The Ark

Seth Bernard
2024-06-04 20:00 - 23:00 (America/New_York) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Seth Bernard’s journey—from potent young Interlochen Center for the Arts idealist to iconic troubadour of the Great Lakes region—has been rooted in the woods and water, soil and soul of Michigan. Born on Earthwork Farm in Lake City on April Fools Day 1980, Bernard has been playing the trickster-bard ever since.
Seth came to an understanding early that music, poetry and art, along with activism, farming and earth science, all intertwine into one great work. Probably because of the crowded farm dinner table, where books of poetry, tapes of jazz, blues, rock n’ roll and traditional music, guests of all kinds, and even the occasional raptor being rehabbed all shared space. Some folks call this “folklife,” and in Seth’s music it’s as likely to show up through a Casio SK-1 or a Gretsch electric as much as a fiddle or high harmony.
“Michigan proved to be the most richly varied region for folk music that I had ever visited,” said Alan Lomax. Listening to these old voices and resisting the siren song of Nashville, Austin, or NYC, Seth decided to root his work and his music in rural Michigan. That choice has led to a uniquely Michigan musical anatomy, which ties ongoing inventiveness (most clearly on display with the Eggtones quadrilogy, released from 2016 to 2018) to a commitment to a great live show, whether on NPR or at SXSW or sharing a stage with the likes of John Prine, Patty Griffin, Daniel Johnston and Greg Brown. Most importantly, it ties Seth and his music to a life of work on behalf of the youth, equity, water and community throughout the Great Lakes.
Even as COVID limited live performance, Seth used the time to produce two quarantine albums, 2020’s lo-fi home recording Let Love Light the Way and 2021’s My Heart is My Home, calling in performances from friends like Theo Katzman (Vulfpeck) and Dave Bruzza (Greensky Bluegrass). These two solo albums bring the total to twelve in a career that now spans two decades.
Like a true old-school folkie, he writes and plays the songs because they mean something, and that something they mean drives a life beyond just playing songs.

The Cadillac Cowboys
2024-06-02 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Some traditions die hard; others just continue to survive despite all odds. The latter is the case with the Cadillac Cowboys. When the Country Volunteers first took the stage of Mr. Flood’s Party in Ann Arbor, back in 1974 no one ever knew what assortment of rag-tag volunteers would show up from one week to the next. Eventually, the lineup began to solidify into a regular outfit that came to be known as the Cadillac Cowboys and, 50 years later, here they are playing the western swing, boogie woogie, classic country and rock & roll that’s as comfortable as an old pair of cowboy boots. Amazing enough. But what’s more amazing is that the Cadillac Cowboys play their tunes with the same freshness, rawness, and energy that they brought to the stage in those early years. It wouldn’t be surprising if, as you listen, you begin to envision the Tiffany lamps, long crowded benches, peanut shells on the floor. Those days may be gone, but this music is timeless.

The Trials of Cato
2024-06-02 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The remarkable rise of BBC Radio 2 award winning trio The Trials of Cato on the UK folk-scene has been the subject of massive critical attention. Dubbed “the Sex Pistols of folk,” (J Davis) they pay clear homage to the tradition whilst twisting old bones into something febrile and modern, with stomping tunes and captivating stories.

Notably formed in Beirut, Lebanon, The Trials of Cato have blazed a trail like no other since returning to the UK in 2016. Memorable performances across Britain, Europe, and North America led to Mark Radcliffe hailing the band ‘one of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times,’ with their 2018 debut Hide and Hair going on to win the BBC Radio 2 ‘Best Album’ Folk Award. With their latest offering Gog Magog, The Trials of Cato present their most daring music to date.

