Highlights From Days 3 and 4 of the 2023 Big Ears Music Festival

Highlights From Days 3 and 4 of the 2023 Big Ears Music Festival

John Schumacher

A music fan who’s willing to listen to almost any kind of music, and who can appreciate it for what it is – that person is said to have “big ears.” Hence the name of the Big Ears music festival, the gathering in downtown Knoxville every spring known as the most eclectic music festival in the world. 


The Eagles, meanwhile, were in town on Saturday, playing Hotel California in its entirety and a set of greatest hits. No disrespect to the Eagles or their fans (I’m one too), but you don’t need big ears for Life in the Fast Lane.


Four Highlights from the First Two Days of the Big Ears Music Festival 2023

Four Highlights from the First Two Days of the Big Ears Music Festival 2023

John Schumacher

Big Ears is an exceedingly eclectic festival. Most festivals stick to one genre, maybe two. Big Ears says, “Genre? LOL. How about ALL of them?”

This is the 10th year of Big Ears, drawing more than 20,000 fans March 30 to April 2 to see 100-plus acts at venues concentrated in Knoxville’s beautiful, artsy downtown. Park once and you can walk to all the venues. 

Big Ears is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of festival. Fest-goers can pick a genre and wallow in it – jazz, world beat, Americana, folk, classical, ambient country (did you know there’s such a thing as ambient country?) – or wander a crooked route among them. 

Rachel Baiman : Common Nation of Sorrow

Rachel Baiman : Common Nation of Sorrow

Justin N. Kohrs

Rachel Baiman provides an exquisite exploration and offers an assessment of the country’s current state. Telling stories of American capitalism:  the individual and communal devastation it manifests. Baiman highlights these shared experiences along with the hope they will become a tool for activism. Wielding her art as activism to illuminate and influence the world to make it a better place. This alone is undeniably a worthy endeavor in and of itself and deserving of immense praise.

Lauren Morrow : People Talk

Lauren Morrow : People Talk

Derek Scudder

You remember Lauren Morrow’s name from The Whiskey Gentry and once you’ve heard her wonderful voice you’ll remember that forever. She spent more than a decade as frontwoman for the band from Atlanta but when that ended, Lauren began her solo career. Just a few years later and now she has achieved some nationwide success without ever putting out a full-length album of songs. That will change with the release of People Talk on March 31st on her own Big Kitty label. Morrow says, “In my head, I was thinking, ‘Geez, she’s in her 30s and releasing a debut record? Shouldn’t she hang it up already? Her time is running out.’ But in reality, I had to silence that negative voice and let myself show through these songs, and it’s taken all of this time and these experiences to really shape who I am as a human. I feel like I’m just now figuring that out, and now I finally have something to say.”

Stephen Wilson Jr.: bon aqua

Stephen Wilson Jr.: bon aqua

Ryan Bush

It’s the tangled, beautiful collision of sound and word that makes Stephen Wilson Jr’s debut EP, bon aqua, a defining collection of Midwest music folklore. Born in the sweeping corn rows of southern Indiana, Wilson - fresh off of inking his signature with Big Loud Records - plows onto the scene in a creative cloud of mud and dirt, tip-toeing about the fine lines of Americana, Grunge and Rock without remorse. It is unapologetic Folk thundering from a dirty diesel stack on a two-lane road.

Larkin Poe Brings Down the House and Sets It on Fire

Larkin Poe Brings Down the House and Sets It on Fire

John Schumacher

Poor Reba McEntire. While she was playing the 18,000-seat Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee March 17, Larkin Poe was shaking the foundation of venerable old Turner Hall Ballroom across the street with their turbocharged electric blues. 

I picture the Queen of Country stopping in the middle of “Fancy” and ordering a roadie to go over there and tell them to keep it down, for cripes sake. 

It. Was. Loud. These two sisters of the South – literal sisters, Rebecca and Megan Lovell, Knoxville born, Georgia raised, Nashville residing – somehow produce as big a sound with lap steel and electric guitar as southern rock royalty did with their iconic three-guitar attack. 

Karen Jonas: The Restless (Album Release Show)

Karen Jonas: The Restless (Album Release Show)

Justin N. Kohrs

Opening for the Po Ramblin Boys, Karen Jonas was still glowing from the release of her new album The Restless along with a pair of sold out performances; no doubt with several more on the horizon.

Turns out she marries up just as nicely with an ice-cold beer as she does with a glass of your favorite red. However, this woman drinks whiskey!

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” ~Mark Twain. This is how I feel about whiskey and Karen Jonas’s music. After listening to her latest album more times than I care to admit in print, I was finally able to catch Karen Jonas and company live.

What a tremendously delightful treat! She played her entire new album in order from start to finish. Along with a couple of her favorites. Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you Karen Jonas is an absolute force!

In between songs, she dazzled and charmed the audience with keen insights about the next song. Why are so many of her songs set in Paris? “Cheaper to write songs about Paris than to fly.”

