Sound Propositions

The final installment of a five-part pilgrimage to the 2026 BIG EARS festival. 
At Big Ears, the Polish pianist and composer moved between two modes: the orchestral expansiveness of her piano concerto Non Fiction with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, and the arpeggiated synth patterns of her solo electronic alter ego Chilling Bambino—a love letter to her Prophet 8 and a chance to escape the rigor of classical composition for smaller, weirder rooms. She discusses why she created the alias ("people who don't know Hania Rani can just enter with curiosity"), the value of creating space to think in an overscheduled world, and the festival's ethos of genre refusal, where listening means staying with what you don't yet understand.
Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp. I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes.
Interview recorded in Knoxville, 29 March 2026
Produced and mixed in St Louis, July 2026
Episode 41: THE PILGRIMAGE - Part 5: WAITING ROOM  - with Hania Rani

LINKS
Hania Rani
Bandcamp
Sheet Music
Non Fiction
Sonic Liberation Front / Radio alHara
Big Ears

TRACKLIST
ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, YEAR)
Hania Rani,  “I.III Meno Mosso” (Non Fiction - Piano Concerto in Four Movements, 2025)
SP INTRO
Hania Rani presents Chilling Bambino, [excerpt] (Live at Tivoli Vredenburg 2025-11-09)
Patrick Watson, “je te laisserai des mots (instrumental)” (2010)
Hania Rani, “II.II Presto” (Non Fiction - Piano Concerto in Four Movements, 2025)
Portico Quartet, “With, Beside, Against (Hania Rani Remix)” (Portico Quartet / Hania Rani, 2021)
Hania Rani presents Chilling Bambino, [excerpt] (Live at Tivoli Vredenburg 2025-11-09)
Hania Rani, “IV. Semplice” (Non Fiction - Piano Concerto in Four Movements, 2025)
Hania Rani presents Chilling Bambino, [excerpt] (Live at Tivoli Vredenburg 2025-11-09)
Hania Rani, “Struggle” (On Giacometti, 2023)
Hania Rani, “There Will Be Hope” (Inner Symphonies, 2021)
Hania Rani, “Waiting” (Music for Film and Theatre, 2021)
—-Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.

The fourth installment of a five-part pilgrimage exploring the 2026 BIG EARS festival.
The drummer of LA quintet SML, Booker Stardrum reflects on the group’s remarkable six-set residency, where groove-based improvisation pivoted from dance party to delicate texture, fueled by the rare alchemy of strong personalities who refuse to dominate. Stardrum also discusses Close-up On The Outside, his deep new solo album for We Jazz, a quiet meditation that showcases his unique compositional voice apart from his collaborators. Against the backdrop of a festival that felt like a love letter to LA’s rise as a gravitational center for contemporary music, he notes the cross-pollination on display: “When we lock in, we lock in. It’s an honor to play with musicians of that talent.”
Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp. I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes.
Interview recorded in Knoxville, 28 March 2026
Produced and mixed in St Louis, July 2026
SOUND PROPOSITIONS podcast
Episode 41: THE PILGRIMAGE
Part 4: IN RESIDENCE - with Booker Stardrum
LINKS
Booker Stardrum (Bandcamp)
SML (Bandcamp)
Cloud Becomes Your Hand
International Anthem
We Jazz
Joyful Noise
Big Ears
TRACKLIST
ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, YEAR)
[Greg Saunier soundchecking for Joyful Noise]
SP INTRO
Booker Stardrum, “Inside Sounds” (Close-up On The Outside, 2026)
Cloud Becomes Yours Hand, “Doggy Paddle (Bogart the Sorghum)” (doggy paddle, 2011)
Cloud Becomes Yours Hand, “Third Avenue Slime” (Rest in Fleas, 2016)
Booker Stardrum, “Telluric (ft. Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Logan Hone)” (Close-up On The Outside, 2026)
Harry Partch and ensemble/Danlee Mitchell, “Castor & Pollux: A Dance for the Twin Rhythms of Gemini” (The World Of Harry Partch, 1968)
Booker Stardrum & Chris Williams, “Ballast” (Relay, 2023)
SML, “Plankton” (How You Been, 2025)
Booker Stardrum, “Close-up On The Outside” (Close-up On The Outside, 2026)
Booker Stardrum, “Dusk (ft. Chris Williams)” (Close-up On The Outside, 2026)
Booker Stardrum, “Diorama” (CRATER, 2021)
SML, “Rubber Tree Dance” (Small Medium Large, 2024)
SML, “Moving Walkway” (How You Been, 2025)
Gregory Uhlmann, “Back Scratch” (Extra Stars, 2026)
Jeff Parker, Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose “2019 07-08 I” (Mondays At The Enfield Tennis Academy, 2022)
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, "Freakadelic" (The Way Out of Easy, 2024)
SML, “Window Sill Song” (Small Medium Large, 2024)
SML, “Taking out the Trash” (How You Been, 2025)
SML, “The Drums” (Spontaneous Music Live, 2026)
SML XL (Jeff Parker and Mikel Patrick Avery), [excerpt] (Live from Greyhound at Big Ears, 28 March 2026)
Play Time, “Open the Door, Joey” (Magic Object, 2026)
Booker Stardrum and Evan Shornstein, “AND A GOOD MONDAY” (OOPS!, 2026)
Booker Stardrum, “Five Finger Cloud” (‘Temporary etc.’, 2018)
Booker Stardrum, “Drim Dram” (‘Dance And’, 2015)
Booker Stardrum, “Phantom Near Interlude” (Flowers Not Bombs, 2026)
—-
Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.

