Michael Rother, Bob Holmes & Mary Lattimore in Big Ears Session

Hear the second of John Diliberto’s two Big Ears Festival 2025 sessions in the Echoes Podcast. This one featured German guitarist Michael Rother from the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia.  He created one of the most distinct guitar sounds of the 70s and also deployed the classic motoric rhythm with Can’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. And he’s still making great music. Joining Michael on stage are electric harpist Mary Lattimore who has several solo releases out and has collaborated with many artists including guitarist William Tyler.  Also on stage is guitarist Bob Holmes from the Ambient Country band Suss, who had a big footprint at Big Ears and was the catalyst for this panel, under the banner of his project, Across the Horizon. The title of the panel was The Third Wave of Ambient, but we quickly went off the rails as you’ll hear including a deep discussion of Spotify and AI. We’ll get a lot of history from Rother about Neu, Harmonia and Kraftwerk and a lot of insight into the creation of music.

Thanks to Big Ears Festival and Ashley Capps for use of this panel in the Echoes Podcast.