The Ark

Marielle Kraft
2022-02-22 20:00 (America/New_York) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
When you hear Marielle Kraft’s music or experience her candid live shows, you feel as though you already know her. The Nashville-based indie pop singer/songwriter, originally from Rhode Island, displays craftsmanship beyond her years, evident through her use of salient detail, raw emotion, and poignant word choice to describe moments “exactly as they feel.”
In spring 2018, she was crowned Grand Champion of the Mid-Atlantic Singer-Songwriter Competition, and the following June she delivered a Tedx Talk at Firefly 2018, discussing the importance of honesty rooted in her songwriting process.
Marielle Kraft’s debut studio EP, “The Deep End” officially released on July 12th, 2019, is described by The Music Mermaid as “song after song of mini pop addictions.” In February 2020, Marielle Kraft co-released an “anthemic” and “heart-filled” single with Joshua Howard entitled “In It Together”, which quickly gained traction across platforms.
Her October 23rd single, “Portland,” breathtakingly captures the moment we find ourselves in, and speaks volumes of the young artist’s songwriting abilities.
Marielle Kraft has shared stages with names as big as Jon McLaughlin, Ava Max, and Betty Who. Her “winning personality,” “genuine connection,” and “gift for story telling” on stage have fueled the ever-growing crowds at each of her shows, with no signs of slowing down.
Without missing a beat, Marielle Kraft released back to back singles to kick off 2021, both of which found major traction on Tiktok before becoming fully studio produced releases. “Everyone But Me” (February 19th) and “We Were Never Friends” (March 24th) feature a more developed sound than seen from Marielle before, and have cultivated her biggest streaming debuts to date. With more new releases on the way, Kraft is on track for an even bigger 2021.
Since leaving her full-time teaching career to pursue a life committed to creating music, Marielle Kraft has promise to follow suit to artists like Julia Michaels and Maisie Peters as the young songwriter makes a growing impact in the indie pop scene.
This is a FREE show. Nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers.

Bettye LaVette
2022-02-20 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation”, Bettye LaVette is a vocalist who can take any type of song and make it completely her own. To quote the late, great George Jones, “Bettye is truly a singer’s singer”.
Her career began in 1962, at the age of 16, in Detroit, Michigan. Her first single “My Man – He’s a Loving Man”, was released on Atlantic Records. This led to tours with headliners such as Ben E. King, Clyde McPhatter and then up-and-comer, Otis Redding. She recorded for numerous major labels, including Atco, Epic, and Motown, over the course of the 1960s through the 1980s. She also worked alongside Charles “Honi” Coles and Cab Calloway in the touring company of the Toni Award winning musical, Bubbling Brown Sugar.
The 2000’s started what she calls her “Fifth Career”. Her CD, A Woman Like Me, won the W.C. Handy Award in 2004 for Comeback Blues Album of the Year. She was also given a prestigious Pioneer Award by The Rhythm & Blues Foundation, was inducted into the Detroit Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, given an Unsung Award by the National R&B Society, and inducted into The Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation. She has received Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Female Blues Singer and Best Soul Blues Female Artist. Since 2002, she has released 8 albums, 5 of which have received Grammy nominations.
In 2017, she signed with Verve Records and has since recorded 2 albums, both of which were produced by Steve Jordan, were critically acclaimed, and received Grammy nominations. The first was Things Have Changed, an album consisting of all Bob Dylan songs. Her latest, Blackbirds, is Bettye’s homage to the Black female singers of the 1950s who came before her.
Fans, critics and artists have nothing but high praise for her live show and her vocal prowess. Now, at 75 years old and in her 59th year in show business, she is still performing with the ferocity of a woman half her age. She is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today.

