The Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee was forced to suspend its event this year due to COVID-19, however the event organizers will be offering several live stream events in its place. These streams will take place on October 9, 16 and 23 respectively, while featuring the likes of The Bad Plus, mssv and Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog in that order. Each of these events will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Tickets for these streams are available here.

The Bad Plus will be performing their set from Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre, which typically holds events for the Big Ears Festival. This jazz trio is from Minneapolis, Minnesota and consists of of bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Orrin Evans and drummer Dave King. Evans is a relatively new addition to the group, taking over for their previous pianist Ethan Iverson.

Bassist Mike Watt’s new outfit mssv will be performing at the Ijams Nature Center, where they will be celebrating the release of the group’s debut album Main Steam Stop Valve, due out on October 17. The group also consists of Mike Baggetta and Stephen Hodges, while the band is billed as a “post-genre power trio.” The group were originally scheduled for this year’s cancelled Big Ears Festival.

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog will be broadcasting an archive set recorded in September, where they performed on the rooftop of St. Ann’s Warehouse. These aren’t the only events that the festival has in store hopwever, they are currently planning streams featuring Lonnie Holley, Marisa Anderson, William Tyler, Yasmin Williams, a 15-part Norwegian Jazz Festival and many others.

Big Ears Live Streams

10/9 – Bijou Theatre, Knoxville, TN – The Bad Plus
10/16 – Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN – mssv
10/23 – St. Ann’s Warehouse, Knoxville TN – Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog