2026 Big Ears Preview

Everyone has a different Big Ears.

There are so many different choices to acknowledge when determining one’s path through the more than 250 individual performances that make up the festival. This has become apparent while covering Big Ears over the past few years and talking to the instantly new music nerd best friends that I’m standing with in line or sitting next to in my favorite space at the Bijou Theatre (extreme stage left). I’m always surprised to learn about an act that I somehow missed in the weeks of obsessive planning in the run-up to Big Ears. I’m also consistently elated by the wildly divergent tastes of the attendees. Someone will be glowing about an act that I had not even considered in my own planning, thinking, “Oh, that one was for you.” 

The same works in reverse. In 2025, I raved to everyone I could about the performance by SML, the young improvisatory, neo-jazz funk band. While there were plenty of attendees who expressed pain in missing SML, many others didn’t even know who I was talking about.

Everyone has a different Big Ears.

Before previewing the once-again incredible array of artists and performers who will make up the 2026 version of the festival, I want to share my tips on navigating Big Ears, designed specifically for those who are traveling to Knoxville for the first time. These tips were created for last year’s preview, but I’ve updated them with new thoughts. 

• Decide who the essential artists are that you most want to see — Agreeing on your “tentpole” acts is the first step and then you can build your Big Ears structure around them. This establishes a baseline: if you only saw your tentpole performers, it would be a rewarding Big Ears. Everything else is delicious musical gravy.
• Get the app — Maybe it goes without saying, but the app is essential for navigating the festival. Most importantly, it provides updates on shows that are at capacity, surprise performances, and pop-up gigs. 

• Give yourself options — On the app, mark as many of the possible acts that you might have an interest in seeing. You know who your tentpoles are, but knowing the alternatives is helpful in making attendance decisions on the fly. 
• Talk to attendees — As noted above, fellow Big Ears nerds can help show the way. Last year, I heard ganavyan sing as part of Immanuel Wilkins’ set. I was captivated by her delivery and voice, but didn’t know who she was. The guy next to me at the Bijou told me her name and that she was playing her own solo set the next day. That became an immediate new tentpole act!

• Pace yourself — The festival lasts four days, so you need to determine how you are conserving energy for not only the drive home, but also for when dancing is a necessity. 
• Note the walking distance between venues — Most of the sites are not that far apart, but you don’t want to waste too much time hoofing it across Knoxville. Recognize the venues that make up the different clusters. At a previous Big Ears, a friend and I commented that only staying within the Bijou/Tennessee Theatre corridor wouldn’t involve too much walking and you could still have a very good festival experience. This might mean that you see less acts, but the quality of the experience can be better. 
• Observe which venues have seats — This tip is linked to the mantra of “pace yourself.” Sometimes you just need to sit in a chair and listen to music. 
• Ignore FOMO — There’s no such thing as “fear of missing out” at Big Ears because you aren’t missing out. Everything is excellent. The performance that is happening in front of you is worthy of consideration. Don’t ruin it by wondering what else you could be seeing instead.  
• Acknowledge that “Big Ears heartbreaks” are real — My friend George Middlebrooks — a Knoxville resident and a Big Ears veteran — came up with that phrase. While trying to ignore FOMO, you’re still going to miss performances you really want to see. It’s painful, but your festival experience will still be incredible.

In narrowing in on my tentpole acts for 2026 Big Ears, the biggest conflict is that the organizers keep adding more and more must-sees, thus creating endless heartbreaks. Performers who would be treated as headliners at any other festival — Laurie Anderson, Richard Thompson, or Pat Metheny — can feel like just another act at Big Ears. In addition to the regular programming, the 2026 version of the Knoxville festival also includes separate ticketed performances by David Byrne and Robert Plant. Big Ears runneth over. 

