By Wayne Bledsoe, Luke Brogden, Jennifer Duncan-Rankin, Bill Foster, Rusty Odom and Matt Rankin
THURSDAY Recap • Friday Recap • SATURDAY Recap • BIG EARS Guide
THURSDAY
Big Ears 2019 already is akin to its predecessors in that people started arriving early by the droves, the locals were chomping at the bit to get started and the festival programmers and artists were happy to oblige in kicking off the collaborative spirit of the weekend early with a plethora of unofficial kick-off events and secret shows around town before the first officially scheduled events in the festival program. The BLANK crew was anxious to get started, too, coordinating to make the most of the teaser events, as well as the opening days of the festival. – Luke Brogden
Richard Thompson
The crowd that gathers at Barley’s for the WDVX “Six O’Clock Swerve” is always buzzing and ready for a little of the improvisational and the unexpected – it is live radio, after all – but never more so than during Big Ears weekend, when Wayne Bledsoe’s popular program known for usually staging local and smaller touring acts most Thursday evenings has become known for bringing semi-surprise performances from celebrated acts from the festival roster as one of the many fun, free unofficial events of the weekend.
The rumor Thursday was that folk legend Richard Thompson would be in the house. (Soundman Steve Corrigan later posted on his Instagram it was a surprise to him even on the day of the show.) As the lead-in music for the live feed began, those “in the know” began looking around, unsure if it would happen (the host himself seemingly included). Locals Mic Harrison, Kevin Abernathy and Robbie Trosper already had soundchecked for the second half of the show and were ready to fill in. But then at the last moment, Thompson calmly walked down the shotgun entrance beside the stage, strung on his guitar as Bledsoe introduced him and broke into beautiful songs from his 2018 album “13 Rivers.”
He moved on to some classic material with “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,” the ebullient title track from the celebrated 1974 album he co-wrote with his ex-wife Linda. Later in the short half-hour set, he discussed with Bledsoe what he’d be doing at the festival: a song cycle called “KIA” (“Killed in Action”), based on reflections of World War I and presented in collaboration with the Knoxville Symphony Strings. Throughout this set at Barley’s, the audience was wowed by Thompson’s signature hearty, yearning vocal yowl and distinctively fluid yet percussive fingerpicking style. – LB
Ashley Capps
After Thompson’s performance, Bledsoe invited Ashley Capps, the founder of AC Entertainment and the executive producer of Big Ears, onstage to give the audience at Barley’s and on the air in radio land a taste of what they could expect over the next four days at the festival. Capps touted collaborative events like Rhiannon Giddens’ scoring of the Nashville Ballet’s “Lucy Negro Redux,” choreographed by Paul Vasterling and based on the poetry of Caroline Randall Williams. He also mentioned continuing installations at St. John’s Cathedral and the Knoxville Art Museum, multiple one-off workshops, panels and other events throughout the weekend that will be offered free of charge or at discounted rates to the public. An extended list of these experiences can be found on the festival website. – LB
Avey Tare
His psychedelic indie-rock band Animal Collective filled the same venue to capacity with pulsating beats, frenetically dancing youths and wildly alternating beats, vocals and melodies that constantly kept the listener guessing – and the same could be said of the colorful visual light show going on behind them. But Avery Tare’s solo show at the Mill & Mine on the first night of Big Ears was an exercise in minimalism, repetition and centering himself in languid, breezy, melodic and lyrical sweet spots. Often repeating lyrical and melodic lines almost ad nauseam while strumming clean chords with multiple stacked delays, effects, and more, Tare let the effects linger and saturate over the audience’s ears. The set was slightly low-energy for such an early primetime slot, but it did give fans a chance to see a sweeter, more reflective of the musician. – LB
Seth Hopper
Local scenesters may have grown accustomed to seeing violinist Seth Hopper more often as fiddler Seth Hopper – meaning he’s more known for performing around the local roots and Americana landscape at showcases like the Louie Blouie Festival or Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. He ably and naturally rocks out to the strains of country, bluegrass, old-time, Dixieland and even hot jazz with groups as diverse as Christabel and the Jons, Kukuly and the Fuego, Scott Miller and Ladies Auxiliary.
But walking into the Pilot Light in the middle of his solo set Thursday night, we saw a very different side of Hopper. Firstly, the violin in question? Electric blue. The playing style? Sawing away as if to murder the thing. Then stopping to modulate the sound via a variety of pads and pedals, morphing it digitally, stacking effects, looping, building drone distortion and feedback from the monitors. Cutting everything off to then play little avant-jazz licks with a Middle-Eastern bent. Building again with tension and setting the violin down completely to operate the electronic system before him like a sonic mad scientist. And finally ending the set holding the violin up to the monitor in one long sustained buildup of feedback and drone he created by manipulating the effects to a crescendo. It was stunning stuff that delighted and thrilled the unfortunately sparse crowd. – LB
Dark Inside the Sun
(A) Steve Gigante’s Dark Inside the Sun was equal parts playful, visceral, physical, dark, sweet and vulnerable. He took to the stage in tattered, stained clothes with handwritten Sharpie mantras scrawled all over them and proceeded to crank up an old amp and start beating the heck out of a scratched-up old guitar positioned on a beat-up old kit.
