The 2016 Big Ears Festival gets under way in Knoxville, Tennessee, today, and featured among the performers are several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass, Olivia Chaney, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, and Bombino. Big Ears will be held at venues throughout downtown Knoxville through Saturday.

London-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Olivia Chaney makes her Big Ears Festival debut with a performance on tonight, featuring music from her debut album, The Longest River, released last year on Nonesuch Records.

Laurie Anderson, who performed at Big Ears with Kronos Quartet last year, begins a full day of events after midnight on Friday, hosting a late-night jam with DRONES, a sound installation designed by her late husband, Lou Reed. Attendees are invited to bring an instrument and join in well into the night. Not too many hours later, her new film, Heart of a Dog, for which Nonesuch released the soundtrack, will be given a free screening at the Tennessee Theatre Saturday morning, followed by a Q&A with Anderson. That afternoon, she reunites with Philip Glass, taking the Tennessee Theatre stage for the North American debut of the collaboration they first unveiled at the Ravello Festival in Italy last summer.

Sam Amidon has a busy Saturday as well. Having performed songs from his new album, Lily-O, at Big Ears last year, he joins composer/pianist Nico Muhly and violist Nadia Sirota for an Saturday evening set at the Bijou Theatre. Later that night, Amidon, Muhly, and Chaney meet up with Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman), who co-produced Amidon's Nonesuch debut album, Bright Sunny South, for an outing of Bartlett's project The Burgundy Stain, also including Bryce Dessner, at The Square Room.

On Friday, Tuareg guitarist and singer Omara "Bombino" Moctar takes the Big Ears Festival stage with a set featuring music from his new album and from his 2013 Dan Auerbach–produced album, Nomad.

For all of the weekend's details, visit bigearsfestival.com.