Ashley Capps catches his breath after leaving his legendary concert firm. Now his world wide open

Ashley Capps viewed Knoxville as a “blank slate” when he started his career more than 40 years ago, but some people questioned why he would want to promote concerts in his East Tennessee hometown.

The answer was quite simple, he said: “Because no one else is.”

The blank slate metaphor doesn't quite work for Knoxville anymore.

Capps left AC Entertainment, his groundbreaking music promotion company, last March after selling it to Live Nation in 2020. It feels like an “opportunity to breathe,” he said, as he focuses more than ever on growing the envelope-pushing Big Ears Festival.

It's set to bring a record-breaking crowd to downtown Knoxville this weekend.

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When the festival is over, Capps will keep working on the next one and will remain open to new opportunities. Then again, he is fine if no opportunities come his way.

Throughout his career, the 67-year-old Capps has worked tirelessly to grow Knoxville's music scene. He's worked to open music venues, revitalize downtown theaters and create world-renowned festivals – all accomplishments that have inspired the next generation of concert promoters.

The important thing, Capps said, is that people understand he is not retired. And he might not ever be.

“(Music is) a lens through which I experience the world in so many ways,” he told Knox News. “I’m really taking it a day at a time in the best possible way.”

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It's practically a full-time gig organizing Big Ears, which has been garnering critical acclaim since 2009. The festival sold out in record time for the 2022 event, which will be the first Big Ears since 2019.

Capps is excited to grow the festival, but that doesn't necessarily mean in size.

"It's really about developing ... a community around music," he said. "Music is the glue. But to me, the social aspects and the community aspects of festivals, in particular, are one of the strongest motivating forces for me."

Organizers of Big Ears, taking place this weekend in downtown Knoxville, have added community experiences to take the festival to the next level.

It's heading outdoors for the first time, with two nights of free concerts at the Tennessee Amphitheater in World's Fair Park.

A New Orleans-style parade, led by Preservation Hall Jazz Band, will include locally made puppets and will conclude with a free street party at Southern Railway Station.

A literary lineup with a focus on Black voices and the Appalachian region will be headlined by world-renowned poet and Knoxville native Nikki Giovanni.

"A lot of what's important about the Big Ears experience happens on the street, not in the concert hall, and it's not just about music," Capps said. "If it was just about the music and just about watching the concerts, I might just decide to start going to concerts and not try to book them."

But a world without Capps booking concerts is difficult to imagine.

Focused on building 'a festival of ideas'

Even before leaving AC Entertainment, Capps had separated himself from booking Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, a destination event for music lovers co-founded by Capps 20 years ago in Manchester, Tennessee.

"I wasn't sure what I would realistically have to contribute to that situation," he said. "I didn't feel like I was abandoning anyone (by leaving the company). I felt like it was the right move for everyone concerned."

What makes booking Big Ears different?

Big Ears, now its own nonprofit, is "a festival of ideas," Capps told Knox News by email — ideas about creating community, living together as humans, connecting to the natural world and celebrating traditions.

"Ultimately, Big Ears aspires to be a conversation about these ideas, and the music – along with its inspirations, influences, and aspirations – is an expression and manifestation of that," he wrote. "My true goal is to lure more people into that conversation. Booking the music is only a part of that."

Of course, Bonnaroo was built on many of these same values, namely the focus on creating community through shared experiences. Much of what Capps learned from Bonnaroo has been applied to Big Ears.

But the sheer magnitude of Bonnaroo requires a different approach.

"I love Bonnaroo," he said. "I'm very proud of what we created there, but Big Ears now offers more freedom, more opportunities to be creative. It's like Bonnaroo in the early days — full of potential and possibility. That's what I gravitate towards in my work."

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New projects? 'We'll see,' Capps says

In 2015, Capps realized maintaining Bonnaroo's growth was something his company simply did not have the bandwidth or resources to do. Bonnaroo was evolving, he said, and festival partners brought on Live Nation to help shape its future.

That's where the relationship with the global entertainment giant began.

When Capps sold AC Entertainment for an undisclosed sum to Live Nation in January 2020, he knew "there was the distinct possibility that I would be walking away completely."

"I had made something of an adjustment there psychologically that it was really time for a change, and I was ready for that change," he told Knox News. "As things played out, (Live Nation) wanted me to stay, which I thought was a good idea just to make the transition more smooth."

Longtime AC Entertainment employee Ted Heinig took over as president, while Capps transitioned to his new role of senior director. Capps was in this consulting role for roughly six weeks when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the live music industry.

With dramatic changes happening across the industry and the future of live music still uncertain, Capps and Live Nation agreed to cut ties in March 2021.

"I'm enjoying myself," he said. "I've got many, many, many friends all over the country in this business and people who are really creative and working on a lot of really exciting projects. Whether I get involved in any of those or not, who knows? We'll see."

Taking time 'in the best possible way'

While Knoxville has plenty of promoters set on making the city even more of a musical destination, nothing can compete with the impact Big Ears has on the local economy and on the perception outsiders have about the city.

After canceling the 2020 and 2021 festivals because of COVID-19, Big Ears leaders predict 30,000 people will descend on downtown during this year’s festival. That would be a 30%-35% increase in attendance compared to 2019, Capps told Knox News.

As Capps moves to the next phase of his career, Big Ears is preparing for its next chapter of bringing even more people together to experience the social benefits of sharing artistic experiences.

"I've been very, very dedicated to making the most of Big Ears, which I think has a tremendous amount of potential for our community," he said. "It's nice, for once, not trying to be doing too many things — really being able to focus and give something a lot of time and attention to see what you can make of it."

Ryan Wilusz: Knoxville's downtown explorer and urban reporter
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Ashley Capps, no longer with AC Entertainment, focuses on Big Ears