He had several dozen drumsticks he went through, smashing them on the guitar, the rims and in half. In a playfully antagonistic section of the set where he launched sticks at the audience off his snare, they threw them back at him. He screamed random gibberish and curses, and he danced in the curtains of the Pilot Light in between reciting sweet, humble and very honest poetry over simple guitar, drumbeats or bells a la Daniel Johnston.
Repeating lines like “a full life in front of a sparse crowd … but you’re not as a sparse a crowd as I’m used to,” Gigante alluded to the influx of Big Ears patrons in town. He ended playing a calm, quiet song on an unplugged, out-of-tune acoustic guitar, sitting on his bass drum and thanking the audience to loud applause as he quietly walked offstage. – LB
(B) So nice that we reviewed it twice: A performance piece as much as it was a musical set, this one-man show incorporated stream-of-consciousness poetry, pulverizing percussion and creative yet slightly demented instrumentation. Steve Gigante, battling the effects of a nasty cold, commanded the attention of a rapt (if not somewhat bewildered) audience at the Pilot Light on Thursday evening.
Eliciting equal parts nervous laughter and hushed reverence from those in attendance, his antics were enough to awake anyone who had been lulled by Avey Tare into a premature slumber at the Mill & Mine. One particularly memorable moment found Gigante selecting individual drumsticks from a large pile, intermittently slamming them on the tom and letting them fly off at random angles. – Matt Rankin
“Lucy Negro Redux”
One of the most exciting features of Big Ears is the opportunity to experience the product of artist collaboration. In my sixth year attending the event, I don’t recall another performance that better displays the range of human expression as “Lucy Negro Redux,” which combines poetry, music and dance into this most stunning piece of art.
In her book of poetry by the same name, Fisk University Writer-in-Residence Caroline Randall Williams digs into the Dark Lady Sonnets (Sonnets 127-154) by Shakespeare, who describes her as one with black wiry hair and dun-colored skin. Williams takes us on an exploration of this Dark Lady, asserting that she was indeed a black woman, with some historical research pointing to the subject of Shakespeare’s most passionate words as Clerkenwell madam Black Luce aka Lucy. Just like at any other time in modern history, the color of her skin then was an issue for many.
However, Williams shines a light on Lucy as a validation of strength, beauty and “black girl magic” in spite of her otherness, and she explains how Lucy’s story is not just hers but rather extends throughout time through other women just like her, as well. Between the poetry, music and dance, we get to know Lucy as being a complex creature who knows who she is and where society puts her – but we are shown that she also knows her worth.
Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turisi’s original score perfectly accompanies the story without obnoxiously elbowing its way to center stage. Classical violin is complemented by Giddens signature banjo and Turisi’s piano and percussion. Giddens’ voice is as strong and beautiful as ever, and her lyrics are clear and moving, making the listener feel the story. Make no mistake, though: In its sounds, words and dance, this work of art oozes with sexual desire and expression. Shakespeare’s appreciation of women (and men, for that matter) is well-articulated by the Nashville Ballet, curated by Artistic Director Paul Vasterling.
The character of Lucy, though, as performed by dancer Kayla Rowser, is entirely different and special. She is fully self-aware and exudes requisite strength and swagger despite others not wanting her to have either. She knows the limits society puts on her, but she won’t let that stop her from enjoying and engaging in the passion and power that comes from being the object of Shakespeare’s affection.
The music in this performance is beautiful and powerful enough to stand on its own. The dance could be layered on for a fuller story, still. However, what made this particular performance at the Tennessee Theatre complete and truly engaging was Williams’ recitation of her poetry. She described Lucy in different contexts, exploring how she was someone who existed not only as the object of Shakespeare’s affection, but also as a slave girl in the American South and as a black woman in college navigating her way through academia. The combination of outstanding individual pieces of art created a complete piece that is nothing short of breathtaking.
