Anyone who has attended one of the previous Big Ears Festivals will vouch for the thought-altering qualities of the “immersive” experience. What does that even mean, you ask? There is something quite indescribable that takes place when one is drawn into the festival’s fresh experiences with both familiar and unfamiliar artists, each perhaps taking a different path through new sonic and visual territory. Making choices of who and what to see and hear often becomes an intense, but pleasurable pain as one deals with a mind-boggling number of choices. Add in density of performances and visual media—and a density of your fellow festival travelers—factor in the need for food, drink, and time for reflection, and one quickly understands the meaning of the word “immersive” as an experience at Big Ears.
Recently added to the festival is the ultimate sonic immersion experience, a 12-Hour Drone: All Night Flight. This event will run from midnight Saturday (March 24) to noon on Sunday (March 25), offering “a transcendent evening of sustained sound exploration.” Participants include Steve Gunn, Ben Shemie (SUNNS), Anna RG, B|_ank, Coupler, Duet for Theremin & Lap Steel. For a more exact schedule, see this Big Ears webpage. And this one, https://bigearsfestival.org/experiences-2018/
Another big area of expansion in this year’s festival is the film program under the auspices of The Public Cinema, available either with full weekend passes or as a separate film pass. What’s unique here is the intersection between festival performers and films about them.
Avant-garde drummer Milford Graves has two slots at this year’s festival (on Friday and Saturday) as well as being the subject of Jake Meginsky and Neil Young’s film, Milford Graves Full Mantis. The film combines performance footage from Graves’ career and a glimpse at the complex performer. The film is scheduled for Friday evening at 7:00 PM at the Regal Riviera.
Talk about intersections. French filmmaker Vincent Moon and his collaborator Priscilla Telmon will be at the festival to present their film Híbridos, an exploration of the various ritualistic forms of Brazil, its musicality and its movements. But, the pair is also in the area to document Sacred Harp singers in Wears Valley which will culminate in a Saturday morning Sacred Harp sing at the festival, led by Sam Amidon.
Tennessee Tourism will present Born in Bristol – the Untold Story of the Birth of Country Music, an hour long film telling the story of country music’s most historic event: The Bristol Sessions. The film features reenactments of those 12 days in 1927, when musicians descended upon the Tennessee-Virginia state line to record the songs that would go on to be known as the “Big Bang” of country music. The film follows Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow and others, as they make history again by reinventing the Bristol Sessions recordings alongside Grammy-winning producer Carl Jackson.
Other intersections of music and film come with the festival’s live score performances scattered about the festival weekend. Bang On A Can All-Stars will present Field Recordings at noon on Friday, including Michael Gordon’s score Gene Takes A Drink with film by Bill Morrison, Christian Marclay’s Fade to Slide and Nick Zammuto’s film and composition Real Beauty Turns.
At noon on Saturday, violinist Jenny Scheinman and ensemble will score H. Lee Waters’ Depression-era portrait footage in KANNAPOLIS: A MOVING PORTRAIT.
Wordless Music, in partnership with Knoxville ensemble Nief-Norf, will score the documentary film Brimstone and Glory, with original music written by Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, the creative team of Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Big Ears also hosts Atlanta-based artists, Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel, who will sonically represent the explorations of filmmaker Robbie Land.
Find the complete Big Ears schedule here, as well as information on passes and tickets. https://bigearsfestival.org/schedule/
