The Big Ears survey is here (check your email!), and with it, it asks us who we want to see next time.
We had a great thread on this forum where many of us shared great suggestions already (worth a look), but I did notice a trend that a lot of suggestion weren’t specifically from projects that are expected to be releasing something or touring in the next year+.
Meanwhile, maudlin of the Well, the first of band of Toby Driver. The first record of his next band, Kayo Dot, was on Zorn’s Tzadik label, off of the strength of this maudlin of the Well output. Not only has Toby Driver never performed at Big Ears, but maudlin of the Well is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with a crowdfunding effort that will see motW release their first new record in 18 years. In that link, they discuss the desire and possibility of performing a few select shows, and Big Ears seems like a perfect big moment for such a celebration.
Toby Driver has done multiple residencies at The Stone in NYC, showing not only appreciable overlap with this scene, but also that he has the ability to play a variety of sets, either in different incarnations of members of his projects, or in collaborating with others, which also overlaps with the Big Ears ethos.
motW also embraces a variety of genres in their composition, inclusive of metal on some of their releases. This would be a way for Big Ears to embrace more of the metal scene, in a way that aligns with what Big Ears is, as argued by /u/bradscottsand in their review of this year’s Big Ears.
If you’ve never heard of maudlin: if you are okay with exploring compositions with metal, check out the double record of Bath and Leaving Your Body Map. If you want less metal chamber music, check out the record Part The Second. If you want to hear the record that got on Zorn’s label, check out Kayo Dot’s Choirs of the Eye.