panel Moderator
jeff miller
Jeff Miller is a journalist, musician, and community-builder devoted to turning audiences into participants. A Rolling Stone contributor and the founding editor of Thrillist Los Angeles, his work has also appeared in Billboard, Variety, Esquire, and the Los Angeles Times. He fronts and manages LA’s perennial millennial party band Black Crystal Wolf Kids, co-created Pizza Jam (no setlist! no band! no rules!) and has produced Citystock, his annual community-driven music festival, for 21 years, many of which have featured Ramble faves including The Sweet Lilies and Andy Frasco and The UN. He’s also a fixture at The Spot on Jam Cruise, where he’s known as Superman thanks to his frequently deployed Superman onesie. Whether moderating a panel, interviewing someone in the middle of the action, or jumping into a jam, Jeff specializes in creating and documenting communal joy.
The State of the Festival Industry
Saturday 2:30pm on the Ramble Stage
A candid conversation with festival industry professionals about the changing landscape of independent festivals - where things stand, the challenges facing the industry, and what the future might hold.
Greg Knight
Publicist & Artist Manager, Greg Knight Music
Greg Knight is a publicist and artist manager and the founder of Greg Knight Music, working across the independent live music landscape with artists and festivals at every stage of growth. He manages rising band Hot Like Mars and serves as publicist for the Ramble Festival and Northlands Music Festival, while his publicity work has included artists such as Goose, George Clinton, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Big Something, Mountain Grass Unit, and Natalie Brooke. With a perspective spanning artist development, festival promotion, management, and media relations, Greg has a firsthand view of how artists, festivals, and their audiences find and grow with one another in an increasingly crowded live music landscape. His work is rooted in helping great music reach the people and communities most likely to connect with it.
Jason Kupperman
Agent & Founder, Golden Gate Talent
After 15 years of being an agent and 20+ years in the music business, I’m still moved by an incredible live show. A great song can have you humming for days but connecting with the audience and finding a way to allow a fan to forget their worries and just be happy in the moment for 90 minutes is a gift and the best bands bring you to that space. Those are the bands I want to represent, regardless of genre. Finding new talent and developing artists is difficult and not for the faint of heart but achieving milestones remains incredibly rewarding. And most important is doing it with good people. If you’re about this, we should be friends. On the side, I torture myself as a fanatical Giants fan, attempt to stay in shape and am down for any type of Dad joke.
Co-Founder & Producer, The Ramble Festival
Artist Manager, Ramble On Management
Brick Lohr
Brick Lohr is the co-founder and producer of the Ramble Festival and the founder of Ramble On Management, where he manages Natalie Brooke. He has a passion for building community, connecting people, and discovering new and up-and-coming music. Through his work as both a festival producer and artist manager, Brick brings a perspective shaped by the challenges and opportunities facing independent festivals and emerging artists alike. At the heart of everything he does is a belief that live music is at its best when it brings people together and creates genuine, lasting connections.
Annabel Lukins
Festival Producer, Cloud 9 Adventures
Annabel Lukins, standing 5 feet tall, is taller in personality than most humans. Her career in the music business started back in 1998 at MTV, and she has stuck it out in an industry filled with joy and uncertainty since then. In 2003, she started working at Cloud 9 Adventures helping to run international music festivals such as Jam Cruise, Strings & Sol, Panic en la Playa and more in Artist Relations & Artist Programming. She has been called the artist whisperer by many and has captured the hearts of thousands of musicians, including many who play at The Ramble. While working at Cloud 9, she spent 3 years at the Artist Village manager at Lollapalooza as well as 20 years at Bonnaroo, 13 of them at the Sonic Stage where she booked, managed & emceed the beloved stage. This is her first year at The Ramble and we welcome this powerhouse with open arms. She will fit right in.
Artist, Big Something
Festival Producer, The Big What?
Nick MacDaniels
Nick MacDaniels is the lead vocalist and guitarist of Big Something and a driving force behind the band’s annual music festival, The Big What?. For more than a decade, Nick has helped grow The Big What? from a grassroots gathering into a thriving community built around live music, creativity, collaboration, and shared experience. As both a touring musician and festival producer, he brings a unique perspective on the independent festival landscape—experiencing its challenges and opportunities from both the stage and behind the scenes. At the center of his work is a deep appreciation for the community that forms around live music and the independent events that give artists and fans a place to connect.We trust this leader to synchronize production, logistics, and support functions, cultivating dependable processes that uphold our service commitments.
Sunday 12:45pm on the Ramble Stage
How does a song come to life? ripe takes us inside their songwriting process - from inspiration and collaboration to turning an idea into a finished song.
the ripe songwriting process
Ripe
Ripe is a band built on collaboration, community, and the creative energy that comes from making music together. From writing their earliest songs in a basement beneath a Subway sandwich shop to recording in dream studios alongside trusted collaborators, the band’s evolution has always been a shared experience. Across albums including Joy in the Wild Unknown, Bright Blues, and Play the Game, Ripe has embraced change, experimentation, and connection as essential parts of the creative process—turning individual ideas into songs through the chemistry and perspective of the collective.