Peter Mulvey
2022-02-19 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
To call Peter Mulvey an acoustic singer-songwriter and guitarist just doesn’t cover it. He’s equally—and tremendously on all counts—gifted as a singer, writer, and guitarist. Says the Irish Examiner: “Peter Mulvey is one of the most accomplished guitarists you’re ever likely to hear … utterly original … it is nigh on impossible to explain him to the uninitiated … his intelligent and sometimes complex songs engage both hemispheres of the listener’s brain.” Peter grew up in Milwaukee, made his debut on the streets of Dublin, and moved to Boston, performing in subways and finally clubs. His latest album was produced by Ani DiFranco, whom he befriended when she added a verse to his song “Take Down Your Flag,” about the shootings at the AME Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. “I heard a young folksinger at a festival last summer sing a line about how our job is to sing the people through, and I think that young man is right as rain,” Peter says. “I’m doing my best.” Peter returns from his MC slot at the 2019 Ann Arbor Folk Festival with a new album, “There Is Another World.”
The sound of SistaStrings can’t be described in one word. This Milwaukee-based sister duo combines their classical background with R&B and a touch of gospel influence that culminates in a “vibey, lush sound.” With thick string harmonies between violin and cello and soulful voices, SistaStrings takes you on a journey.

John McCutcheon
2022-02-18 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ

John McCutcheon’s art grew out of his absolute mastery of American traditional music and instruments. He’s a legend of the guitar, the hammered dulcimer, and several other instruments, and a prolific songwriter, and there’s nobody more qualified to own the folkmusic.com domain name! The result is a body of classic American song, rooted in the best our musical tradition has to offer. John McCutcheon is a voice for peace, a community organizer, a writer, a literacy campaigner, and a performer who has packed concert halls on four continents. The Washington Post calls John’s concerts “little feats of magic,” and as a storyteller he’s been compared with Will Rogers.

The Ark's Open Stage
2022-02-16 20:00, 2022-02-09 20:00, 2022-01-19 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
Whether you’re looking for your big break, want to perfect your live performance skills, or just want to perform live for the sheer fun of it, Open Stage nights offer supportive audiences and a terrific space. Fifteen performers have eight minutes (or two songs) each to do their thing. Sign-up: doors open at 7:30 p.m. At 7:45 we randomly select the names for the first half, and at 8:30 we draw names for the second half. If your name isn’t chosen, bring your raffle ticket with you to the next Open Stage (often the first and third Wednesdays of the month–check our calendar or website, theark.org), and you’ll double your chances.

My Folky Valentine
2022-02-13 19:30 - 22:30 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s Facebook Live page
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s YouTube channel

Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
My Folky Valentine will be in-person! It’s that hopeful outlook that encouraged us to go ahead with our annual love fest. Featured couples are Dave Keeney & Sophia Hanifi, Matt & Kim Watroba and Dave Boutette & Kristi Lynn Davis.
Also available as a Virtual concert on our Facebook Live page and YouTube channel. Free! Tip jar available.
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s Facebook Live page
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s YouTube channel

Ark Family Room shows are free and streamed to The Ark’s Facebook page. Donations to the “virtual tip jar” during shows support both The Ark and the participating artists.

