KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Knoxville-based organizers AC Entertainment on Tuesday announced new additions to the lineup of performers for Big Ears Festival 2020.

The additions are headlined by 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith, who placed 47th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Artists. Patti Smith and Her Band join legendary Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Sonic Youth lead singer Kim Gordon as Big Ears Festival 2020’s most illustrious performers.

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Described as “one of the most quietly earth-shattering, subtly luminous festivals the world over” by the Oxford American, Knoxville-based organizers AC Entertainment bring fans and artists from all over the globe to Knoxville. When the festival returned in 2014 after a brief hiatus, Rolling Stone Magazine’s Christopher Weingarten said ‘Big Ears 2014 is the most ambitious avant-garde festival to emerge in America in more than a decade.” 

“Contained within a walkable radius of historic downtown Knoxville— in a range of ornate landmark theaters, refurbished industrial spaces, art galleries, churches, and clubs— it creates its own atmospheric climate, along with a center of gravity,” describes NPR Music. “From its first iteration in 2009, the festival has been a locus of expedition, defined more by a go-anywhere ethos than by any style or genre allegiance.”