn’t just offer just one thing. I couldn’t just open a jazz club. It needed enough diversity to attract different audiences. I also learned a lot from people who were passionate about music that I didn’t know much about – things I sometimes took for granted. Learning from the exuberance and enthusiasm of others was important and it still is.”
Capps says that people share so much music with him that it can be overwhelming.
“It’s too much to process, but it beats the alternative.”
After the financial failure of Ella Guru’s, Capps went on to found AC Entertainment, one of the most successful independent booking agencies in the country, co-found the Bonnaroo festival, and program a number of other festivals around the country. A few years ago, Capps sold his interests in AC Entertainment and Bonnaroo and put more of his focus on Big Ears.
Since its founding, Big Ears has developed a reputation for being one of the best, most adventurous and most comfortable music festivals in the world, drawing raves from the New York Times, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and many other publications.
While Capps says he plans on growing the Big Ears brand by presenting other non-festival shows and events in other parts of the country, he says making the Knoxville festival event bigger is not part of the plan.
“We’re trying to keep it the same size, but still be able to say ‘yes’ to things,” he says. That has resulted in the festival adding some shows that require an additional ticket. This year, Norah Jones, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Nathaniel Rateliff will be at an additional cost. Those shows are listed in a separate box on the poster above.
In contrast, Big Ears is regularly expanding shows and events at the Knoxville Museum of Art, restaurants and small venues in Knoxville that do not require a Big Ears ticket at all – something Capps does hope to expand.
He also wants to put more emphasis on the talent in the local region.
“I really want a larger local presence at the festival,” he says. “We have so many great, talented artists here. I want us to also be celebrating who we are and what we are in this part of the country. Its history and its legacy is an increasing part of what we think the festival should be.”
Capps says the festival finally has a team in place that can get ahead of the Knoxville event and plan other related shows and events in other cities.
“I’m also thinking of the future of the festival beyond ME,” says Capps.
He says that doesn’t mean he’s planning on retiring, but he wants the festival to continue on after he can no longer be a part of it.
Part of Big Ears’ success, says Capps, is the sense of community within the festival.
“It’s very much a community of artists and fans and people who operate in the ecosystem around that,” says Capps. “As I’m programming the festival each year part of what I’m thinking is ‘How do we nurture that community and keep it healthy and dynamic and fresh?’ That’s the real goal.”
Passes go on sale here Wednesday, September 16, at 9 a.m. ET, after an early pre-sale for festival donors and previous festival pass purchasers.
The announced 2027 Big Ears line up:
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- Adam O’Farrill’s ELEPHANT
- Adrian Sherwood
- Amina Claudine Myers
- Ana Roxanne
- Andy Stott
- Ava Mendoza and Hamid Drake
- Avey Tare
- Avishai Cohen – Big Vicious
- Bang On A Can – Celebrates 40 Years
- Beauty Pill
- Bedouine The Big Star Quintet
- Bill Frisell Residency
- Bob James
- Brad Mehldau Trio
- Bronwyn
- Carla dal Forno
- Case Oats
- Charlotte Mundy
