FESTIVAL APP / PODCAST #3 / NEW LINEUP ADDITIONS!
BIG EARS 2025 On Track for Early Sellout!
Big Ears Festival passes continue selling faster than ever! 4-Day Weekend and Saturday single-day passes are almost gone—secure your’s now and don’t miss out!
And a huge Big Ears THANK YOU for the tremendous response to this year’s festival. We have an amazing weekend planned for all.
Don’t forget that sold out pass types are available via the festival’s official fan to fan resell platform, Ticketmaster Exchange. Patrons who purchase passes from other fans via the exchange can be confident that their passes are 100% legitimate. Big Ears cannot verify the authenticity of and will not honor passes purchased via a third party or any other method. Thank you for helping us keep passes in the hands of fans!
Podcast #3: Cassandra Jenkins with Ann Powers
Music critic and author Ann Powers (NPR Music) sits down with singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins, who appears at Big Ears 2025, for an intimate conversation on storytelling through sound, the interplay of nature and technology in music, and the creative process behind My Light, My Destroyer. A deep dive into sonic intimacy, collaboration, and the art of drawing from life. Jenkins even shares the story behind “Aurora, Illinois,” a song written while isolating in a hotel room with COVID, grappling with the heartbreak of missing her performance at Big Ears in 2022.
Listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Pocketcast!
Joel Harrison Alternative Guitar Summits
Alternative Guitar Summit
Revisits Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way
Thursday, March 27 / 7:30p / Boyd’s Jig & Reel
A visionary ensemble of musicians, led by Joel Harrison, transforms Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way into an electrifying tapestry of sound. Featuring Nate Mercereau and Brandon Seabrook, alongside Chad Taylor, Jerome Harris, Adam Rudolph and special guests, this performance reimagines Davis’ classic album.
Guitar Talk & Round Robin Performance
Sunday, March 30 /11:30a / Blue Note Lounge
How has the electric guitar evolved, and what does its future hold? In this roundtable discussion, led by Joel Harrison, a panel of groundbreaking players—including Mary Halvorson, Brandon Ross, and Nels Cline—explores the instrument’s many transformations and its enduring impact on American music. The discussion culminates in a dynamic round-robin of improvisational performance featuring the panelists alongside Gregory Uhlmann, Wendy Eisenberg, and surprise guests.
Ryan Clackner’s Existential Dread
Thursday, March 27 / 10:15p / Boyd’s Jig & Reel
Joined by Matt Nelson, Hunter Deacon, Jorge Variego, and Kevin Scott, Clackner pushes raw improvisation into uncharted territory, blending searing guitar, reedy growls, deep grooves, and electronic textures to conjure heavy atmospheres and unpredictable sonic landscapes.
In Conversation
Ambrose Akinmusire and Nate Chinen
Friday, March 28 / 10:00a / Blue Note Lounge
In an intimate conversation with esteemed jazz critic Nate Chinen, Ambrose Akinmusire explores the creative threads connecting his last three acclaimed albums—honey from a winter stone (2025), Owl Song (2023), and Beauty is Enough (2023)—along with his groundbreaking work in composition and sound design. He also discusses the vision behind his two Big Ears 2025 performances.
Ambrose Akinmusire and Nate Chinen
1965: Sound, Fire & Revolution with Nels Cline, Melvin Gibbs, Chad Taylor and Nate Chinen
Sunday, March 30 / 10:00a / Blue Note Lounge
It was the year that brought us John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme — as well as Don Cherry’s Complete Communion, Archie Shepp’s Fire Music, and Andrew Hill’s Compulsion. Sixty years later, we can recognize 1965 as a pivotal moment for creative music, and for American politics and culture. We can also sense uneasy echoes with the times we’re living through. Nate Chinen leads this conversation about the music and message of 1965 with three far-reaching artists: guitarist Nels Cline, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer Chad Taylor.