A big determining factor for my tentpole acts is whether I’ve had the opportunity to interview or write about an artist. When interviewing bass player Anna Butterss for Aquarium Drunkard in conjunction with last year’s release of SML’s fantastic album How You Been, I admitted to having “season tickets” for Anna Butterss. This means never passing up a chance to see them, whether with SML or another lineup. During our conversation, Butterss clued me in that for 2026 Big Ears, SML plans to play three nights, two sets apiece. While overjoyed at that prospect since SML improvises a different set every time they play, I was also immediately stressed thinking about how many of those six sets I want to see. I don’t only want to see SML at Big Ears. I admit that I’m still stressed. Attention tapers: please capture all six SML sets at 2026 Big Ears. 

Dirty Three is a Hall of Fame act for me, a mainstay since hearing the heartsick transcendence of Ocean Songs for the first time. Dirty Three rarely conform to traditional song forms, though when squinting hard enough, a ballad, a rock song, a sea shanty, or an acid western can be spotted. With their last album — Love Changes Everything — Dirty Three discarded any trace of those previous forms and presented a series of abstract musical expressions, allowing the listener to imagine their own stories. Sorry to the other performers at the Friday, 11:15 pm timeslot, but I will be arriving at the Tennessee Theatre early to ensure I won’t miss Dirty Three. 

Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band have released two albums made up of songs that stand with the best songwriting of the 2020’s. Davis’s songs are like getting a phone call from that one friend in which you stop whatever you’re doing to talk for the next three hours. These epic songs contain indelible stories, characters, and place names, laced with can’t-cry-might-as-well-laugh-can’t-laugh-might-as-well-cry one-liners. Davis & The Roadhouse Band came to Asheville this past December, but I was traveling for my pesky day job and was forced to miss it. I won’t make that mistake at 2026 Big Ears.

I’m interested in everything Jeff Parker does, whether with Tortoise, the immortal ETA IVtet, The New Breed records, and his seemingly endless session and production work. His music can be imaginative and exploratory, explosive and groove-based, while also thoughtful and exuding a sense of peaceful calm. Parker is now a Big Ears staple. His performance last year with the ETA IVtet was a true highlight. This year he brings a new band to Knoxville called the Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, featuring visionary keyboardist Jeremiah Chiu of SML and Anna Butterss running mate Ben Lumsdaine on percussion. Jeff and this trio are an immediate “hell yeah” for me. 

Two longtime musical partners of Parker are Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor, who make up the Chicago Underground Duo. Last year they put out their first album as the Duo in 11 years: the kinetic Hyperglyph, which brims with jazzy alien music while always grounded in rhythmic street grooves. Mazurek is on quite a run as, in addition to Hypergyph, he also recently provided the score for The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt’s slowcore take on a ‘70’s heist film. All this to say I need to see Mazurek and Taylor live and in action. In addition to being a musician, Mazurek is also an accomplished visual artist. Concurrently with Big Ears, the UT Downtown Gallery will host Radical Chimeras, an exhibition of Mazurek’s paintings, sound generated animations, large-format sound prints and sculpture. Mazurek will be presenting unique musical performances in the gallery during the festival with Mikel Patrick Avery on percussion and vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco.

Bill Orcutt is one of my favorite guitar players alive. His live wire guitar tone is instantly recognizable, surging directly into one’s brain like an electrical current. I’m delighted at the prospect of catching Orcutt live. He’s playing twice at 2026 Big Ears: once by himself and once with his new trio alongside Ethan Miller and Steve Shelley. Watch both, you say! Ah, but his solo set goes up against Chad Taylor of the Chicago Underground Duo, playing music off of his recent stellar solo record. Another Big Ears heartbreak! Which musician do I want to see twice, Taylor or Orcutt? Catch my recap to find out. 