Langhorne Slim
2022-02-12 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
Langhorne Slim didn’t write a song for more than a year. A battle with clinical anxiety disorder and prescription drug abuse, which came to a head in 2019, had dimmed the light within. The man who once seemed to ooze spontaneity was now creatively adrift, stumbling along in the fog.
In December, he entered a program and, for the first time in a long time, a path toward healing began to emerge. He began to see that inner peace was possible, even with the world outside raging.
A few months later, in February, a tornado came and decimated East Nashville, his adopted hometown. Covid-19 took root just days later, changing lives forever. In the early days of his recovery, a different reality was beginning to take shape, both within and without. New worlds were being born; old worlds were dying.
Knowing he was struggling to write songs and make sense of it all, Slim was finally able to flesh out a throwaway ditty one afternoon. His close friend Mike then suggested he try penning a song a day. Slim didn’t like the idea, but he gave it a shot.
To his surprise, the songs came. In a flurry of stream-of-consciousness writing, the new tunes tumbled out, one after another, like little starbursts of joy, gifts from the gods you might say. Slim was tuning out the noise and finding beauty in the madness of a world coming undone. Over the course of a couple of months from March to May, Slim penned more than twenty that were certified keepers. Out of this bumper crop came the songs that make up his new album, Strawberry Mansion, which is being released this winter on Dualtone Records.
“I wasn’t sitting on the songs and I wasn’t overthinking them,” Slim says of the writing process of those months. “Something cracked open with the slowing down and the stillness of quarantine.
After finishing a song, whether he liked the tune or not, he’d call Mike, a videographer, and they’d record it and post it to Instagram. It was a form of therapy, he now realizes. “There was nothing precious about the process and it was a bonding thing between me and Mike as much as anything else,” Slim says. “It also gave me a release and maybe some potential form of healing, and was an opportunity to not always listen to the shitty thoughts in my head. I wasn’t ever thinking that I was writing songs for a new record.”
Prior to this creative outburst, Slim’s anxiety had grown so acute there were times when he actually feared picking up his guitar and trying to write. With the help of therapy and friends, he was now learning to confront his demons rather than run from them. So, in the midst of a panic attack one day, he picked up his guitar and the song “Panic Attack” was born. It’s a raw, off-the-cuff number that rises above the dark subject matter with spirit, irony and humor. “I called a healthcare professional/ Wanna speak to someone confidentially/ Don’t know just how I’m feelin’/ But I’m feelin’ feelings exponentially,” he sings.
Album-opener “Mighty Soul” details a world beset by Biblical-grade plagues (coronavirus, the Nashville tornado) and government malfunction. It ultimately calls for healing through community and the recognition that we can all make a difference. It functions as the album’s spiritual center, a secular gospel number for all mankind.
“Morning Prayer” is inspired by the songwriter’s effort to pray for the first time in his life. “It’s not in the key of any one religion,” Slim says of the number. “For this, I’m grateful that my guitar was unknowingly yet appropriately out of tune. It’s a song to help me practice compassion, surrender, connection to nature, the spirits and beyond.”
The second part of “Morning Prayer” is one of the most affecting moments on Strawberry Mansion, with the singer reaching out and offering prayers for his loved ones who are struggling, for all of humanity, really. “For my friends who suffer/ For my mother, father and brother/ For a world down on its knees/ I pray for thee,” he sings with great poignancy.
The road to Strawberry Mansion, which was recorded at Daylight Sound in Nashville with longtime compadres Paul DeFigilia (Avett Brothers) and Mat Davidson (Twain), began in 2019 with Slim’s decision to get sober. Even though the singer-songwriter kicked alcohol years ago, the insidious monster of addiction had crept back into his life in different guises. The last straw came during a road trip with a friend, who, at the end of the journey, let it be known that the man he knew and loved was no longer recognizable. So Slim called his manager and loved ones and soon checked into a program. That experience and his ongoing recovery program have given him a framework for grappling with the personal demons that have always skulked in the shadows, and helped him find light in the void. “It’s important for me to talk honestly about these things, because I feel it gives me strength, and it might help others along the way.” he says.
Strawberry Mansion is the singer-songwriter’s seventh full-length album. He released his first record, Electric Love Letter, back in 2004. Since then he has graced the stages of Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and the Conan O’Brien show, winning fans over with his heart-on-a-sleeve sincerity and rousing live shows.
Born Sean Scolnick in 1980, Slim took part of his artistic moniker from his hometown of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a place he’s still very much connected to despite making his home in Nashville. Since the advent of Covid-19, he has been traveling back to PA once a month to see his mother and grandmother, and, like many Americans, finding strength in his origins and family bonds. The title Strawberry Mansion refers to the neighborhood in Philadelphia where both of his grandfathers grew up, a place he calls “dirty but sweet, tough but full of love, where giants roamed the earth and had names like Whistle and Curly.” That idea of a mythical wonderland informs the new album from head to toe. Strawberry Mansion is not so much about nostalgia for the past as it is about the possibility of better days ahead in this world. These are songs that remind us we’re all part of a collective “Mighty Soul,” united in one journey, just like the characters in that old Philly neighborhood. It’s a life-affirming album for these times.
It’s hard to track down Nat Myers. He’s one of those young solitaires you hear before you see. As a performer, he emits but doesn’t distill, his secrets. His style’s homemade, unplugged. He began as a street performer before working into traditional venues. He makes his home in Northern Kentucky.