Prior to my favorite song on the album, she playfully quipped, “Instead of being drunk you maybe feel elegantly wasted.” I absolutely adore this song and hearing it live even after listening to it countless times prior, I feel emboldened to double down and restate that this is indeed my favorite and maybe it should be yours too.

While regaling the story of how the song, “That’s Not My Dream Couch” came into existence, she confessed that despite her ability to sing in French she’s not able to actually speak it. She goes on to say, “Canapé du rêves (Sofa of Dreams).” Maybe she blundered the phrase, perhaps the audience wasn’t impressed enough, she quickly goes, “No one speaks French? Perfect!” Which then received some laughter and she dove right into the song.

Man, the start of the B side (“Rock the Boat”) just hit hard and honestly resonated with me a bit more solidly tonight than any other time. The level of scrappiness and passion from Karen Jonas was next level and quite frankly reminiscent of two heavyweight prize fighters at the start of a match. There was an incredible burst of fire, intensity and tenacity that led me to the realization that Karen Jonas has a few more delectably hidden gears that she can ratchet up at will.

The ever-whimsical Tim Bray lead guitar was just as delightful, entertaining and exhilarating to watch in person as I imagined. 

Seth Morrissey, the stoic genius behind the scene effortlessly and dutifully played the bass and double bass throughout the night. Suddenly and surprisingly he started belting out the second to last song of the night in a really impressive bluesy voice. 

Dylan Earl: I Saw the Arkansas

Dylan Earl: I Saw the Arkansas

Jolene Horihan

Being a touring musician is living life in a juxtaposed state. They long for the road and performing when they are at home, yet long for home when they are on the road. Their creativity and free-natured souls thrive when they are out traveling, sharing their craft and entertaining. But, the softer and more introspective part of them is just as important to their craft and balance of life. Dylan Earl is all of a hard-driving road dog and a thoughtful poet. His third full LP and first release with Gar Hole Records, I Saw the Arkansas, displays the give and take, the realizations of what matters most and learning how to navigate it all.

Drayton Farley: Twenty on High

Drayton Farley: Twenty on High

Ryan Bush

Fueled by the calloused blue-collar souls and dusty, tattered, jeans of the working way of life, Drayton Farley has become the poet of the Everyday Man. Enveloped in the craft of capturing the rural heartbeat of America in a mere collection of lyrics, Farley continues his troubadour musings with his latest release, Twenty on High, featuring 10 tracks steeped in intricate detail and emotion - a trait Farley demonstrates flawlessly. 

Karen Jonas: The Restless

Karen Jonas: The Restless

Justin N. Kohrs

Karen Jonas’ smoky, steamy and sultry voice serenades the darkest parts of your being. I don’t have enough platitudes to do this album justice. She’s clearly put the work in, paid her dues and this album undoubtedly should be placed high on top of the Americana chart.

Americana literary songsmith Karen Jonas’s sixth LP, The Restless (out Mar. 3), is a dark alt-country exploration of vulnerability. Each song is a confession that lands somewhere between nostalgia and doom. The Restless is a visceral experience: you can feel the “lace and velvet” and taste “the bite of bourbon” on your lover’s tongue.

Will Evans: After the Burnt Out Sun

Will Evans: After the Burnt Out Sun

Justin N. Kohrs

I’m not sure any one musician should be allowed to be this talented. Will Evans practically single-handedly delivers a one of a kind spiritual uplifting revival that will leave you in awe, recharge your soul and renew your appreciation for all that this world holds.

Rhode Island-based, Will Evans has spent the last decade of his life as the frontman for New England Roots Rock band Barefoot Truth. “One of the best bands you’ve probably never heard of,” and if you have in fact heard of BFT then head directly to “Northeast Kingdom” which could easily be my favorite song on the album. 

Oddly, this song seemed out of place until I stumbled upon a YouTube video of Barefoot Truth, “Roll If You Fall” Live at Infinity Hall. As soon as I heard it, it clicked and it all made sense. 

The Panhandlers: Tough Country

The Panhandlers: Tough Country

David Overstreet

So, what do you do if you are a Texas country supergroup and want to put out a better album than your last? You do just that!
The Panhandlers (Josh Abbott of The Josh Abbott Band, William Clark Green, John Baumann, and Cleto Cordero the front man of Flatland Cavalry) got after it again. March 3rd they will be releasing another ode to their home and stomping grounds, west Texas, with Tough Country.  

The Shootouts & their Honky Tonk Posse Take Another Swing with Stampede

The Shootouts & their Honky Tonk Posse Take Another Swing with Stampede

Mandy Mitchell

Ohio based band The Shootouts have released their third album, Stampede, hot on the heels of their 2021 critically acclaimed sophomore album, Bullseye. 

In the summer of 2022, the band's focus was on touring and riding the high of recognition earned by the hard work put into Bullseye (produced by BR549 founder Chuck Mead) when the musical high road made an unexpected turn directly into the realm of longtime frontman and 10-time Grammy-winning founder of Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Benson. 

