On this episode of Big Ears: Conversations About Music, journalist and author Marcus J. Moore sits down with the formidable LA-based saxophonist, composer and producer Josh Johnson, a ubiquitous presence in today’s jazz scene. Big Ears' Ashley Capps was so taken by Johnson’s many performances at Big Ears 2025 that he asked him to curate a series of seven concerts at our 2026 festival. He’ll join Ashley on a future podcast to talk about his curation. Meanwhile, here we shine a light on his warm exploratory sound, often enhanced by electronics. The conversation moves from his early influences, digs into his critically-acclaimed solo records Freedom Exercise and Unusual Object, and discusses his collaborations with Leon Bridges, Jeff Parker and producing Me'shell Ndegeocello's GRAMMY-winning The Omnichord Real Book.  Lastly, we hear about the origins of his collaboration with Carlos Niño and Nate Mercereau on Openness Trio, his experience at Big Ears 2025 and how his curiosity has evolved over the years.

Wild Up makes their Big Ears debut as one of the most innovative forces in contemporary music. Led by artistic director Christopher Rountree, the Los Angeles-based ensemble has spent more than a decade reshaping the possibilities of classical performance—merging composed and improvised music, conceptual art, minimalism, and audience-focused experimentation. Violinist-vocalist Darian Donovan Thomas and the group’s many composer-performers help shape projects that feel communal and alive.

Here joined by veteran critic Peter Margasak, Rountree and Thomas focus on their history as an ensemble and aligning their creative energies towards two groundbreaking American artists: Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell. Their Eastman projects including "Femenine," developed over more than a decade—channel the music’s intensity, freedom, and disruption, creating performances that feel both fiercely present and deeply vulnerable. Their Arthur Russell work, the 90-minute dance-floor experience, “24→24 Music,” celebrates Russell’s emotional clarity and experimental spirit. Expect aural catharsis, vivid imagination, and boundary-breaking music-making from one of today’s most electrifying new music ensembles.

In this episode, journalist and author Liz Pelly (Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist) brings together two singular songwriters — Hayden Pedigo and S.G. Goodman — for a candid exploration of songwriting, place, and authenticity. From the wide-open stillness of West Texas, where Pegido draws inspiration from Sacred Harp singing and the power of silence, to Kentucky’s storytelling traditions that infuse S.G.’s gritty, heartfelt lyrics, these two artists trace the threads between "country" and modern experimentation. Along the way, they talk about how humor, vulnerability, and real life people shape their art — and what it means to stay true to yourself in a noisy, judgmental world.

Journalist Piotr Orlov (of Dada Strain) speaks with Brian Carpenter of Ghost Train Orchestra and collaborator Joan Wasser (a.k.a. Joan As Police Woman) about interpreting the works of Moondog—the blind composer, poet, and New York street icon whose rhythmic inventions, unforgettable melodies, and striking persona (not to mention an iconic Viking costume) made him an underground legend of 20th-century music. Hear this exciting project at Big Ears 2026.

Composer, vocalist, and project-maker Lisa Bielawa joins renowned classical and new music journalist Steve Smith to discuss her extraordinary Broadcast works, with a spotlight on Knoxville Broadcast, a large-scale site-specific “spatial symphony” commissioned by Big Ears Festival. The project gathers Appalachian musicians, choirs, orchestras, and community ensembles who gradually expand outward in waves of sound, transforming the landscape into an immersive sonic experience. Bielawa also reflects on the origins of Broadcast, community participation, and her wide-ranging career.

Two time GRAMMY winner, vocalist and MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant joins critic Natalie Weiner to unpack what it means to be called a jazz singer. Salvant reflects on her musical upbringing in both classical and jazz traditions, contrasting the discipline of one with the freedom of the other. She also shares her excitement about moving beyond "jazz," previewing her brand new Nonesuch Records album Oh, Snap , on which she layers dance grooves into daring audio collages. The conversation touches on her interpretation of the John Henry legend, and her blossoming practice in the visual arts, partly inspired by her mother and grandmother. It’s a revelatory portrait of an artist who remains rooted in song, while constantly expanding her palette as a multimedia post-genre artist. Here’s their conversation.

Big Ears Festival founder Ashley Capps joins NPR Music critic Ann Powers (a longtime friend of the festival and fellow Tennessee resident) to discuss the recent unveiling of the 2026 festival lineup. From legends like David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn and Pat Metheny to trailblazers like Flying Lotus, Marc Ribot, Wild Up, and Hania Rani, along with a smorgasbord of today’s most compelling artists across genres. Their conversation reveals a behind-the-scenes look at curatorial vision and execution, nurturing community, and encouraging musical discovery.

Hear a panel discussion from Big Ears 2025 titled 1965: Sound, Fire & Revolution, where guitarist Nels Cline, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer Chad Taylor, join critic and author Nate Chinen to reflect on a landmark year in music and culture. 1965 gave us works like A Love Supreme, Complete Communion, and Fire Music—that reshaped jazz and echoed broader upheaval. Sixty years later, these artists revisit that seismic moment, revealing how its sounds and struggles still resonate powerfully in our present.

Hear a deep and searching live conversation from Big Ears 2025 between NPR Music critic and author Ann Powers and three remarkable artists whose practices reach far beyond the boundaries of genre — vocalist, double bassist and composer ganavya, multi-instrumentalist and scene-connector Carlos Niño, and British poet, saxophonist and troubadour Alabaster DePlume. 

In this wide-ranging interview, they explore themes of interdependence, the evolving meaning of “community,” and the porous line between art and everyday life. They challenge the language we use to describe music and the commodification of creative labor, while offering alternative frameworks grounded in love, joy, ancestry, and intuition.

At our 2025 festival, NPR critic and author Ann Powers sat down with legendary producer and music historian Joe Boyd for a wide-ranging conversation about his life in music. Boyd reflects on his recently published opus The Roots of Rhythm Remain, and a life at the intersection of sound and history in this intimate and revealing podcast episode.