The Ark

May Erlewine
2023-03-10 20:00 - 23:00 (America/New_York) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, May Erlewine continues to share her gift for writing songs of substance that feel both new and soulfully familiar. Her lyrics offer a window into her heartbreak, her empowerment, and her emboldened spirit. These lyrics, which are really stories crafted through May’s unique experiences, are rooted in wisdom, joy, sorrow, simplicity, and love. Musically, she carries the songwriter’s torch through many genres and sonic landscapes. May considers her career in the music industry as a service-oriented one and uses her platform for positive change. She stresses the importance of environmental advocacy, social justice, creative empowerment, and community building as necessary work in our world. May’s body of work has become an anthem and an example of why we need to listen to women, empower women, and why we need to hear their stories. May’s work has been spotlighted by Rolling Stone and NBC’s “The Voice” and covered by countless artists.
This performance will be in celebration of her new record, The Real Thing. The album produced by Theo Katzman, is a collection of songs performed live in a room, deep in the Manistee National Forest. Released as a part of Theo’s new record label, The Real Thing is just that, real people, making real music, together in a room.

Vanessa Collier
2023-03-09 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Vanessa Collier is a captivating and multitalented blues vocalist, saxophonist, and songwriter, hailing from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music, where she earned dual degrees in Performance and Music Production & Engineering. Vanessa demonstrates her skills as a master musician and songwriter, blending her blues background with elements of funk, rock, and soul. Vanessa’s mighty vocals, gritty saxophone solos, and incredible high-energy stage presence create a powerful show not to be missed!

Mark Erelli
2023-03-08 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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During a performance in summer 2020, Mark Erelli looked down at his guitar neck and couldn’t believe what he saw. Or rather, what he couldn’t see: his fingers on the frets. Soon after, a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disease, would bring some answers, but it also yielded new questions. Does diminished eyesight correlate with lesser insight? Does your songwriting change when your perception of the world around you changes? These questions, and Mark’s hunt for creative agency, are at the heart of his new album, “Lay Your Darkness Down.” In need of connection and catharsis, he turned as he often did to songwriting. “The only way I could console myself was to know that I was still going to be able to have some creative agency,” Mark says. “I could then bring whatever I was feeling or wanting to express into reality.” He began to craft songs with an intricate, labored approach like never before. “It’s much more like an oil painting, where you’re layering different tones and colors one at a time.”

Leo Kottke
2023-03-07 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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The Los Angeles Times calls Leo Kottke “an American legend in the guitar world, and a king of his own private musical world.” If you haven’t heard Leo Kottke for a while, though, you may have missed how one of the fastest 6- and 12-string guitar players around has also become one of the most innovative and least musically classifiable. His music encompasses influences from all over the world, and players from outside the folk world closely follow what he does. Leo Kottke is a legend of the guitar who’s still full of surprises after all these years. His shows are displays of captivating mastery of a sort that’s rare in any genre of music. Don’t miss him, and get tickets early for this one—Leo’s Ark shows have been consistent sellouts.

Matt Nathanson
2023-03-06 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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A lot of people know Matt Nathanson for his 2007 hit “Come On Get Higher,” but his career has only kept growing since then. He comes to Michigan with a new album, “Boston Accent,” whose stripped-down arrangements recall his beginnings as an acoustic troubadour. That’s all to the good for this show—it’s not so common to hear him in a club The Ark’s size. Matt has a unique sense of humor on stage that can get lost in larger venues, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him back for the first time since the pandemic began. “I wanted to make a real singer/songwriter record this time. an ‘inspired by cat stevens, joni mitchell, paul simon, tom petty kinda record … which is something i’ve been running away from since ‘Ernst,’ Matt says.

Choir! Choir! Choir!
2023-03-05 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman (AKA “DaBu”) started Choir! Choir! Choir! as a weekly drop-in, no-commitment singing event in 2011. Now happening twice weekly, and open to anyone who likes to sing new arrangements of pop songs, C!C!C! boasts a dedicated and passionate membership of inspired singers from in and around Toronto, Canada. They have performed live with Patti Smith at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Tegan and Sara on the Juno Awards, at TEDx Toronto, and at the Toronto International Film Festival Closing Gala at Roy Thompson Hall. Choir! Choir! Choir! sings popular songs, choral style—you never know quite which ones. Like what you hear? Show up, and they’ll teach you an original arrangement of a song you love. Tonight: an epic George Harrison singalong to celebrate George’s 80th birthday.