Heywood Banks
2022-02-11 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
Heywood Banks is simply one-of-a-kind, almost impossible to describe, with a style his very own. Equal parts genius and buffoon, this songwriter-comic-singer-poet-musician has become a cult hero and a pop icon, with a show that appeals to college students, stoners, businessmen, yuppies, rednecks, punks, kids or your grandmother.
Heywood intersperses his humorous observations of life with twisted, inventive, bizarre songs, sung and played in a variety of styles, from folk, to country to rock to pop, and way beyond.
You have to be pretty smart to get Heywood at his deepest level (he demands a high level of pop culture literacy), but you can also enjoy him just for his vocal style impersonations, expert musicianship and just plain silliness. But why trust our opinions?
Photo credit: Andy Rogers

Lucinda Williams and Her Band
2022-02-11 19:30 | Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Update 1/24/22 – This event has been rescheduled for Friday, April 8, 2022.
For Acoustic Routes and The Ark, the most important thing to us is the health of fans, artists and their crews, so after conversations with her management, we’ve made the decision to postpone Lucinda Williams’ upcoming show at The Michigan Theater until the Spring when COVID is hopefully more under control. We expect to announce a new date soon. We’ll open a window for refunds when we have the new date if you can’t make the show. But we hope you’ll stick with us. It’s going to be a great night of music. And remember, all profits from this show go to feed the hungry in our community.

Please Note: The Michigan Theater and State Theatre require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination OR results of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours for all attendees over the age of 12. Temperatures will be taken for attendees under 12.
Masks are required for all attendees.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Michigan Theater COVID Safety Plan
Lucinda Williams, heralded by The New York Times as an “archetype in a lineage of rocking, literary American songwriters,” will headline a benefit concert at The Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor on Feb. 11, 2022 to mark the 40th anniversary of The Breakfast at St. Andrew’s daily meal program. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster.com on November 20 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
The performance by Lucinda Williams and Her Band will mark the 12th time Acoustic Routes and The Ark, one of the nation’s most celebrated live music venues, have raised money for the Breakfast Program. Founded during the summer of 1982 by parishioners of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, the Ann Arbor-based non-profit has served a free meal to anyone without missing a single day, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Breakfast started as way to help people get through a deep recession 40 years ago, but the need never went away,” said Jim Cain, founder of Acoustic Routes Concerts. “I can’t thank Lucinda Williams enough for sharing her talent and supporting the work of the Breakfast Program.”
Over the course of fourteen remarkable albums, three Grammy awards, and countless accolades, including Time’s Songwriter of the Year of 2001, Williams is one of our most revered artists, beloved for her singular vocals and extraordinary songs.
Her latest release, “Good Souls, Better Angels,” has electrified critics and fans. American Songwriter wrote, “Take a deep breath, strap in then push play on what is undoubtedly one of the most searing, potent and passionate albums you’ll hear this year.”