By all means, see a future performance of the ballet if you can. But to get a taste of the action on display the last two nights, pick up a copy of Williams’ book, “Lucy Negro, Redux: The Bard, a Book, and a Ballet” from a local retailer or online at www.thirdmanstore.com. – Jennifer Duncan-Rankin
Kukangendai
My first “wow” moment of this year’s festival was produced by the precise, disciplined compositions presented by this Japanese math-rock trio. Guitar, bass and drums were combined to dizzying effect, and the resulting sound was sometimes funky but always arresting. While one fellow concertgoer visiting from Philadelphia likened it to a deconstructed James Brown, I heard distinct elements of jazz in the arrangements, as well. Even though scheduling forced it to square off against the ornate Knoxville premiere of “Lucy Negro Redux” at the Tennessee Theatre, a fairly sizable crowd was on hand at the Mill & Mine to witness this spectacle. – MR
Theo Bleckmann
German-born jazz singer Theo Bleckmann is one of those discoveries that you stumble upon and never forget. Those of us who saw him at the 2017 Big Ears definitely put him on our schedules to see this year. With a multi-octave voice and a mastery of how to use it, Bleckmann is a stunning performer. His Thursday night performance at the Bijou highlighted his 2011 album, “Hello Earth: The Music of Kate Bush.” It was both reverent and edgy, reinventing several of Bush’s songs. Bleckmann’s renditions could be quiet, modest and sweet (the lovely “This Woman’s Work”), ethereal (“Saxophone Song”/”Army Dreamers”) or wildly experimental (“Wuthering Heights”). Accompanied by keyboard, violin, bass guitar, drums and his own electronic loops, Bleckmann both charmed Bush fans and listeners who never quite warmed up to Bush’s own versions of her songs. At least one pair of fans who heard him for the first time Thursday were planning on attending his Friday show of songs related to the Berlin. – Wayne Bledsoe
OUT Explorations of Traditional Tunes, Open Jam Hosted by Matt Morelock
You’ve never heard “I’ll Fly Away” quite like this. That was the concept and the reality in practice as we heard it upon entering the Jig & Reel on Thursday night. Former WDVX DJ and leader of The Bearded and Maid-Rite String Band, Matt Morelock and a host of Knoxville music-scene veterans including fiddler Evie Andrus, Hudson K drummer Nate Barrett and members of the Band of Humans led instrument-toting audience members through far-out, meandering, psychedelic versions of classic tunes. – LB
Yunohana Variations
Consisting of a nearly hour-long piece of music presented in its entirety, this performance was punctuated by two percussionists edifying a gurgling electronic undercurrent. Decidedly experimental yet also very accessible, the movement to me conjured nature – specifically the constant ebb and flow of a stream as it fluctuates between calm and rough waters. Maybe it was a case of it hitting my ear at the right time and in the right place, but I thoroughly and immensely enjoyed this evocative set at the Mill & Mine. – MR
Clarice Jensen
It’s guaranteed at Big Ears that you’ll hear instruments used in ways that you’re not used to. Working with digital visual artist Jonathan Turner, cellist Clarice Jensen certainly expanded the role of the instrument Thursday at the Bijou. Utilizing loops and electronic effects in addition to playing two alternate cellos, Jensen created a sonic landscape to accompany the slow-moving images on a screen behind her. As the digital images of elevators, escalators, windows, walls and mysterious figures very gradually changed, Jensen played long notes that became almost trance-inducing. Sometimes, the effect of both image and sound together could almost give the viewer/listener motion sickness. Yet, as slow as it all seemed, it was also intense. These are the sorts of Big Ears events that make those with short attention spans fidget, but they are particularly rewarding for those who turn off their phones and simply settle in for the ride. – WB
Bob & Eric’s 1st Period
Beautiful and unexpectedly uplifting, this collaboration between saxophonist Crowmeat Bob and guitarist Eric Lee at the Pilot Light found the duo naturally and effortlessly taking cues from one another in order to further their exploratory improvisations. Bob’s absurdist woodwind expressions were matched and then bettered by Lee’s creative lines, culminating in haunting, sometimes frenzied pieces. The results were so good that, at the end of the set, the notoriously gruff Lee had little recourse but to offer a huge smile and an acknowledgment of the fruitful endeavor. – MR
Mercury Rev
It’s been quite a while since I’ve labeled a live performance as a wall of sound, but no other description would do this show justice. It simply sounded magnificent, with each individual instrument discernable but key to the big-picture success of the group’s set. Just when it seemed like peak mode had been achieved, one massive blowout would lead to another equally amazing astral projection. I had few expectations before entering the Mill & Mine just shy of midnight, but I can say for sure that psychedelia rarely is as simultaneously approachable and grand as it was in Mercury Rev’s collective hands last night. It was a glorious experience that transported me back to the halcyon days of me first discovering music that exists outside of the mainstream, and it made me fall in love with the band all over again. – MR
B|_ANK
Thinking that the best of the night’s action probably was over, I seriously contemplated going home after Mercury Rev, but a recommendation from Brad Fowler, musician and Pilot Light doorman/bartender, kept me out for one last show – and boy, was it worth it. Drumming furiously over droning synth, Will Hicks’ passionate sound collage was a sight worth seeing. The energy was palpable throughout, but the best moment arrived when the performer relocated his kit mid-song close to the end of the set and pounded the instrument amidst the stunned crowd. – MR
THURSDAY Recap • Friday Recap • SATURDAY Recap • BIG EARS Guide