The third installment of a five-part pilgrimage exploring the 2026 BIG EARS festival. 
The harpist Mary Lattimore discusses her duo set with Julianna Barwick in a Knoxville church, where their ethereal songs took on added weight. She reflects on Tragic Magic, their recent full-length born from processing sadness while seeking sparkle, including a song written for them by Roger Eno and a cover of Vangelis' “Rachel's Song" bookended by field recordings of the first rain after the LA fires. She also discusses working with 18th century harps, scoring moving images, and why she likens the festival to summer camp.

Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp. I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes.
Interview recorded in Knoxville, 29 March 2026
Produced and mixed in St Louis, July 2026
LINKS
Mary Lattimore (Bandcamp)
Julianna Barwick (Bandcamp)
InFiné
Big Ears

TRACKLIST
ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, YEAR)
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, “The Four Sleeping Princesses” (Tragic Magic, 2026)
SP INTRO
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, “Perpetual Adoration” (Tragic Magic, 2026)
Julianna Barwick, “Oh Memory ft. Mary Lattimore” (Healing Is A Miracle, 2020)
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, “Temple of the Winds” (Tragic Magic, 2026)
Brian Eno and Roger Eno, “Spring Frost” (Mixing Colours, 2020)
Mary Hopkin and Vangelis, “Rachel’s Song” [1982] (Blade Runner, 1994)
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, “Rachel’s Song” (Tragic Magic, 2026)
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, “Melted Moon” (Tragic Magic, 2026)
Mary Lattimore + Laraaji + Mizu + Jamal Shakeri, “Midnight Moon Pool (Womb Of The Soul)” (Red Hot Org - TRAИƧA, 2024)
Mary Lattimore & Meg Baird “Fair Annie” (7-Inches For Planned Parenthood, 2017)
Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements, “The Poppies, the Wild Mustard, the Blue-Eyed Grass” (Rain on the Road, 2024)
Mary Lattimore & Dave Mies, “Winter Wind” (2016-02-07 — Live at Trans-Pecos, 2016)
Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler, “The White Balloon” (Slant of Light, 2014)
Mary Lattimore, “Silver Ladders” (Silver Ladders, 2020)
—-
Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.