The Steel Wheels
2023-03-04 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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The Steel Wheels have captured audiences across the country with their heady brew of original soulful mountain music. Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, this dynamic band marries old-time musical traditions with their own innovative sound. Trent Wagler’s weathered tenor is joined by bell-clear four-part harmonies inspired by a shared Mennonite heritage. Add top this lively and evocative fiddle, grounded yet buoyant upright bass, and signature mandolin style, and it’s no surprise that The Steel Wheels have conquer aed the Americana scene, becoming festival favorites and selling out venues across the country. “Americana music at its very best!” says Larry Groce of “Mountain Stage.” The values portrayed in the band’s music—devotion to roots, community, and family—are a way of life for The Steel Wheels, and this is reflected in everything from production process and booking agency to merchandise and touring.

Gina Chavez
2023-03-03 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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A multiethnic Latin pop songstress, Gina Chavez is a ten-time Austin Music Award winner. Her bilingual record “Up.Rooted” topped both the Amazon and Latin iTunes charts following a feature on NPR’s All Things Considered and has gained wide critical acclaim. Her Tiny Desk concert made NPR’s top 15 of 2015. Fresh off a 12-country tour as a cultural ambassador with the U.S. State Department, Gina offers passionate bilingual songs that take audiences on a journey through the Americas, blending the sounds and rhythms of the region with tension and grace. Her Spanish-language anthem “Siete-D” (Grand Prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest) recounts her experience volunteering in a gang-dominated suburb of San Salvador, where she co-founded the Niñas Arriba College Fund for young Latinas. Her songs share her story of life in Texas as a married, queer Catholic She’s back from Folk Festival with her first all-Spanish album, the Latin Grammy–nominated “La que manda.”

The Wood Brothers
2023-03-02 19:00 - 23:00 | The Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48201, United States
The Wood Brothers didn’t know they were making a record. Looking back, they’re grateful for that.
“If we had known, we probably would have been too self-conscious to play what we played,” reflects bassist/vocalist Chris Wood. “At the time, we just thought we were jamming to break in our new studio, so we felt free to explore all these different ways of performing together without worrying about form or structure. It was liberating.”
Recorded live to tape, those freewheeling, improvised sessions became a vast pool of source material from which The Wood Brothers would go on to draw ‘Kingdom In My Mind,’ their seventh studio release and most spontaneous and experimental collection yet. While on past records, the band—Chris, guitarist/vocalist Oliver Wood, and drummer/keyboardist Jano Rix—would write a large batch of songs and then record them all at once, ‘Kingdom’ found them retroactively carving tunes out of sprawling instrumental jam sessions like sculptors chipping away at blocks of marble. A testament to the limitless creativity of the unharnessed mind, the record explores the power of our external surroundings to shape our internal worlds (and vice versa), reckoning with time, mortality, and human nature. The songs here find strength in accepting what lies beyond our control, thoughtfully honing in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. Deep as the lyrics dig, the arrangements always manage to remain buoyant and light, though, drawing from across a broad sonic spectrum to create a transportive, effervescent blend that reflects the trio’s unique place in the modern musical landscape.
“My brother came to this band from the blues and gospel world, and my history was allover the map with jazz and R&B,” says Chris, who first rose to fame with the pioneering trio Medeski Martin & Wood. “The idea for this group has always been to marry our backgrounds, to imagine what might happen if Robert Johnson and Charles Mingus had started a band together.”
‘Kingdom In My Mind’ follows The Wood Brothers’ most recent studio release, 2018’s ‘One Drop Of Truth,’ which hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and garnered the band their first GRAMMY nomination for Best Americana Album. NPR praised the record’s “unexpected changes and kaleidoscopic array of influences,” while Uncut hailed its “virtuosic performances and subtly evocative lyrics,” and Blurt proclaimed it “a career-defining album.” Tracks from the record racked up roughly 8 million streams on Spotify alone, and the band took the album on the road for extensive tour dates in the US and Europe, including their first-ever headline performance at Red Rocks, two nights at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore (captured on their 2019 release, ‘Live At The Fillmore’),and festival appearances everywhere from Bonnaroo to XPoNentia

Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express
2023-03-01 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Since his neo-psychedelic Green On Red days, Chuck Prophet has been turning out country, folk, blues, and Brill Building classicism. His latest album, “The Land That Time Forgot,” is something different, a weather vane picking up signals from outer space—or maybe from the Heartland. Priced out of his beloved hometown, San Francisco, Chuck found himself re-energized in upstate New York just a few miles from the Vermont border—and made a record that’s something of a 21st-century exorcism. The songs inhabit a world where a “Fast Kid” might be on the run from the truant officer or a handsy boss … or the Immigration Service. These are love songs that turn political on a dime (“Love Doesn’t Come from the Barrel of a Gun”), and melodic hallucinations about kicking back in the Oval Office after hours “talking to my baby, saying baby, let’s not fight.” Where else besides a Chuck Prophet LP are songs going to come at you from both the Tenderloin and an English roundabout, with stopovers in “Nixonland” and a lovestruck mirror on a Saturday night while a working man tries his “Best Shirt On”? There’s more. Come and hear the latest from one of our favorite songwriters to have come out of the world of alternative rock.

Ron Sexsmith
2023-02-28 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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With producer Mitchell Froom, Ron Sexsmith released his self-titled label debut album in 1995. The melancholic tone and sparse acoustic arrangements of the album were met an enthusiastic endorsement from Elvis Costello, and the album was declared a critical success. In his Sept 7, 1995 review for Rolling Stone, Bud Scoppa wrote: “He just may be the most fluent balladeer to come along since Tim Hardin or Harry Nilsson.” Ron’s songwriting style evolved into a unique and timeless blend of classic pop, contemporary folk, and roots-rock idioms. He has built a steadfast reputation with critics and with some of his own songwriting heroes (Elton John, Ray Davies, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen and Paul McCartney) for his characteristically honest, sensitive, and enduring approach to the songwriting craft. Ron has a substantive cult following and an international touring career, and his songs as well, have been covered by the likes of Rod Stewart, Nick Lowe, Emmylou Harris, Feist, and Michael Bublé to name a few.

Masters of Hawaiian Music
2023-02-27 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Three masters, featured regularly at Maui’s renowned “Slack Key Show®” share the uniquely Hawaiian styles of slack key guitar and ‘ukulele, with origins in the early 19th century when Portuguese immigrants introduced the ‘ukulele to Hawai‘i and Mexican cowboys brought guitars along with their ranching knowledge. Ever since, Hawaiians have made these instruments their own. Four-time Grammy-winner and master slack key guitarist George Kahumoku Jr., known as “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man,” is a multiple NaHōkū Hanohano (Hawaiian Grammy) Award winner, a vocalist, storyteller, songwriter, and author, teacher, sculptor, farmer, and chef, and honored with a Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. “There’s something quite magical…about the evocative tones of a trusty ‘ukulele,” says the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Slack key guitarist, lap steel guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer Sonny Lim developed his guitar and vocal styles performing with his famous Lim Family of the Big Island. He was also one of the early members of the renowned Makaha Sons of Ni‘ihau for whom he played lap steel guitar beginning at age 15. He performed on the first Grammy-winning CD in Hawaiian music, and has won multiple Na Hoku Awards on his solo CDs. ‘Ukulele virtuoso Herb Ohta Jr.’s natural talent, knowledge, technique, and speed are unsurpassed. Herb’s versatility and ability to adapt to the changing times will captivate you, the listener, and transport you. Herb Ohta Jr. is the undisputed master ‘ukulele instrumentalist of his generation.

Enter the Haggis
2023-02-26 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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A haggis is a tasty Scottish dish consisting of sheep heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with oatmeal, onion, suet, and spices, and then boiled inside the sheep’s stomach. The Canadian-Scots band Enter the Haggis (bagpiper Craig Downie is from Scotland) has just about as much variety in their style, a high-speed collision of Celtic music, rock, bluegrass, funk, and world music. An Enter the Haggis live show is a musical feast—dynamic and emotionally uplifting. Alternating between upbeat rock numbers with sing-along choruses and slower, more introspective alt pop songs, the band plays progressive and lyrically driven music that’s strongly rooted in Celtic tradition—from the storytelling to the bagpipes. Enter the Haggis returns to The Ark with a new album, “The Archer’s Parade.”

