Well, the weather cleared up for Friday and Saturday, sunshine and warmer weather prevailed, and you couldn’t have asked for nicer days to be strolling around downtown. Hope the visiting Hawaiians felt more at home.
My Lyft driver Friday night told me he was having a good weekend, fare-wise. He was mostly shuttling festival attendees between venues. Really, even with the new Big Ears trolley? “Yes, they say the trolley takes 15 minutes and they don’t want to wait. New Yorkers, mostly.”
I hope some of those New Yorkers get to ride with my Saturday night Lyft driver, Tammy. She was very gregarious, and very East Tennessee. She also had some good insight into my question as to why so many Lyft drivers drive Kia Souls.
Saw McClung Historical Collection manager (and my boss!) Steve Cotham outside the Tennessee Theatre before a show. Like everyone who saw it, he had nothing but raves for the Lucy Negro Redux ballet. Knoxvillians are fortunate to have had the opportunity to see such a unique work.
Ran into Public Cinema co-founder and programmer Darren Hughes at several shows. Darren has a chance to attend more music performances this year, as the Public Cinema Big Ears program is running on a loop at UT’s Downtown Gallery during the festival, and he doesn’t have to introduce or oversee screenings. Time will tell if there will be a return of the film program to the downtown Regal Riviera theater next year.
Central Cinema co-owner Nick Huinker was able to take a break from manning the charming independent theater in Happy Holler and catch some evening shows. I saw him at Jlin, where we mused on the effects on the mind and body of electronic dance music you don’t dance to, and just what Jlin was doing up there to create those sounds.
Hologram Electronics founder and Royal Bangs frontman Ryan Schaefer was also at Jlin. He was raving about drummer Max Jaffe’s performance, and even more so about the Sensory Percussion kit Jaffe was playing. He explained that the drums can trigger samples that need not sound percussive, working more or less like a sampler. He seem to think it one of the most exciting pieces of music technology in many years. At least I think that’s the gist. Ryan is something of a musical and technological wizard, and I don’t always get the specifics what he’s talking about, but I try to follow along. Sometimes it sinks in later.
Few people I know enjoy a hot dog as much as Chris Rusk. I caught up with the Ross the Boss band member as he munched his way through one of Public House’s delicious dogs. Kimchi, I believe it was. He’s doing pretty well these days, working for a booking agency that handles mostly bluegrass and Americana bands. Knowing he loves bluegrass almost as much as he loves hot dogs, he seems to be living the dream!
Stood up near the front of the stage for This Is Not This Heat, alongside Pilot Light founder Jason Boardman, Park 70 cassette label co-founder Ryan Collins, and local guitar terrorist Eric Lee. I recollect getting turned on to This Heat with those guys about 25 years or so ago, listening to and discussing those incredible albums with them, and it seemed a minor miracle to be there watching an incarnation of the band perform. I will admit I teared up.
Lance and April Ledbetter, owners of the Dust-To-Digital label and recent Grammy winners drove up from Atlanta for the festival. Don’t think I’ve seen them since the Knoxville Stomp back in 2016, but Lance said they come to Big Ears every year. They were also right up front for This Is Not This Heat, then headed to Pilot Light for John Mueller and White Gregg. As far as I know, this was the first time Grammy winners have watched White Gregg perform!
Alan Sims, aka Urban Guy of the Inside of Knoxville blog, was also at the White Gregg show. Alan and I have talked at length about a mutual favorite musician, Bob Dylan, and I’m curious to hear his thoughts on Gregg. They don’t always make it or take it easy on the listener, but then again, neither does Dylan.
Journalist Cari Gervin is in town and Tweeted that she spotted City Council members Lauren Rider and Marshall Stair at the KTL show. (I didn’t see them, but I did see a three month old baby sporting enormous earmuff noise cancellers!) Too soon to tell if Mayoral candidate Stair is going with a STAIR: More Drone For Knoxville campaign. Hope to see him at the Sunn O))) Caverns show in April!
Have you ever chatted with security at these shows? I’m not suggesting you interfere with their work, but if you catch them in a slow patch, they have some stories, such as what kind of people give them the most guff. You might be surprised.
Unfortunately, photographer Andrew Gresham wasn’t able to make it to Big Ears this year. Andrew has taken some great photos of the festival over the years. In fact, a print of one of his Carla Bley portraits hangs on a wall in my home. I sent him a message suggesting he come next year and take photos of the bartenders, ushers, security, custodians and other venue staff who hustle to help Big Ears run. Turn the camera away from the stage. That idea may sound cliche or corny to you, but Andrew has done great work backstage at Fashion Week in New York, capturing what goes on behind the scenes of the glitz and glamour. He’s got an eye for such things.
Speaking of fashion, the smart set at the festival seems to be favoring wide leg floods, some cut off. Didn’t see that trend coming at all. The kids at school used to make fun of me for wearing floods. Like many Big Ears acts, I guess I was just ahead of my time!