The second installment of a five-part pilgrimage exploring the 2026 BIG EARS festival. The Welsh guitarist brought her "Welsh primitive" to a dive bar in Knoxville—Appalachian fingerpicking channeled through 90s punk energy, delivered barefoot and shredding by noon with thumb picks in hand. She discusses reinvention over preservation (tradition, she says, is just "good licks"), her first-ever pilgrimage to Appalachia (and its surprising links to Wales), last year's ACL-beloved Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, her recent WFMU live album, and her surprisingly effective duo with the "diametrically opposed" Hayden Pedigo.Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp. I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes.s
Interviews recorded in Knoxville, 29 March 2026Produced and mixed in St Louis, July 2026LINKSGwenifer Raymond
Bandcamp
WFMU
Big Ears
TRACKLISTARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, LABEL, YEAR)
Gwenifer Raymond, “Worn Out Blues” (Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, 2020)Orcutt Shelley Miller, “Unsafe At Any Speed” (Orcutt Shelley Miller, 2025)SP INTROGwenifer Raymond, “Bliws Afon Tâf” (Live at WFMU, 2026)Gwenifer Raymond, “One Day You’ll Lie Here But Everything Will Have Changed” (Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark, 2025)Gwenifer Raymond, “Requiem for John Fahey” (You Never Were Much of a Dancer, 2018)Gwenifer Raymond, “The Three Deaths of Red Spectre” (The Three Deaths of Red Spectre, 2018)Nirvana, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (MTV Unplugged in New York, 1994)Leadbelly [Huddie Ledbetter], “In the Pines” [1944] (Where Did You Sleep Last Night?(Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1), 1996)[soundcheck]Mississippi John Hurt, “Frankie (And Albert)” (The Early Blues Roots Of Bob Dylan, 2020)Hayden Pedigo, “Smoked” (I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away, 2025)Gwenifer Raymond, “Eulogy for Dead French Composer” (Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, 2020)Gwenifer Raymond, “Sometimes There’s Blood” (Sometimes There’s Blood, 2015)Gwenifer Raymond, “Bleeding Finger Blues” (You Never Were Much of a Dancer, 2018)Gwenifer Raymond, “Bonfire of the Billionaires” (Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark, 2025)—-Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.

The first installment of a five-part pilgrimage exploring the 2026 BIG EARS festival. 
Chuck Johnson, known for his pedal steel work, talks about his sample-based solo drone set in St. John's Cathedral, a fitting stage to deliver tectonic, low-end rumbles and sustained harmonics, as documented on his live Caoine series. The episode also recaps the "Scoring the Story" panel, breaking down the grueling labor and ego-suspension required in film composing. Johnson also explains why this spacious, filter-driven shift felt like the next logical step for his practice, and how it has grown out of his recent practice as a DJ. 

Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp.  I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes.

Interview recorded in Knoxville, 27 March 2026
Produced and mixed in St Louis, July 2026

SP* Episode 41: THE PILGRIMAGE - Part 1: TECTONIC PRAYERS - with Chuck Johnson 

LINKS
Chuck Johnson
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Big Ears

Part 1: TECTONIC PRAYERS - with Chuck Johnson 

TRACKLIST
ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, LABEL, YEAR)
Chuck Johnson, “Sunrise” (The Guestworker, 2015)
SP INTRO
Chuck Johnson, “Caoine 6 [excerpt]” (Caoine 6, 2025)
Chuck Johnson, “Teleos” (Sun Glories, 2024)
Chuck Johnson, “Ground Wave (ft. Clarice Jensen)” (Sun Glories, 2024)
Chuck Johnson & Clarice Jensen, [excerpt]  (Live at Lodge Room, Los-Angeles, 2026)
Chuck Johnson, Constellation (The Cinder Grove, 2021)
Chuck Johnson, “More Surreal” (Music From Burden Of Proof, 2023)
Chuck Johnson, “Open road and hard stories” (Somewhere South, 2020)
Chuck Johnson x Koen Holtkamp, Labradorite Eye (Remix)” (CRXSSINGS, 2019)
Chuck Johnson & JWPATON, “Tangled mirror yarn” (Tangled mirror yarn, 2022)
Chuck Johnson, “Albion Source” (Live at La Vaca Azul, 2018)
Chuck Johnson, “Spiralic” (Across The Horizon Vol. 2 Drop 4, 2026)
Chuck Johnson, “The Pace” (Velvet Arc, 2016)
—-Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.