The Ark's 36th Annual Storytelling Festival - Family Show
2023-02-26 13:00 - 15:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Sunday’s Matinee brings storytellers Bill Harley, Sheila Arnold, and Steve Daut. Bill Harley is a songwriter and storyteller whose commentaries have been featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He’s equally at home performing for adults and for families, and a refreshing breath of fantasy is just around the corner in everything he does. Sheila Arnold brings stories, historic individuals, new ideas, new perspectives and old knowledge to schools, libraries, professional organizations, museums and churches. And Steve Daut is well known to Michigan audiences; he has adapted stories of Mark Twain to the storytelling medium.

Margo Price
2023-02-25 20:00 - 23:00 | The Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48201, United States
Margo Price has something to say but nothing to prove. In just three remarkable solo albums, the singer and songwriter has cemented herself as a force in American music and a generational talent. A deserving critical darling, she has never shied away from the sounds that move her, the pain that’s shaped her, or the topics that tick her off, like music industry double standards, the gender wage gap, or the plight of the American farmer. (In 2021, she even joined the board of Farm Aid.)
Now, on her fourth full-length Strays, a clear-eyed mission statement delivered in blistering rock and roll, she’s taking on substance abuse, self-image, abortion rights, and orgasms. Musically extravagant but lyrically laser focused, the 10-song record tears into a broken world desperate for remedy. And who better to tell it? Price has done plenty of her own rebuilding—or as she shout sings in explanation on “Been to the Mountain,” the set’s throat-ripping opener, “I have been to the mountain and back alright”—and finds herself, at long last, free. Feral. Stray.
So, while the last few years have seen remarkable moments of acclaim—a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, Americana Music Honors, a Saturday Night Live performance, and just about every outlet and critics’ year-end Best Of list—Price is still hungry. “I still have a lot of drive inside of me,” she says. “I have a chip on my shoulder. It feels like I still haven’t been able to fully realize all my dreams yet, and that eats me up.” Just wait.
When Tré Burt was signed to John Prine’s Oh Boy Records in 2019, he was one of only two artists -including label mate Kelsey Waldon, to join the label in the past 15 years. Caught It From The Rye, Tré Burt’s debut album was re-released on Oh Boy in Jan 2020. The album showcases Burt’s literary songwriting and lo-fi, rootsy aesthetic, which he honed busking on the streets of San Francisco and traveling the world in search of inspiration. Like labelmate and songwriting hero John Prine, Burt has a poet’s eye for detail, a surgeon’s sense of narrative precision and a folk singer’s natural knack for a timeless melody. Caught It From The Ryeis an urgent missive from an important new voice in songwriting.
For a songwriter who thoughtfully documents what he sees in the world, 2020, while challenging, was rich with inspiration. The year birthed the single, Under The Devil’s Knee, a song that continues the tradition of outspoken political folk songwritersof yore. It is an incredibly moving protest song tracing the lives of George Floyd, Eric Garner, and Breonna Taylor. Recorded remotely featuring Allison Russell, Sunny War and Leyla McCalla. “Humanity feels like it’s slipping away from us, as a country. Iwanted to reinstate the humanity of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and so many other brothers and sisters slain by police in the way I know how. I wanted to immortalize their dignity and make the work easy for future historians and remind the present that no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, this is about actual pain and real human suffering caused by a system of governance that is morally bankrupt. This, I felt was my duty as an American songwriter to do. Music is a powerful force, especially when you put it through a protest song. It makes the fight more tangible. Reframes perspective. None of which entered my mind when writing this, at all. That was out of anger. I wrote this song out of anger. They should all be alive.” -Tré Burt

The Ark's 36th Annual Storytelling Festival
2023-02-25 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Saturday brings storytellers Bill Harley, Sheila Arnold, and Steve Daut. Bill Harley is a songwriter and storyteller whose commentaries have been featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He’s equally at home performing for adults and for families, and a refreshing breath of fantasy is just around the corner in everything he does. Sheila Arnold brings stories, historic individuals, new ideas, new perspectives and old knowledge to schools, libraries, professional organizations, museums and churches. And Steve Daut is well known to Michigan audiences; he has adapted stories of Mark Twain to the storytelling medium.

