Melony Dodson, Matthew Motley, Carter Moore and Todd Steed break down the highlights, the joys, the surprises and the possible philosophical ramifications of Big Ears 2025. Highlights? Regrets? It's all here.
Big Ears 2025: The Review
Rob Heller
A Knoxville native, Todd began working at WUOT in 2006 as jazz coordinator now serves as program director and host of Studio 865/Flipside, Improvisations and Changing Course. Todd's newest podcast is Improvisations to Go. Todd got his start in radio at WUTK, where he served as both news and music director while earning his undergraduate degree in journalism at UT. He later earned a master’s degree in education from UT and worked for several years in Programs Abroad. Recently, Todd was inducted into the East Tennessee Writer's Hall of Fame.
You can reach Todd at steed@wuot.org
You can reach Todd at steed@wuot.org
Melony calls the beautiful mountains of Boone, N.C., home, although she was born near Greensboro, N.C. There’s just something about those Blue Ridge Mountains that got in her blood and never left after she moved there to attend Appalachian State University (ASU). While at ASU, she majored in piano performance and music therapy and began to cultivate a love for accompanying and for collaborating with other musicians. This soon led her to earn a master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Tennessee, which she attended from 2006-2008.
A Kansas native, Matthew began his journey south by attending the University of Georgia. It was here that he got his start in public radio, working on WUGA’s classical program Night Music. After graduating in 2024 with degrees in music and computer science, Matthew joined WUOT as host of the Afternoon Concert.