Lizzie No
2024-06-01 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
New York singer-songwriter, harpist and guitarist Lizzie No is one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary indie folk music. Her 2017 debut album, “Hard Won,” was hailed as “simultaneously understated and fervent” by Billboard magazine. No’s 2019 album, “Vanity”, was a hit at college radio stations across the country, cracking the NACC Top Adds Chart. Rolling Stone called the first single, “Narcissus,” a “crisp alt-rock gem” and a Song You Need To Know. Since then she’s released a sophomore album and a surprise home-studio-made EP, and she’s bringing a bold new album, “Halfsies,” to The Ark. She’s a guest co-host of the Basic Folk podcast team, and she’s toured with Iron & Wine, Adia Victoria, Ron Pope, Sarah Shook and The Disarmers, and she’s been showcased at festivals like Newport, Americanafest, South by Southwest, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Classical arrangements of Lizzie’s songs have been performed at the Louisville Orchestra’s Festival of American Music and the Downtown Chamber Series. Lizzie is also a winner of the American Songwriter Lyrics Contest.

Justin Roberts
2024-06-01 11:00 - 13:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Four-time GRAMMY Nominee Justin Roberts is one of the founders of the modern family music scene. For 25 years, Roberts has been creating the soundtrack to families’ lives, helping kids navigate the joys and sorrows of growing up, while inspiring parents to remember their own childhoods. His songs are the kind of get-stuck-in-your-head pop nuggets that draw comparisons to Elvis Costello, Fountains of Wayne, and Paul Simon rather than simple nursery rhymes, prompting USA Today to call him “hands-down the best songwriter in the genre.”
Along with his band, The Not Ready for Naptime Players, Justin has traveled the globe, from Hong Kong to New York, and Miami to Seattle. His latest album, Space Cadet, is a return to his power pop all-ages sound. Heavily inspired by his life as a new dad, the feel-good album offers themes of inclusion and acceptance that wind through emotionally intelligent songs. Roberts creates a welcoming space for children to celebrate their uniqueness and dance it all out.

Mike Massé
2024-05-31 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Mike Massé is the new voice of classic rock. Don’t miss this amazing show of Mike performing some of the best classic rock songs of all time acoustically: Toto, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles… His YouTube video views are in the millions, and he’s a unique talent. Mike Massé returns to Ann Arbor for this intimate evening of acoustic music. Mike is an internationally acclaimed artist whose arrangements are praised for their originality and emotional honesty. Legends of rock, including Toto, Boston, Sarah McLachlan, Asia, and others have expressed their love and gratitude for his renditions of their finest works. This an opportunity for friends and families to bond over timeless music. All ages are welcome. From the 1960s to the 1990s, there will be something in the concert from each era.

Kyshona
2024-05-30 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Kyshona lends her voice and music to those who feel silenced, forgotten or alone. She began her career as a music therapist, writing her first songs with patients — students and inmates under her care. She became compelled to write independently and find her own voice, an endeavor which led her to the Nashville creative community and songwriting culture. Since then, she balances her music career with her passion to heal in community through her organization Your Song.
Kyshona comes to The Ark with her new album, “Legacy,” which tells the story of her family’s journey. Kyshona shares her story while inviting listeners and concert goers to join her in exploration of self, healing and growth.

Shawn Phillips
2024-05-29 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Ark is proud to present The Legendary Shawn Phillips

The man whom Bill Graham called “The best kept secret in the music business”, who taught Joni Mitchell her first guitar techniques, also taught George Harrison of the Beatles his first lessons on Sitar, the man who wrote the music to Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch” and has played with many of the finest musicians in the world including Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. He’s produced 27 albums and is known around the world for his refusal to bow down to commercialism in the music industry.

He has done what many singer/songwriters don’t do, which is to continue to evolve his creative skills in his concerts. When he comes into a venue, he brings the sounds of an entire Symphony Orchestra in real time and plays the songs so many love as close as possible to what was recorded on the albums. All in real time! All solo!

He has a powerful new show he is debuting on his 2024 tour. This is a show you do not want to miss!

Tickets are going fast, so you should book now!

Mouths of Babes
2024-05-28 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
With more than a dozen albums and over a thousand shows between them, Ty Greenstein and Ingrid Elizabeth of Mouths of Babes are no strangers to the contemporary folk-Americana music scene. For years, their respective bands Girlyman and Coyote Grace captivated thousands of loyal fans as they crisscrossed the country, rocked festival main stages, and toured with the likes of Indigo Girls and Dar Williams. Now they have distilled the very best of the songwriting, musicianship, and humor of their previous groups into a power duo that brings more depth and style than ever before.
The Ark’s Artist Spotlight Series is made possible with support from Ford Philanthropy. It is presented live, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page.
Tonight’s show is FREE (nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers).