The Ark's 36th Annual Storytelling Festival - Liar's Contest
2023-02-24 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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The Ark’s annual Storytelling Festival expands to three days for 2022! New this year is a Liars’ Contest on Friday night.
Liars have been around since the snake first hit it off with Eve. By some accounts, contests celebrating liars have been around since the 15th century, but these accounts may be apocryphal. Today, liars contests are held in countries all around the globe, and The Ark is joining the fray with its First Annual Liars contest, which is part of the new and expanded 36th Annual Storytelling Festival. The event will feature six of the best liars in the region, each telling a ten-minute story and competing for highly valuable bragging rights, a crisp $100 bill, and a fabulous trophy for the winner! Each of our distinguished celebrity judges has a special relationship to the fine art of prevarication.
The Liars: Larry Castleberry, Jennifer Otto, Rich Swanson, Jeff Doyle, Genot Picor, Mike Cox
The Judges: Kathleen Daniels/Married to Jeff Daniels, a man who makes his living by pretending to be other people; Karl Fink/As a retired Circuit Court judge, he spent most of his life listening to liars … and not just the attorneys; Christopher Taylor/Mayor of Ann Arbor, a politician—need we say more?
MC for the event: Amir Baghdadchi

Rochelle Clark & The Familiars
2023-02-23 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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A native of Michigan, Rochelle Clark writes music that has been described as raw, honest, and beautifully vulnerable. She writes and sings about real life, joy, struggle and human tragedy – you can’t help but feel for the characters in her songs. Leaning heavily on personal experience, she connects on an intimate level that resonates with her audience. As one half of the acclaimed Americana duo The Potters Field, Rochelle has offered powerful vocals that have been captivating audiences in Michigan and throughout the Midwest for years. Drawing on her roots in folk, Americana, and country, Rochelle has found a sound that is uniquely her own. In January 2020 she released her first solo recording; an EP titled “In Time,” and she’s continuing to explore her voice as a solo songwriter. Joining Rochelle will be a band of exceptional musicians (affectionately dubbed The Familiars) who include Jason Dennie, Keith Bilick, and John Sperendi.

Chris Knight
2023-02-22 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Tonight’s performance has been postponed due to weather conditions. Please retain your tickets and they will be honored on the new date. Once the date is announced, patrons will have 30 days to request a refund if they are not able to attend the new date.
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“It’s hard to know how people are gonna react,” Chris Knight says of “Almost Daylight,” his ninth album and first new recording in over seven years. “I’ve written songs about a lot of different things going all the way back to my first record, and some folks still think ‘somebody kills somebody’ is all I write about. Maybe that’s why I was bound and determined to get these particular songs on this album. If people like them, then we’ll be fine. But I wasn’t gonna do it any other way.” For the past 20 years, Chris Knight has only made music his own way. He’s released eight acclaimed albums, played thousands of electrifying live shows and built generations of fervent fans from Texas honky-tonks to Manhattan rock clubs. He’s been hailed as “the last of a dying breed…a taciturn loner with an acoustic guitar and a college degree” (The New York Times) and “a storyteller in the best traditions of Mellencamp and Springsteen” (USA Today). Bottom line, he’s hard-earned his reputation as one of America’s most uncompromising and respected singer/songwriters. And now with “Almost Daylight,” Knight delivers the most powerful – and unexpected – music of his career.

Buffalo Rose
2023-02-21 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Buffalo Rose is a wildly charismatic six-piece modern folk/Americana band from Pittsburgh. They take the singer-songwriter tradition to a new level by crafting original songs which are emotive, meticulously arranged, and inspired by a world of idiosyncratic influences that never let a dull or predictable moment creep in. The band released its debut album, “The Soil and the Seed,” in 2018. Since then, Buffalo Rose has dropped two EPs, 2019’s “Big Stampede” and 2020’s “Borrowed and Blue,” opened for the Wood Brothers, Mipso, Pokey LaFarge, Tyler Childers, and the Infamous Stringdusters, and shared a festival stage with the legendary Sam Bush. The band’s upward trajectory continues into 2022 with its latest EP, “Rabbit,” created in collaboration with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tom Paxton, followed by a new full-length LP, “Again, Again, Again,” released November 2022. Fans of Lake Street Dive, Nickel Creek, and Punch Brothers will find much to like in this crew.
This program is made possible with support from the Ford Motor Company Fund. It is presented live, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page.
This is a FREE show. Nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers.