Corn Potato String Band
2022-02-10 20:00 - 22:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Also available as a Virtual concert on our Facebook Live page and YouTube channel. Free! Tip jar available.
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s Facebook Live page
Watch Part 1 of the Livestream on The Ark’s YouTube channel

Watch Part 2 of the Livestream on The Ark’s YouTube channel

Ark Family Room shows are free and streamed to The Ark’s Facebook page. Donations to the “virtual tip jar” during shows support both The Ark and the participating artists.
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
The Corn Potato String Band earns high praise in traditional American music, keeping old time fiddle and banjo music from a one-way trip to the dustbins of history. Theirs is a story of struggle, hard knocks and triumph. Essentially unable to cope with modern life, the members of this band are outcasts of society who survive by playing the lost music of the flatlands where they were raised.
The Corn Potatos have delighted audiences with their driving fiddle tunes and harmonious singing across the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and India. They are all multi-instrumentalists dedicated to continuing the music and dance traditions of the Central and Southern US. In addition to being champion fiddlers they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and deftly handle many different antiquated styles including ballads, “ho-downs,” country “rags” and southern gospel, specializing in twin fiddling and double banjo tunes.

Ocie Elliott
2022-02-07 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been cancelled. Purchases made will be automatically refunded by MUTO. Contact MUTO at muto-tix@umich.edu with questions.
From the band: “We are disappointed to announce that we will be canceling all of the dates for our February tour due to the ongoing situation with Covid. However, the good news is that we will be back with a bigger and better tour later this year! All ticket purchases will be refunded by the ticket provider. Keep healthy and well and we’ll provide an update with new tour dates as soon as we can.”
Ocie Elliott is musical duo Jon Middleton and Sierra Lundy from Victoria, B.C., Canada. The two have come a long way in a short time since a chance encounter in a Salt Spring Island café led to a spark, collaboration, and their ultimate partnership in music and beyond. That was hardly two years ago, and Ocie has been busy, releasing both an EP and their debut full-length album We Fall In (Nettwerk Music Group), playing with the likes of Mason Jennings, Sons of the East, Kim Churchill, Roo Panes, Current Swell and Joseph, touring Canada, US, and Europe and having their song “Run To You” featured on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
In the challenging internet age of streaming music, Sierra and Jon have cultivated a fast-growing following by releasing a captivating series of live acoustic videos on Facebook recorded in the cozy confines of the couple’s Honda CR-V (which, Sierra explains, offers “organically well-rounded and self-contained” acoustics which lend an intimacy to their intricate harmonies). The novel approach has paid off, with a million streams of their most popular tracks on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as sold-out shows.
With gentle acoustic chords layered over gorgeously complementary voices, which intertwine in gentle harmonies, Sierra and Jon’s beautifully written songs explore, of all things, love and connection. The duo has been aptly described by one reviewer as “…the aural equivalent of indigo painted skies and the first summer stars.”

Anaïs Mitchell & Bonny Light Horseman
2022-02-07 19:30 - 22:30 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
ANAÏS MITCHELL is a Vermont and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, and the Tony and Grammy award-winning creator of the Broadway musical Hadestown for which she wrote the book, music and lyrics. Hadestown won 8 Tony Awards overall including Best Musical as well as the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Mitchell was named to TIME’s prestigious TIME100 list in 2020, and her first book, ‘Working on a Song – The Lyrics of Hadestown’ was published by Penguin/Plume in the same year. Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation”, Mitchell comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Her recordings include the original studio album of Hadestown (2010, featuring Justin Vernon and Ani Difranco) and Young Man in America (2012), along with reinterpretations of traditional music including Child Ballads(2013, with Jefferson Hamer) and Bonny Light Horseman (2020, as Bonny Light Horseman, which received two Grammy nominations). She has headlined worldwide and supported tours for Bon Iver, Josh Ritter and Punch Brothers, and her music has featured in year-end best lists including NPR, Wall Street Journal, MOJO, Uncut, The Guardian, Sunday Times and The Observer. If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s work it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. As the New York Times wrote, “Ms Mitchell’s songs address contemporary angst with uncanny vision….a formidable songwriting talent”.