One last factor for planning out Big Ears is eliminating bands and artists who I’ve recently seen or will see in my hometown. While I’m a big fan of both MJ Lenderman and Setting, I was able to catch the former for his hometown gig this past October and the latter will be coming to Asheville’s AyurPrana Listening Room later this spring. Additionally, I deeply love the music, writing, and visual art of Terry Allen, but I recently traveled to Nashville to experience this exact same performance, so I am foregoing this opportunity. If you’ve never attended a Terry Allen show before, don’t miss it. 

One of these years, I want to attempt a different approach for determining a Big Ears schedule by following one or two performers who are scheduled to appear multiple times throughout the weekend, either as a lead or supporting performer. You could do a lot worse than choosing to trail Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Mary Halvorson, or Nels Cline across the four days of the festival. 

Below are the schedules for my tentpole acts as well as other possibilities that I am strongly considering, though that list could have been made up by pretty much the entire schedule. Stay tuned for my recap post a day or two after the completion of 2026 Big Ears. 

Enjoy the festival, everyone!

Tentpoles
SML – Thursday, 8:15 pm & 9:45 pm; Friday, 8 pm & 9:30 pm; Saturday, 10:30 pm & midnight, all at The Greyhound

Medeski, Martin, Metzger & Cline – Thursday, 11:30 pm, Mill & Mine

Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes – Friday, 1:15 pm, First Presbyterian Sanctuary

Jeff Parker Expansion Trio – Friday, 3:30 pm, Mill & Mine

Dirty Three – Friday 11:15 pm, Tennessee Theatre

Winged Wheel – Saturday, 9:45 pm, Barley’s

Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band – Saturday, 12:15 am, Barley’s

Chicago Underground Duo – Sunday, 3:30 pm, The Standard

Orcutt Shelley Miller – Sunday, 6:30 pm, Mill & Mine

Possibilities
Deerhoof – Thursday, 6 pm, Mill & Mine

Ches Smith’s Clone Row – Thursday, 6:15 pm, The Standard

Pat Metheny Side-Eye III+ – Thursday, 7 pm, Tennessee Theatre

Tunde Adebimpe – Thursday, 8 pm, Mill & Mine

Shrunken Elvis – Thursday, 9:15, Barley’s

Jamie Lidell & Luke Schneider – Thursday, 9:45 pm, The Point

Masada I – Friday, noon, Bijou Theatre

BASIC – Friday, 2:15 pm, Barley’s

Joe Westerlund – Friday, 3:15 pm, Boyd’s Jig and Reel

John Zorn Plays Harry Smith – Friday, 5 pm, Bijou Theatre

Lazyhorse – Friday, 6:15, The Point

Florist – Friday, 7:15 pm, Barley’s

Lucrecia Dalt – Friday, 8 pm, Jackson Terminal

SUSS Presents Across the Horizon – Friday, 9 pm, The Point

Chad Taylor Quintet – Saturday, 12:15 pm, The Standard

Cobra – Saturday, noon, Bijou Theatre

Bill Orcutt – Saturday, 12:15 pm, Regas Square

Thurston Moore & Shabaka Hutchings – Saturday, 1 pm, Mill & Mine

Mary Halvorson: Canis Major – Saturday, 2:30 pm, Tennessee Theatre

Richard Thompson – Saturday, 5 pm, Tennessee Theatre

Marquis Hill Blacktet – Saturday, 5 pm, The Point

Laurie Anderson & John Zorn – Saturday, 7:30, Bijou Theatre

William Tyler & Yasmin Williams – Saturday, 7:30, Knoxville Museum of Art

Patricia Brennan Septet – Saturday, 8 pm, Jackson Terminal

Flying Lotus – Saturday, 11:15 pm, Mill & Mine

Lou Reed Drones – Sunday, noon, The Greyhound

Nels Cline: Lovers – Sunday, 6 pm, Tennessee Theatre

Tom Skinner – Sunday, 6 pm, The Standard

Shane Parish – Sunday, 6 pm, location TBD

S.G. Goodman – Sunday, 7:15 pm, Jackson Terminal

Openness Trio – Sunday, 7:45 pm, The Point