Aaron Jonah Lewis's Ragtime Banjo Revival
2024-05-24 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Aaron Jonah Lewis’s Ragtime Banjo Revival thrills and delights audiences with fresh arrangements of classic, novelty, and British ragtime pieces for cello, banjo and guitar, plus blues and early jazz fiddle music, centering the contributions and influence of Black American composers. The group creates a relaxed and enlivening space to experience popular music of the past and to connect with a greater sense of our shared cultural history. With a curious and optimistic spirit, Ragtime Banjo Revival educates and inspires, welcoming the newcomer and cultivating respect across the lines of difference.
Ragtime banjo is rooted in African-American music that was appropriated for minstrel shows and which mingled with other popular styles of European and distinctly American origin. It can be played with conservatory precision or with the raw energy of a street band. The selections and arrangements of Ragtime Banjo Revival founder Aaron Jonah Lewis aim at the intersection of these modes, balancing elegance and abandon, dignity and freedom, and fostering the unique dynamic of feeling that thrives there. Aaron is joined by cellist King Sophia and guitarist Alex Belhaj.

Ari Hest // Mike Vial
2024-05-23 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ari Hest is a Grammy nominated indie folk singer/songwriter who built a fiercely loyal following through relentless touring over the past two decades. In addition to releasing 10 albums in that time, in 2008 Ari wrote, recorded, and released a new song every Monday during a project he called “52,” and subsequently released “Twelve Mondays” in 2009 – a collection of re-mixed fan favorites from “52”.
In 2017, Ari collaborated with Judy Collins to release “Silver Skies Blue”, a duets album that earned them a Grammy nomination that year.
Mike Vial is a singer-songwriter and educator based in Ann Arbor. He won the Ypsilanti Songwriting Festival award in 2010 and the Blue Owl Songwriting award in 2014. He teaches at Community High School.

Tim Easton
2024-05-22 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
A mainstay of American roots music for more than 20 years, Tim Easton crafts songs that blur the lines between folk, blues, and workingman’s rock & roll. It’s an honest sound influenced not only by the flat-pickers and folksingers who came before him, but also the arc of Easton’s own experience. Born within a stone’s throw of the Niagara River, he spent his childhood in upstate New York and midwestern Ohio, raised on the sounds of trailblazers like Doc Watson and Woody Guthrie. Following in his heroes’ footsteps, he grew into a modern-day troubadour, busking his way around Europe for the better part of a decade before heading back home to America. Although he eventually settled in East Nashville, his touring schedule continued to take him across much of the world, from barroom gigs in rural Alaska to festival appearances in Russia. Years before Americana music received its own category at the Grammy Awards, Tim Easton helped pioneer the genre’s mix of classic inspiration and contemporary interpretation, writing songs that nodded to his influences while still acknowledging the sounds of the modern world. Tim comes to The Ark with his new album, “North American Songwriter.” This double LP–the first two volumes in a series–features acoustic recordings of favorite songs from his vast catalog of original material.

The Decemberists
2024-05-22 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
For over 20 years, The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Founded in the year 2000, The Decemberists’ distinctive brand of hyper-literate folk-rock set them apart from the start with the release of their debut EP 5 Songs in 2001. Since then, the band has released nine full-length albums that are unbound by genre and highly ambitious, ranging from Americana-leaning storytelling epics to elements of 70’s prog and hard rock.
Now the enduring indie band is back with their first new music in six years, “Burial Ground.” Already a fan-favorite after being debuted live last year, their latest single takes the overt fatalism of 2018’s I’ll Be Your Girl and infuses it with the jangle-pop of The Dentists and dreamy harmonies of The Beach Boys (performed with an assist from The Shins’ James Mercer). “‘Burial Ground’ is in that time-honored popsong tradition, a paean to hanging out in graveyards,” says songwriter Colin Meloy. “The melody hook came to me in a dream and I hummed it into my phone on waking. Most dream-songs are bad; this was the exception.”
The Decemberists will be on tour with more new music to come!

