Kramer (solo)

Mark Kramer is one of the truly pivotal figures in the rise of indie rock, starting in the late ’80s and carrying through to right now. Before that, in the early ’80s, he shared a band with Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn before joining the Butthole Surfers for a brief stint. Those wild experiences helped prepare him for the tizzy of activity to come, from opening crucial studios in New York and New Jersey and making records with the likes of Low and Galaxie 500 to running the indispensable and foundational imprint Shimmy Disc. He was part of the infamous Bongwater, and he was an essential advocate for Daniel Johnston’s wondrous songwriting. An innate collaborator, Kramer is one, maybe two degrees of separation from every major act in the annals of indie rock.

Kramer long made music under his own name, too, knotty bits of psychedelia and noise rock that perpetually suggested he was trying to find unexplored avenues into rock ’n’ roll. He has covered the legendary tunes of the Brill Building with friends like Jad Fair and Bill Frisell. But of late, Kramer has taken an unexpected and brilliant turn into the weirder corners of ambient music, especially on 2022’s Music for Films Edited by Moths. Where “Bukowski on the Beach” winds through the overtone glory of The Stars of the Lid, “Ladder to the Moon” finds a paved road through the same arid desert blues that Earth has long explored. He releases the new …and the crimson moon whispers goodbye in December. Kramer will appear at Big Ears 2026 in a duo with Pan American, and he will likely show up elsewhere, as he did in 2025 with Lonnie Holley and Water Damage. But here, the veteran collaborator squares up to his own material.