Channing Wilson: Dead Man

Channing Wilson: Dead Man

Justin N. Kohrs

One day prior to standing in the hallowed circle of his Grand Ole Opry debut, emerging singer, songwriter and musician Channing Wilson will release his highly anticipated album, Dead Man, on February 24.

As a self-professed “student of this world,” let Channing Wilson and this record guide you through a few of life’s trials and tribulations: loneliness, pain and perseverance. Wilson lays himself bare; sharing his experience with heartbreak and disappointment. This album wrestles with these themes along with frustration with the cost of staying the course. Somehow, Wilson manages to pull you along and most likely himself to the other side determined and wiser, no matter the price.

Dylan Earl: "I Saw the Arkansas"

Dylan Earl: "I Saw the Arkansas"

Jolene Horihan

Love songs can be a powerful conveyor. They are usually written about someone or for someone: whether you are trying to show them your appreciation or articulate a realization. But who said that love songs are only for people? In the latest album from Dylan Earl, he expresses the love he has for his home state of Arkansas. Today, Dylan is releasing the title track from his third full length album, I Saw the Arkansas. The full album is set for release on March 10th from independent label Gar Hole Records. 

Butts Fights Bare Knuckled with the Premiere of Blood

Butts Fights Bare Knuckled with the Premiere of Blood

Mandy Mitchell

Kaitlin Butts debuts her first music video with her January 29th release of “Blood,” a no-holds-barred, inside look at marital despair and what it means to love a narcissist. 

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to catch Kaitlin and her band, the Asstronauts, live since her 2022 release of her acclaimed album What Else Can She Do most likely are already aware of the emotional, and deeply personal connection she has to the “Blood” track. Co-written with Angaleena Presley of the Pistol Annies, “Blood” was largely born of Butts’ own childhood experience of bearing witness to the emotional abuse suffered by her mother at the hands of her narcissistic father. Live listeners ride cathartic waves of redemption with Kaitlin as the female protagonist of the song plaintively, but purposefully, confronts her abuser with her mistreatment. All those who have ever found themselves trapped in a similar relationship instinctively understand the bravery inherent in simply naming out loud the injustice of their maltreatment, as that mere act alone is enough to elicit an explosion of anger from the aggressor as they attempt to gaslight their victim and shift any accountability away from themselves. 

Corduroy Brown: Rest

Corduroy Brown: Rest

Phillip Ring

In August of 2021, we at The Amp were handed the debut record of Corduroy Brown Let Me Know and were surprised at the record as a whole. It was an indie rock powerhouse of a record that was part jubilation, part confusion, but all heart. Coming off of a fairly traumatic year, it was a record of piecing together what happens after the noise dies down and you’re left in silence to pick up some pieces. This release picks up in a lot of ways where that record left off. The main difference is that the Rest EP strips away the jubilant compositions and strips them down to in most cases an instrument and a voice. It’s vulnerable and exposing which can be tough for a lot of artists, because in that setting when things are that simplified, every piece has to be right, and with this record, it is. 

An Inside Look at Wookin’ Overtime

An Inside Look at Wookin’ Overtime

Mady Goins

The only stop on the way is for a 24-pack of Ale-8-One, the commonwealth's glass bottle specialty. The 200-mile drive back to Illinois is all too familiar. As you approach Exit 130, the city skyline fades into the rearview. It’s a straight two-lane road lined with corn fields as far as the eye can see from here. Look out the window, hypnotized by the pump horse's never-ending motion. They don’t have those back in Kentucky. The landscape in the distance begins to deepen and darken as you come up on the remnants of the Pattiki Coal Mine. Things begin to feel a little more like Kentucky.

Pony Bradshaw: North Georgia Rounder

Pony Bradshaw: North Georgia Rounder

Phillip Ring

A studious musician spends a good chunk of time living in the fictitious universes, lost in the stanzas of poetry, and decides to write an album that is made of pieces of stories collected, compiled and flushed out over time. Throw that into a soundtrack-style haunting group of melodies and deep hooks with an impactful emotive voice and you have Pony Bradshaw’s latest effort on North Georgia Rounder.

JD Clayton: Long Way From Home

JD Clayton: Long Way From Home

David Overstreet

Without pomp, circumstance, glitz or glamor. Just honest, raw, heartfelt country music from a troubadour livin’ the dream. JD Clayton will be releasing his first full album, Long Way From Home, on January 27th.

His musical journey began in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a town known for its true grit, resting on the banks of the Arkansas river and peering over into the farmlands of eastern Oklahoma. A place where the new south meets the old west. Clayton’s father worked in real estate before becoming a pastor when the oldest of his three children, JD, was starting high school. Clayton was already well-indoctrinated into music by then. His grandfather played banjo in a bluegrass band and taught Clayton some rudimentary chords; his father could pick a few chords too. “He would sit there trying to learn Jack Johnson songs from a guitar tab book while “In Between Dreams” played from a junky CD/Cassette player.” Clayton’s dad gave him a guitar when he was eight years old, though it would be a few years before it took.

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