Luke Winslow-King featuring Roberto Luti
2024-05-21 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Originally from Cadillac, Michigan, Luke Winslow-King is a career rock & roll guitarist, singer, producer, and songwriter. Having spent more than 15 years in New Orleans, and recording his 2008 album (Old/New Baby) at Preservation Hall, he was named ‘Best Blues Artist’ by Gambit Magazine. His 2018 hit, ‘I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always’ is nearing 10 million streams on Spotify. He was named a voting member of the Grammy Recording Academy in 2022. Now living in Calatayud, Spain, he continues to pursue his global quest; delivering honest, powerful, rustic, and authentic peoples music by stage and recording alike.
Joining Luke is Tuscan slide guitar maestro Roberto Luti. With his unorthodox, angular, and evocative slide guitar style, Luti made a name for himself during his nearly decade-long residency in New Orleans. He became an integral part of international recording project Playing For Change; laying the original tracks for songs which have accumulated over 100 million plays on YouTube collaborating with: Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Buddy Guy, Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, Manu Chao, Toots and the Maytalls, and Dr. John.

Judy Collins
2024-05-20 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 50-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.
The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honored her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.
Judy is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. She is a modern day Renaissance woman who is also an accomplished painter, filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.

Kitty Donohoe & Friends
2024-05-19 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
50 Years and Still Going Strong!
Michigan Emmy-winning songwriter Kitty Donohoe, based in Ann Arbor, is celebrating more than 50 years as a performing singer-songwriter. She recently received the 2024 Michigan Heritage Award for her 30 plus years of entertaining audiences with her original songs about our state, as well as being named a finalist and Outstanding Achievement Award for three of her songs by the Great American Song Contest in 2022. Drawing from her Irish, Canadian and American roots, Kitty backs herself on guitar, cittern and piano to write songs that can be uplifting, thought-provoking, celebratory, moody, quirky, humorous and everything in between! Tonight Kitty will be joined by several old friends including David Mosher, Carol Palms, The Yellow Room Gang, Mike Ball, Neil Woodward, Wanda Degen, David Reske, and more.
Also a children’s author, Kitty’s first kids book is the recipient of a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and she’s working on books two and three. She’s also releasing an all-instrumental project this spring and hard at work at another full-length album.

Joshua Davis
2024-05-18 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Over the past twenty years, Michigan-based Joshua Davis has honed an impressive range of skills – songwriter, bandleader, guitarist, and vocalist among them – in the most honest possible fashion: night after night, song after song, show after show Davis simply delivered every performance as though his life depended on it. Investing himself in the American musical diaspora, he has explored the common thread connecting folk, blues, jazz, ragtime, and country forms – discovering his personal perspective as a composer in the process. “The music that moves me is imperfect, honest and raw.” Joshua explains, “Those qualities are what turned me on to Delta blues, to punk rock, to old soul, and traditional music from all over the globe. It’s all about feel. It’s ragged but right.” His versatility and ravenous musical curiosity has resulted in a divergent and fervent output. Joshua was a finalist on Season 8 of NBC’s “The Voice,” where he was the first contestant to sing an original song on the show.
Joshua will be joined by his band: bassist Zak Bunce, drummer Michael Shimmin, and multi-instrumentalist Drew Howard on pedal steel and electric guitar.

Jeffrey Martin
2024-05-17 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Portland, Oregon’s Jeffrey Martin is a minister’s son who can build a house with his bare hands. One night in middle school he stayed up under the covers with a flashlight and a DiscMan, listening to Reba McEntire’s “That’s the Night that the Lights Went Out in Georgia”’ on repeat until the DiscMan ran out of batteries. That night he became a songwriter, although he didn’t actually write a song until years later. Jeffrey holds a master’s degree in English. He worked his way through school as a carpenter, then, following graduation, spent four years teaching high school. Jeffrey writes music that probes the depths of the human experience and doesn’t shy away from its darkest corners. We were introduced to Jeffrey at last summer’s Ark Art Fair stage, and we’re looking forward to hearing more!