Bill Frisell
2023-02-19 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Bill Frisell can be a hard musician to classify. You’ll find him in the jazz bins (or at the jazz link), and he’s been called the most brilliant jazz guitarist since Wes Montgomery. But he’s the kind of jazz musician who looks outward to other music, and his guitar can do just about anything, from any genre. It can approximate the sound of a country steel guitar, can wail the blues, can break new ground in music like Jimi Hendrix did. And he plays his own compositions, each one intricately woven into the capabilities of his instrument. As a collaborator, Bill Frisell is one of the most sought-after voices in contemporary guitar. His Ark shows have an intimacy that’s hard to find at his dates in larger cities. The New York Times sums it up: “It’s hard to find a more fruitful meditation on American music than in the compositions of guitarist Bill Frisell.”

Crys Matthews
2023-02-18 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Ask about the new generation of social justice music-makers and Crys Matthews will be mentioned. A southeastern North Carolina native who now calls Washington, D.C. home, Crys has been compared to everyone from Toshi Reagon to Tracy Chapman and Ruthie Foster. Equally at home in an acoustic listening room as she is on stage at large music festivals, Crys quickly gathered a loyal following on the East Coast playing such prestigious venues as the Sundance Film Festival, The Birchmere, The Hamilton, and Jammin’ Java. A prolific lyricist, Crys blends Americana, folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass, and funk into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies punctuated by honest, original lyrics. “I believe in hope,” Matthews says of her latest album, “Changemakers.” “As a social-justice songwriter, it is my duty to keep breathing that hope and encouragement into the people who listen to my music.” And, from the title track to the last track, “Changemakers” does just that all while tackling some heavy topics like immigration, the opioid crisis, Black Lives Matter, and gun safety to name a few.

Misty Lyn & The Big Beautiful
2023-02-17 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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As a fixture of the Michigan folk music scene for over a decade, Misty Lyn Bergeron has penned haunting melodies over simple arrangements that traverse the gothic, literary fringes of American roots music. Pulling from a wealth of vivid subject matter, her songs are cathartic and poetically rich works that approach sometimes difficult topics such as death, loss, heartache, and healing. After getting in a serious car accident in 2015, there has been a noticeable shift toward love, light, and hope in her music, while still maintaining a deep connection with the things that are lost and those that are fading. Members ofTthe Big Beautiful include Matt Jones (drums), Ryan Gimpert (guitar and pedal steel), Carol Catherine Gray (fiddle, vocals, tambo), and Jim Roll (bass). Misty Lyn & The Big Beautiful come to The Ark with a new release, “Narrows.”
Photo by Doug Coombe

Amy LaVere and Will Sexton
2023-02-15 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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There’s something uniquely fun about Amy LaVere, even when she’s breaking your heart. She is well known among songwriters and critics alike. NPR’s Robert Siegel says she “specializes in lyrics that are more barbed than her sweet soprano prepares you for.” Her growing catalog of material and steady critical acclaim suggest a first-tier presence on the Americana and indie-folk/punk circuits. Amy’s live performances are anything but predictable. She might appear on stage with a full band, sporting a mask and pink wig, or simply be in blue jeans and sandals, but her upright bass and clever song delivery are constants. Her voice is at once the bully and the victim. She’s performed in venues as wide-ranging as St. Andrew’s Hall in London and Memphis’ famed dive bar Earnestine and Hazel’s. There’s no room she can’t find an audience in and charm it to pieces. Tonight LaVere is joined by her guitarist (and husband since 2014), Will Sexton, an Austinite who has worked with Steve Stills, Roky Erickson, and Waylon Jennings.

My Folky Valentine
2023-02-14 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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What better time than Valentine’s Day to get to know some married or partnered couples who make music together? My Folky Valentine is The Ark’s annual celebration of romance! Each year we present a few of the region’s top musical couples, in the round during Valentine’s Day week. Your hosts, Annie and Rod Capps, invite some of their most talented friends from around the region to share the stage for an evening of grand collaboration and anything but love songs! . . . Okay, well, maybe a few love songs, since this year My Folky Valentine falls on the day itself. Can you imagine anything sweeter than a pair of tickets to see this show? This year’s lineup features Jenny & Robin Bienemann from Chicago and Ruth & Max Bloomquist from Ludington.
This event is presented live at The Ark, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page.

Jess Merritt & The Understorey
2023-02-13 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Jess Merritt is an Ann Arbor singer and songwriter whose rich, soulful voice evokes a unique emotional resonance. From power ballads to velvet keys, soul and rock to blues and pop, listeners are headed into a memorable experience by this expansive and versatile artist.
This special “musical memoir” performance marks Jess’s 40th birthday and a return to the stage with her band, the Understorey, after a 5-year hiatus. The Understorey is composed of longtime collaborators Josef Deas and Jenny Jones and new members Brennan Andes, Jon Brown and TJ Zindle. The show will feature a mix of original songs, covers and stories about the “path to renaming and reclaiming” herself, along with special guests.