- Che Apalache
- Chicha Libre
- Chris Potter “Alive With Ghosts Today”
- Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet
- Cornelius
- Courtney Barnett
- Craig Taborn Trio
- Dagmar Zuniga
- Daniel Lanois
- Dave Harrington, Jay Bellerose & Billy Mohler
- David Murray Quartet
- Dawn of Midi
- Diles Que No Me Maten
- Dinner Party (Robert Glasper / Terrace Martin / Kamasi Washington/9th Wonder)
- Dirty Projectors (solo)
- Discovery Zone
- Efrim Manuel Menuck and Tashi Dorji Present BLOOM AND RUIN
- El Khat
- Ettore Buzzini
- Fabiano do Nascimento
- Finom
- Gillian Welch & David Rawlings play Grateful Dead Acoustic Reckoning
- goat (jp)
- Greg Tardy
- Gustavo Santaolalla
- The Hands Free
- Hannibal Buress
- Helado Tropical
- Helen
- Hemphill Stringtet with Ursula Oppens
- Horse Lords
- How Black Music Took Over the World: A Melvin Gibbs Curation
- HYUKOH
- Ida
- Ingrid Laubrock’s Grammy Season + DoYeon Kim
- Jakob Bro / Joe Lovano / Midori Takada
- James Brandon Lewis Quartet
- James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg
- Jasper Llewellyn
- JD Pinkus Triptych
- Jeff Parker ETA IVtet
- Jeff Tweedy
- Jeremiah Chiu
- Jessica Pavone String Ensemble
- Jim James
- Jim White Trio
- Joan Shelley
- Joanne Robertson
- John Carroll Kirby
- Josh Johnson ANIMATIVE
- Judith Berkson Trio
- Kahil ElZabar & David Murray
- Kaki King
- Kali Malone Presents Burning Song
- Kalia Vandever & Dave Harrington
- Kalia Vandever Quartet
- Karen Y Los Remedios
- Karly Hartzman
- KatzPascale
- Ken Vandermark
- Kevin Morby
- Kronos Quartet with Peni Candra Rini
- L’Rain
- Leenalchi
- Lia Kohl
- Liam Kazar
- Linda May Han Oh
- Lovano / Makhathini / Morgan / Cyrille
- Lucy Railton
- Luke Schneider Curation: Chrome Universal – Modern Pedal Steel Guitar
- Magic Tuber Stringband
- MANAS
- Manu Delago & Max ZT
- Marcus Gilmore
- Marina Herlop
- Marisa Anderson
- Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble
- Matthew Shipp
- Mavis Staples
- Maya Beiser & Evan Ziporyn: Bowie Cello Symphonic
- Meat Puppets
- Melvins
- Mexican Institute of Sound
- Midori Takada
- Min Xiao-Fen & Julian Kytasty
- Mon Rovîa
- Moor Mother
- Mount Eerie
- Mouse on Mars
- My New Band Believe
- Nadia Sirota
- Natalie Merchant with Erik Della Penna
- Nathaniel Rateliff
- Nduduzo Makhathini
- Nels Cline
- Nicole Mitchell and Joe Westerlund
- Nirosta Steel
- NOMON
- Norah Jones
- One Leg One Eye
- Oneohtrix Point Never
- Oruã
- Otto Benson
- Pachyman
- Pamela Z
- Parker Ramsay & Miranda Cuckson
- Penguin Cafe
- Petra Haden Sings King Crimson
- Pranksters South
- Ragamala returns! 12 Hours of Ragas
- Ranky Tanky
- Robert Glasper
- Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal
- Ryan Clackner Quartet
- Ryan Clackner’s Existential Dread
- Ryley Walker
- Salami Rose Joe Louis
- Sara Serpa
- Shardik
- Sheila Kay Adams + Nest of Singing Birds
- Sierra Hull
- Sleaford Mods
- SML
- Star Moles
- Sumie Kaneko
- Suzanne Ciani
- Sylvan Esso
- Sylvie Courvoisier TRIO feat. Drew Gress & Kenny Wollesen
- This Is the Kit
- Thundercat
- Tim Bernardes
- Tomeka Reid
- Trio of Bloom (Nels Cline / Marcus Gilmore / Craig Taborn)
- Tristan Perich
- Tyondai Braxton
- U.S. Girls
- Ursula Oppens
- Valentina Magaletti
- Valerie June
- Vanishing Twin
- VariegOrchestra
- Vieux Farka Touré & Roberto Fonseca
- Vijay Iyer Residency
- Visible Cloaks
- Wednesday
- Weyes Blood
- Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart
- William Parker 75th Birthday Residency
- The Womack Sisters
- Wyatt Ellis
- Yasuaki Shimizu
- Yeah NO
- Yilian Cañizares
- Zig Zag Trio (Will Calhoun, Melvin Gibbs, Vernon Reid)