Katie Pruitt - Mantras Tour
2024-05-16 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Katie Pruitt is living proof of music’s power to transform the way we experience the world. Soon after the arrival of her acclaimed debut Expectations—a 2020 LP on which she documented her journey in growing up queer in the Christian South—the Georgia-bred singer / songwriter / guitarist heard from countless listeners that her songs had impacted their lives on an elemental level. With her sophomore album Mantras, the Nashville-based musician now looks inward to explore such matters as gender identity, self-compassion or the lack thereof, and the struggle for peace in times of chaos and uncertainty—ultimately arriving at a body of work that speaks to the strength in undoing harmful self-beliefs and fully living your truth.
Mainly produced by Collin Pastore and Jake Finch (both known for their work with boygenius and Lucy Dacus), Mantras delves deeper into the empathetic storytelling and incisive self-examination that defined Expectations—an album that earned Pruitt a nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year from the Americana Music Association, in addition to drawing praise from major outlets like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. This time around, Pruitt sets her lived-in lyricism to a folk-leaning sound informed by her love for the more experimental edges of indie-rock, stacking her songs with plenty of propulsive grooves and overdriven guitars.
Looking over the tracklist to Mantras, Pruitt notes that a certain narrative thread emerged without her intention. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but the throughline for this record ended up being my own personal journey of letting go and learning how to love myself again—it begins with tension, frustration, and fear and resolves to a place of acceptance, surrender, and stillness,” she says. “I hope when people hear the record they feel what I felt after writing it, which was a sense of trusting myself and trusting that—no matter how bad things look—there’s always hope where there’s fear. I know that so much of the time we feel alone in our pain, so hopefully these songs help everyone to see that they can work through those big life changes and end up loving themselves a lot more.”

ZG Smith
2024-05-15 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The son of an English professor mother and a shipwreck diver/underwater archaeologist father, indie-folk singer-songwriter, artist, and Los Angeles native ZG Smith has called Nashville home for a decade. Before moving to Tennessee, he spent his youth surfing, dialing in complex percussion routines on an award-winning high school drumline, experimenting with various elicit substances, and eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology, with a focus on Brazilian percussion, from UCLA. Since moving to Music City in his mid-twenties, he’s racked up a formidable cache of musical successes including touring extensively throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, being frontman, primary songwriter, and founding member of Americana duo Smooth Hound Smith, and sharing stages with acts like The Chicks, Trombone Shorty, Collective Soul, and Devon Gilfillian. His poignant and ethereal debut solo EP, Nighttime Animal, was released in February of 2023 and has garnered airplay and attention from musical curators and press outlets alike, not the least of which include Minneapolis’s The Current, NPR’s World Cafe, Nashville’s Lightning 100, PopMatters, The Bluegrass Situation, NashvilleSCENE, UnderTheRadar, and more. He is currently touring selectively and working on new music.

Grant-Lee Phillips
2024-05-14 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Audiences first discovered Grant-Lee Phillips’ thoughtful, literate songwriting in context of the rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, a trio which found success with the 1993 debut Fuzzy. The title track catapulted the group to international recognition. Grant Lee Buffalo followed up Fuzzy with 1994’s Mighty Joe Moon (an album featuring the modern rock hit “Mockingbirds”) and two more well-received full-lengths, 1996’s Copperopolis and 1998’s Jubilee. Beginning with his 2000 solo debut Ladies’ Love Oracle, Phillips opened another chapter in his career, as a folk- and Americana-focused artist crafting songs and stories rich with details and humanity. He returns to The Ark with his 10th solo album, “All That You Can Dream,” as well as the 25th anniversary vinyl reissue of his first solo album, “Ladies Love Oracle,” recorded in 1999.

