WELCOME BETH GIBBONS, JULIEN BAKER & TORRES, AND MORE!
NEW ARTIST ADDITIONS FOR BIG EARS 2025!
Beth Gibbons, the enigmatic, emotionally compelling lead singer and songwriter for British trip-hop pioneers Portishead, will make her North American solo debut and a surprise new collaboration between Julien Baker & TORRES are just two of the exciting surprises topping the second wave of artist announces for Big Ears 2025.
Other highlights include psychedelic country-soul blackgrass legend Swamp Dogg; GIFT, Eiko Ishibashi’s extraordinary collaboration with filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi; plus Edsel Axle, more eaze, Thor Harris, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Lia Kohl.
They join William Tyler, Laraaji, Tucker Zimmerman, Merce Lemon, Mivos Quartet, Wendy Eisenberg, Arushi Jain, ganavya, Kramer, One Leg One Eye, Tall Tall Trees, and Carla Kihlstedt and Present Music who have been added to the festival offerings in the past few weeks as well.
So do stay in touch. Cheers!
Beth Gibbons
First gaining renown as the voice of Portishead, Beth Gibbons is an enigmatic yet intensely emotional musician. Portishead’s intoxicating version of trip-hop drew on the vocal jazz and pop of the past while reinventing it radically, and Gibbons’ vocals—which recalled bygone greats such as Nina Simone and Edith Piaf—fit the group’s postmodern mystique perfectly. Gibbons made her solo debut this past spring with Lives Outgrown, a deep and intensely personal statement that is one of the musical events of this decade thus far.
Julien Baker & TORRES
After hinting at their collaboration during recent Webster Hall performances, Julien Baker & TORRES (Mackenzie Scott) officially unite for a project that merges Baker’s introspective, soul-baring songwriting with TORRES’ fierce style and raw intensity.
Swamp Dogg
In 1970 the Southern soul music maverick Jerry Williams, Jr. made the most radical move of his career. Frustrated with music business politics Williams reinvented himself as Swamp Dogg, an irreverent anti-hero smashing the conventions of commercial R&B music.
Eiko Ishibashi
Eiko Ishibashi will be presenting GIFT: A Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi X Film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The two previously collaborated on the Oscar-winning film Drive My Car, and reunite for an even more collaborative experience. GIFT offers a constantly-evolving cinematic experience, with Ishibashi’s improvised live performance intervening in Hamaguchi’s visuals, seeking to reimagine the relationships between sound, image, and narrative.
The full lineup of artists and programs can be found at bigearsfestival.org, with new additions and details found each week in the festival’s newsletter. Festival passes are on-sale now, and stay tuned for our December 3rd announcement of single-day lineups and passes. Purchase Your Passes Today!