Anaïs Mitchell is joined on this one-of-a-kind tour by Bonny Light Horseman, a folk supergroup trio comprised of Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (best known for his project Fruit Bats and stints with The Shins), and Josh Kaufman (instrumentalist and producer known for his work with Hiss Golden Messenger, Bob Weir, The National). Bonny Light Horseman will perform selections from their two-time Grammy nominated album of traditional folk songs with a contemporary twist, before Anaïs takes to the stage to share songs from her forthcoming album as well as from her back catalogue of audience-favorites on this unique, collaborative tour.

Mustard's Retreat
2022-02-05 20:00 - 22:00 | Facebook LIVE
Watch on The Ark’s Youtube channel
Mustard’s Retreat has always sung the songs they enjoyed and cared about, regardless of the trends of the music industry and pop culture. They are committed to simply being themselves, not chasing fame or brass rings, while delighting in and connecting with their audiences as if they were family. The honesty of what they present onstage and the extensive body of outstanding original songs and recordings all contribute to a fiercely loyal audience that continues to grow. “Music to cure what ails you” was how one reviewer in the 1970s described them, and that is as true now as it was then.
They’ve traveled more than a million miles and performed more than 6,000 shows, from pig roasts and pool parties to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Barns at Wolftrap and the Kennedy’s Center’s Millennium Stage.
Their performances are always joyful and uplifting, as well as intelligent, thought provoking and insightful. They’ve recently begun referring to their career and touring as “Defiantly Hopeful.” In part due to their long career, but more as a statement about what the music has meant to them. “Folk music is, at its heart, defiantly hopeful!” Tamulevich says. “We came of age in the 60s, at the confluence of Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan and the singer/songwriter revolution. We care much more about what we do and stand for and finding that common ground with our audiences, than fame or money: this is our community of choice, and we consider ourselves so fortunate to be here.”
Ark Family Room shows are free and streamed to The Ark’s Facebook page. Donations to the “virtual tip jar” during shows support both The Ark and the participating artists.

