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Big Ears Knoxville (—book)

BIG EARS KNOXVILLE

Photographs by Kate Joyce
Preface by Ben Ratliff 
Essays by Rachel Grimes and Joe Henry
Music by Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Bryce Dessner, Mats Eilersten, Diamanda Galás, Kronos Quartet, Wu Man, The Necks, Meshell Ndegeocello, Nils Okland, Yuki Numata Resnick, Marc Ribot, Terry Riley, and Jenny Scheinman.

Hardcover, 136 pages
8 x 12 in. 
20.32 x 30.48 cm. 
69 color and b&w photographs
Edition of 400
Designed by Sabrina Che and Ben Schwartz
Published by Hat & Beard Press, Los Angeles

Purchase Book

A book of photographs by Kate Joyce published by Hat & Beard Press (Spring 2019) in partnership with AC Entertainment and Rock Fish Stew Institute of Literature and Materials with images made between 2014-2018 at the Big Ears music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The photographs were made under the influence of music. 

The location of the festival – and hearing some of the most challenging music in the world – in downtown Knoxville, a city perhaps not expected to be the home of a festival of this quality and caliber - reverberated through all of my senses.

More than 200 artists and bands have performed Big Ears between 2014-2018. During the five years that I traveled to Knoxville for Big Ears, I photographed some of the people on this list, but not nearly all of them. Of those I photographed, just a few will be in this book. I heard many of the performances, many were memorable and a few were life changing. I photographed during some of these performances, but most of them were un-photographable (better heard than seen). Sometimes I only photographed a sound check or rehearsal.

During my time at Big Ears, I also walked around Knoxville, leaving the theaters and clubs to make pictures on the streets. As I wandered, my mind remained tethered to the musical event. Photographing back and forth between city and festival, and subsequently in the editing process as well, was an exercise and challenge to see as openly and freely as the music taught me to listen.

ABOUT ROCK FISH STEW http://rockfishstew.org

This book will be the next phase in a collaborative project developed by Rock Fish Stew Institute of Literature and Materials revolving around the Big Ears festival. Our work was presented as a museum exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, NC (May 2015 - February 2016). In addition, a full-length film by Ivan Weiss is forthcoming, without a set date of release. Photographing, filming and research at the festival and Knoxville between 2014-2018 was largely made possible by The Reva and David Logan Foundation, Rock Fish Stew Institute of Literature and Materials, Visit Knoxville and AC Entertainment.  

ABOUT HAT AND BEARD PRESS http://www.hatandbeard.com

Based in Los Angeles, with editors and project managers on the ground in Chicago, London and New York City, Hat & Beard is a print collective, a publishing think tank, and a small press dedicated to all things tactile.

Major funding for the Big Ears Knoxville book is made possible by Dan and Gloria Logan and Colin Moran. 

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All rights reserved. Kate Joyce 2024