An Evening with George Winston
2023-02-11 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
From the Management of George Winston:
For the remainder of 2023, George is taking a break from touring to recover from some health issues related to his 2012 bone marrow transplant. During this time, he will also work on studio recording projects and preparing to return to the road in 2024. We are very grateful to those who’ve recently purchased tickets and for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you at a future performance.
Tickets purchased with a credit card online, by phone, or in person through the Michigan Union Ticket Office will be refunded automatically. For tickets purchased in person at The Ark’s box office, please return your ticket there to obtain your refund.
Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
George Winston is undeniably a household name. He’s inspired fans and musicians alike with his singular solo acoustic piano songs for more than 40 years while selling upwards of 15 million albums. A tireless road warrior playing nearly 100 concerts annually, Winston finds live performance akin to breathing. George’s music is evocative, offering us all a chance to take a step back from our perpetually busy lives and let our minds adventurously wander. George Winston’s classic albums “Autumn” and “December,” are perennial favorites, along with “Winter into Spring,” “Summer,” 2017’s “Spring Carousel – A Cancer Research Benefit,” two volumes of the compositions of Vince Guaraldi, two volumes of benefit albums for the Gulf Coast disasters, and six other solo piano albums. He recently released his 16th solo piano album, “Night.” George’s compositions extend solace with an idiosyncratic grace.
100% of merchandise sales at this show will be donated to Food Gatherers. Nonperishables also accepted.

Justin Roberts & The Not Ready For Naptime Players
2023-02-11 11:00 - 12:30 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Five-time GRAMMY-nominated Justin Roberts is truly one of the all-stars of the indie family music scene. For some 20 years, Justin has been crafting songs for kids and parents that navigate the joys and sorrows of growing up. Along with his band, The Not Ready for Naptime Players, he has traveled the globe, from Hong Kong to New York, and Miami to Seattle. He comes to the Family Room with a new album, “Space Cadet,” that’s packed with his trademark brand of zany fun. Justin has performed in front of millions of people on the Today show; he’s been featured on Nick Jr.; and his song “Get Me Some Glasses” was featured on a World Series broadcast. We’re excited to welcome Justin back for his first in-person performance since the pandemic started!

Breabach
2023-02-10 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Securely ranked among Scotland’s most skilled and imaginative contemporary folk acts, Breabach unite deep roots in Highland and Island tradition with the innovative musical ferment of their Glasgow base. They have released six increasingly acclaimed albums, while fueling their creative appetites in collaborations with BAFTA award–winning animator Cat Bruce, indigenous Australasian artists Moana and the Tribe & The Black Arm Band, Quebec’s Le Vent du Nord, video game composer Big Giant Circles, and, as artists-in-residence at 2019’s Celtic Colours festival with Cape Bretoners Beolach. The year 2022 saw the release of the band’s latest album, “Fàs” (a Gaelic word meaning growth, developing and sprouting). The album is heavily inspired by the natural environment of Scotland and sees the band showcase more progressive elements in their music than ever before.

Talisk
2023-02-09 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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Groundbreaking, chart-topping, genre-bending, globetrotting, instantly enthralling… it’s little wonder that Talisk ranks highly amongst the most in-demand folk-based groups to emerge from Scotland in the last decade and more. Mohsen Amini (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year), Graeme Armstrong and Benedict Morris (BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year) fuse concertina, guitar, and fiddle to produce a multilayered signature that has captivated audiences around the globe. At its core, three seemingly acoustic instruments—but in the hands of three master craftsmen one unmistakable, bold sound and captivating live show. Talisk is coming to Michigan with a new album, “Dawn.”
Opener Anna Mieke’s deft songwriting and enveloping compositions have asserted her as a vital voice amongst Ireland’s alt-folk genre. The Irish multi-instrumentalist and songwriter based in Wicklow, Ireland, toes the line between folk forms and vivid dreamscapes, drawing on traditional and contemporary motifs. The lyrically ornate and instrumental delicacy of her work, alongside flowing atmospheric arrangements, contributes a challenging, emphatic and new voice to alt-folk.