Community High Jazz Blowout
2024-05-13 18:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ann Arbor’s Community High Jazz is one of the best programs of its kind anywhere. The Ark is proud to host this year’s students on stage for two shows: one at 6:00 and another at 8:00.

Robbie Fulks & Scott Miller
2024-05-12 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Robbie Fulks is a singer, recording artist, instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter. His current release, “Bluegrass Vacation” on Compass Records, returns him to his bluegrass roots, with a large group of masterful musicians including Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Justin Moses, Ronnie McCoury, Alison Brown, David Grier, Tim O’Brien, Todd Phillips, John Cowan, Brennen Leigh, Randy Kohrs, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Shad Cobb, and Chris Eldridge. Across 11 new original songs (and one freewheeling interpretation of the Delmore Brothers), Robbie covers themes like small-town blues, the endurance of childhood memory, inebriation, love, divorce, the role of music in strengthening family bonds, losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s, and bluegrass itself.
Recently inducted to the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame, fiery roots-rock singer/songwriter Scott Miller returned to his native Virginia to tend the family farm while continuing to release and perform new music informed by that rural area, history, and Appalachia. “[Miller combines] the emotional honesty and intelligence of a singer/songwriter with the swagger and enthusiasm of a rock & roller… a gifted and eclectic solo artist.” (AllMusic.com) Recently on tour with Patty Griffin, Robbie Fulks, Paul Thorn, Robin & Linda Williams, and American Aquarium.

The Ballroom Thieves
2024-05-11 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
As acclaimed indie folk band The Ballroom Thieves wrote and recorded their upcoming album, one central question emerged as the theme: “What if we could all just be a little more tender?” The duo – Calin Peters (vocals, cello, bass) and Martin Earley (vocals, guitar) – started to ponder what they could do to be more self-aware of their mental health and of those around them in a world oversaturated by social media, pop-culture, and digital consumption. The result is a personal, lush, 10-track collection of thoughts on the human experience called Sundust.
For more than a decade, Earley and Peters have been combining their thoughts and musical abilities. They’ve toured the US dozens of times, ventured into Europe, Canada, and even managed a journey from Maine to Hawaii to Alaska in one trip, all to play their music for the dedicated fanbase they’ve been steadily growing, person by person. The two have played beautiful theaters like Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, well-loved festivals like Newport Folk, and legendary rooms like LA’s Troubadour. They’ve been known to power slide across stages on bloody knees with their full band and silence packed rooms for 90 minutes with their lyrics and harmonies, accompanied only by a cello and an acoustic guitar during their more intimate duo shows.
Their most personal album to date, Sundust is about self-awareness, breaking down walls that trauma creates, and healing from harshness, but it’s also about finding the glimmers, the striking beauty of being a person, and a longing for connection with healthy people. Sundust will be released on April 12 via Nettwerk.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
2024-05-11 19:00 - 23:00 | The Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48201, United States
Grammy winner Molly Tuttle brings her band to The Majestic Theatre with their new album, City of Gold. One of the most compelling new voices in the roots music world, Molly Tuttle is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter with a lifelong love of bluegrass, a genre the Northern California-bred artist first discovered thanks to her father (a music teacher and multi-instrumentalist) and grandfather (a banjo player whose Illinois farm she visited often throughout her childhood).
City of Gold, the follow-up to 2022’s Crooked Tree—a widely lauded LP that won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, with Tuttle earning a Best New Artist nomination—the Northern California-raised musician’s fourth full-length album brings those narratives to a resplendent form of bluegrass rooted in her virtuosic guitar playing. Like Crooked Tree, whose accolades also include an International Folk Music Award for Album of the Year, City of Gold, is co-produced with bluegrass legend Jerry Douglas, showcasing the extraordinary musicianship that made Tuttle the first woman ever named Guitar Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. But this time around, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist chose to record with her live band for the first time—a move that lends a potent new energy to her exquisitely crafted sound. “When I was a kid we took a field trip to Coloma, California, to learn about the gold rush,” says Tuttle in revealing the inspiration behind City of Gold. “Just like gold fever, music has always captivated me and driven me to great lengths to explore its depths.” Noting that City of Gold “celebrates the music of my heart, the land where I grew up, and the stories I heard along the way,” Tuttle found her band essential to every aspect of the LP.

