Issue #92: Five Can't-Miss Americana Acts at the Big Ears Festival

Which double as five acts to listen to whether you're going or not :)

By Natalie

I’ve been wanting to attend the Big Ears Festival for years, perennially thwarted by its concurrence with March Madness (and also the cost of a weekend-long Knoxville jaunt in the post music-publications-covering-expenses era). For the uninitiated, the fest promises a singular kind of genre and trend resistance, rewarding listeners with the titular “big ears” — there’s a lot of music in the improvised/“jazz” tradition, but also plenty of contemporary art music, rock, blues, and (important for the purposes of this newsletter) country/bluegrass/Americana.

Finally I will be heading to Knoxville this weekend and I truly can’t wait — the only question, really, is how to fit in all the wonderful sets I’m hoping to see (if AmericanaFest was any indication, the answer is “by completely wearing myself out”). If you’re also making the pilgrimage this year, here are a few artists you may want to add to your schedule; if not, listen to them anyway! I tried to focus on the not-quite-as-huge names (I don’t know that you need me to tell you to go see Taj Mahal, Waxahatchee and Julien Baker/Torres :) ). Overall, the lineup functions well as a listening guide — there are a lot of artists here who are new to me and may also be new to you!

Sunny War (Thursday, March 27 at 6:15 p.m.)

Honestly, I have been intimidated by the prospect of trying to sum up Sunny War’s latest, Armageddon In A Summer Dress, and that’s the only reason it hasn’t yet appeared in the newsletter. She’s one of the most inventive and original artists working in the “Americana space” (whatever that means) — using folk, blues, and a healthy dose of punk rock to fearlessly convey songs that feel almost distressingly of the moment. So thrilled by the prospect of seeing her live!

Susan Alcorn Tribute (Sunday, March 30 at 2:45)

This set will definitely be more in the realm of jazz/improvised music than “Americana” — Alcorn, who was booked to perform at this year’s festival before she passed earlier this year, was a formidable, experimental pedal steel player. I was lucky enough to see her perform at the Village Vanguard when I still lived in New York, and had been so excited to see her again. I imagine there will be some heavy-hitting pedal steel players at this set ready to pay homage to the way she expanded the sonic possibilities of the instrument (along with the stellar musicians who made up her band).

Michael Hurley (Friday, March 28 at 7 p.m.)

An outré folk lifer, Hurley will bring a little welcome levity to the Big Ears proceedings (which, I have a hunch, might lean to the serious side). For fans of Dan Reeder, I think, and folky songs that are as earnest and goofy as they are traditional.

SUSS: Across the Horizon Nights (Friday, March 28 at 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 29 at 10 p.m.)

A multimedia, multi-artist ambient country music experience? I can safely say I’ve never experienced anything like it, and I’m intrigued to check it out at the festival this year. SUSS is a trio based in New York, and what they call ambient country is their entire focus — they even have a podcast about it. If you call yourself a “cosmic Americana” fan, this is billed as that but…even moreso. Cosmic country-maxxing, if you will — it could be quite transporting! The below song is from their “Across The Horizons” recording project, which includes a variety of different artists.

Marisa Anderson (Sunday, March 30 at 2:30 p.m.)

Yes it’s at the same time as the Alcorn tribute, but the real sickos will go half and half!! Anderson is a virtuoso guitarist who stretches across styles with a great deal of sensitivity — she makes dreamy, fluid, heartfelt instrumentals in the tradition of John Fahey that still sound new. The Tiny Desk (below) is just a delight.

Bonus: Explosions In The Sky (Sunday, March 30 at 9 p.m.)

Are they Americana? Not technically. Are they already very famous? Yes, and thus should be excluded from these picks. But! I want to make the case that…Friday Night Lights, the soundtrack of which they were famously featured on, made them Americana. The show is Americana in the original sense of the word — an ode to specifically American culture (for better and much worse) — and the reason that the layered, vibey arpeggios of Explosions in the Sky sound so right over all those moody shots of wide open spaces, decrepit small towns and perfectly cinematic football games is because they’re tapping into American roots music in a very specific, evocative way. Anyway! I’m probably going to try to catch their set because…I’m an FNL diehard. And have been curious to see them for ages.

Can’t wait for this weekend! Hope to see you guys out there! :)