STAFF

Ashley Capps is one of the foremost concert promoters and festival producers in the United States. He began promoting concerts in 1979 while finishing his major at the University of Tennessee. In 1991, Capps founded AC Entertainment which began promoting concerts in the southeast and would eventually go on to found the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and other signature events throughout the United States. In 2009, Capps launched the multi-faceted, genre-defying Big Ears Festival which takes place every spring in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Big Ears became a 501(c)3 in 2016 and Capps currently serves as both its Executive and Artistic Director.

With a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from The New School, Emmy has built a dynamic career in the arts, including roles at BAM and the Cunningham Dance Foundation, where she helped realize the Merce Cunningham Legacy Plan. In Minneapolis, she spent eight years at The Cedar Cultural Center, where she led development, communications, and booking during a period of major growth. She also taught and developed curriculum at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. A champion of DIY and experimental arts spaces, Emmy brings deep experience and passion to Big Ears, which she has attended for years as both a fan and a colleague.

Bryan Crow has over a decade of experience in the live music and event industry and has worked in various capacities for Big Ears since 2014. Before joining the Big Ears team full time in 2021, Crow worked for concert and festival promoters AC Entertainment and Live Nation, where he served as Project Manager and Executive Assistant to founder and president, Ashley Capps. During his tenure at AC / Live Nation, Crow produced the 2018 MusicNOW Festival and assisted in production and operations of events such as Bonnaroo, Forecastle, and High Water festivals.

Morgan Fleming brings nearly 20 years of experience in nonprofit arts to Big Ears. She previously served as Data Coordinator for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, where she led box office operations, ticketing transitions, and community engagement efforts. With a background in dance and choreography, she has supported organizations like Circle Modern Dance and the Tennessee Association of Dance through both staff and board roles. Her passion for the performing arts was shaped by early internships with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the American Dance Festival. A certified Pilates instructor, she also teaches group and private sessions across Knoxville.

A Knoxville native, Sara Houchins spent nearly two decades in New York City, working in fashion retail and running her own candy store, before opening a restaurant in Mexico City. She returned home in 2023, working with Dewhirst Properties and later leading guest experience and new initiatives at Clayton Homes’ corporate retreat center. Known for her creativity, adaptability, and keen eye for detail, Sara now brings that energy to Big Ears as we deepen community partnerships—both locally and nationally—and pursue new opportunities for growth and collaboration.

Lily is a filmmaker and educator based in New Orleans. Her debut feature, Bayou Maharajah, premiered at SXSW in 2013 and received multiple honors, including the Oxford American Award for Best Southern Film. She co-founded New Orleans Video Voices, a women-led collective promoting media literacy across the Gulf South. In 2015, she was commissioned by Time Inc. to produce Everything Is To Be Continued, a film highlighting the exclusion of Black working musicians from post-Katrina recovery. Her second feature, Buckjumping, premiered in 2018 to the largest audience in New Orleans Film Festival history.

Cecilia is a board-certified music therapist and cellist with degrees from the University of Tennessee (BA, Music) and the University of Kentucky (MM, Music Therapy). Her clinical work supports individuals with Parkinson’s, dementia, and those in recovery from substance use disorders. She has taught at the Central Music Academy and Knoxville’s Community School for the Arts. As a performer, she’s recorded and toured with the Lonetones, Tyler Childers, Senora May, and others, and has appeared at Big Ears with RB Morris, William Tyler, and Peter Gregson. Involved with the festival since 2009, Cecilia is passionate about access, expression, and connection through the arts.