The Okee Dokee Brothers
2024-05-11 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-05-11 11:00 - 13:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
As childhood friends growing up in Denver, Colorado, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing were always exploring the outdoors. Whether it was rafting down their neighborhood creek or discovering hiking trails through the Rocky Mountains, Joe and Justin were born adventurers. Now, as the GRAMMY® Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers, they have put this passion for the outdoors at the heart of their Americana Folk music.
Joe and Justin record and perform family music with a goal to inspire children and their parents to step outside and get creative. They believe this can motivate kids to gain a greater respect for the natural world, their communities, and themselves. The five-time Parents’ Choice Award winners have garnered praise from the likes of NPR’s All Things Considered and USA Today, and have been called “two of family music’s best songwriters.”

Joe Jencks // Deidre McCalla
2024-05-10 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Deidre McCalla’s songwriting reveals an unyieldingly honest perspective expressed with a lyric touch that relentlessly celebrates the power and diversity of the human spirit. Deidre has shared the stage with a long list of notables that includes Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Odetta, Cris Williamson, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Her current release, “Endless Grace,” dominated the June 2022 Folk Radio Charts as the number-one song “Shoulder To The Wheel, won the 19th Annual International Acoustic Music Award for Best Folk/Americana/Roots Song.
Chicago-based singer and activist Joe Jencks (you may remember him from the fine trio act Brother Sun, which he co-founded) has performed with such artists as Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, Joe Glazer, and Charlie King. A Joe Jencks concert, says the Seattle Folklore Society’s Brad Warren, is “an occasion for singing, a contagious rising up of voices, an act of joy and defiance.” Joe’s songs have traveled to every continent via his own performances, radio, CDs, webcasts, and other musicians. He is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Joe Jencks weaves a diverse web of stories with brilliant musical skill, ensnaring even the most rigid of hearts, inviting them to open. His songs invite us to live inside of our passions and our beliefs.
This show is free for Ark members at the Solo ($50) level and above!

Alan Doyle
2024-05-10 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
Welcome Home Tour
Alan Doyle— actor, producer, best-selling author, and best-known as lead singer for Newfoundland’s beloved Great Big Sea these past 20+ years— hardly needs an introduction. With five solo albums under his belt, Doyle has been touring the world with his ace six-piece band for the last decade. In late 2014, Doyle released his best-selling memoir Where I Belong, followed by A Newfoundlander In Canada released in October 2017, and All Together now released in November 2020. Amidst these projects, Doyle found time to write music for and appear on CBC’s Republic of Doyle, guest on CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries, a role in 2014’s Winter’s Tale and 2010’s Robin Hood. With his 2022 live album “Here, Tonight” and a recent JUNO nomination for his 2021 album “Back to the Harbour”, Doyle chalks up a lot of where he is right now to luck. “I’m the luckiest guy I’ve ever even heard of,” he says. “This was all I ever wanted, a life in the music business, singing concerts.”
Doyle hails from Petty Harbour, NL, and formed Great Big Sea in 1993 with Sean McCann, Bob Hallett, and Darrell Power, in which they fused traditional Newfoundland music with their own pop sensibilities. Their nine albums, double-disc hits retrospective, and two DVD releases have all been declared Gold or Platinum and have sold a combined 1.2 million copies in Canada.

John Hiatt
2024-05-09 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
A master lyricist and satirical storyteller, John Hiatt delivers songs filled with tales of redemption, relationships and surrendering on his own terms. Hiatt’s finest album is 1987’s Bring the Family; other catalog highlights include the pop and rock of 1983’s Riding with the King, the rough-hewn blues-rock of 2008’s Same Old Man, and 2021’s Leftover Feelings. His lyrics and melodies have graced more than 20 studio albums, have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and scores of others, and have earned him a place in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BMI Troubadour award, and a lifetime achievement in songwriting designation from the Americana Music Association.
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Blue LLama Jazz Club