James McMurtry
2022-02-02 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been rescheduled for June 14, 2022. Tickets will be reissued automatically for the rescheduled date. Refunds will be available by request only no later than 30 days after the announcement of the new date.
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
In James McMurtry’s new effort, The Horses and the Hounds, the acclaimed songwriter backs personal narratives with effortless elegance (“Canola Fields”) and endless energy (“If It Don’t Bleed”). This first collection in seven years, due August 20 on New West Records, spotlights a seasoned tunesmith in peak form as he turns toward reflection (“Vaquero”) and revelation (closer “Blackberry Winter”). Familiar foundations guide the journey. “There’s a definite Los Angeles vibe to this record,” McMurtry says. “The ghost of Warren Zevon seems to be stomping around among the guitar tracks. Don’t know how he got in there. He never signed on for work for hire.”
The Horses and the Hounds is a reunion of sorts. McMurtry recorded the new album with legendary producer Ross Hogarth (Ozzy Osbourne, John Fogerty, Van Halen, Keb’ Mo’) at Jackson Browne’s Groovemaster’s in Santa Monica, California, a world class studio that has housed such legends as Bob Dylan (2012’s Tempest) and David Crosby (2016’s Lighthouse) as well as Browne himself for I’m Alive (1993) and New Found Glory, Coming Home (2006). McMurtry and Hogarth first worked together 30 years ago, when Hogarth was a recording engineer in the employ of John Mellencamp at Mellencamp’s own Belmont Studios near Bloomington, Indiana. Hogarth recorded McMurtry’s first two albums, Too Long in the Wasteland and Candyland, for Columbia Records and later mixed McMurtry’s first self-produced album, Saint Mary of the Woods, for Sugar Hill Records. Another veteran of those three releases, guitarist David Grissom (Joe Ely, John Mellencamp, Dixie Chicks), returns with some of his finest work.
Accordingly, the new collection marks another upward trajectory: The Horses and the Hounds will be McMurtry’s debut album on genre-defining Americana record label New West Records (Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Buddy Miller, dozens more).
“I first became aware of James McMurtry’s formidable songwriting prowess while working at Bug Music Publishing in the ’90s,” says New West president John Allen. “He’s a true talent. All of us at New West are excited at the prospect of championing the next phase of James’ already successful and respected career.” McMurtry perfectly fits a label housing “artists who perform real music for real people.” After all, No Depression says of the literate songwriter’s most recent collection, Complicated Game: “Lyrically, the album is wise and adventurous, with McMurtry — who’s not prone to autobiographical tales — credibly inhabiting characters from all walks of life.” “[McMurtry] fuses wry, literate observations about the world with the snarl of barroom rock,” National Public Radio says. “The result is at times sardonic, subversive and funny, but often vulnerable and always poignant.”
His lauded storytelling — check out songs such as “Operation Never Mind” and “Ft. Walton Wake-Up Call” on The Horse and the Hounds— consistently has turned heads for decades now. “James writes like he’s lived a lifetime,” said John Mellencamp back in 1989, when Too Long in the Wasteland hit the Billboard 200. “James McMurtry is one of my very few favorite songwriters on Earth and these days he’s working at the top of his game,” says Americana all-star Jason Isbell. “He has that rare gift of being able to make a listener laugh out loud at one line and choke up at the next. I don’t think anybody writes better lyrics.” McMurtry’s albums Just Us Kids (2008) and Childish Things (2005) back the claim, each scoring endless critical praise. The former earned McMurtry his highest Billboard 200 chart position in two decades (since eclipsed by Complicated Game) and notched Americana Music Award nominations. Childish Things spent six full weeks topping the Americana Music Radio chart in 2005 and 2006, and won the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year, with “We Can’t Make It Here” named the organization’s Song of the Year.
Other accolades include a 1996 Grammy nomination for Long Form Music Video for Where’d You Hide the Body and an American Indie Award for Best Americana Album for It Had to Happen (1997).
McMurtry tours year-round and consistently throws down unparalleled powerhouse performances, reflected in the release of two live discs: the universally lauded Live in Aught-Three on Compadre Records, and 2009’s Live in Europe, which captured the McMurtry band’s first European tour and extraordinary live set. Along with seasoned band members Ronnie Johnson, Daren Hess, and Tim Holt, Live in Europe features special guests Ian McLagan (Faces) and Jon Dee Graham (True Believers, Skunks). (Video of the performance is available on the included DVD.)
Photo credit: Mary Keating Bruton

A Michigan Tribute to Nanci Griffith
2022-01-29 20:00 - 21:00 | Online
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Musicians with Michigan roots will pay tribute to Nanci Griffith by offering covers of her classic songs. Tickets to this streamed performance go on sale Monday, January 24 at noon. The event will be available for rebroadcast through February 6.
Nanci Griffith was no stranger to The Ark’s stage, gracing the club with several memorable performances from 1985 to 2013, including an intimate benefit concert with Billy Joe Shaver and the Cash Brothers in 2003 and an unforgettable evening with Maura O’Connell, John Gorka and the Chenille Sisters at The Ark’s 40-Year Fling in 2005. More than quantity, though, we celebrate the quality of her music with this tribute show. Her songs are mostly portraits, and each one is fully filled out with details that fit, and that reveal the deep resonances of human lives. She brought a poetry to small-town Texas life that shone with beauty and celebrated human resilience.
Nanci’s Other Voices, Other Rooms album of 1993 took the Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Album; it was a tribute to the songwriters who inspired her, from Kate Wolf to Pat Metheny. She in turn has inspired many of the songwriters who take to The Ark’s stage today, including the Michigan artists who are lending their voices to this virtual event. She was a cheerleader and ambassador for her fellow artists, whether emerging or established. At every Ann Arbor Folk Fest she played you could find her stationed backstage, watching and listening to every set throughout the evening. Once she drove from Nashville to The Ark to attend a performance of her friend and mentor, Odetta. No one who was there will forget the incredible moment when Odetta called her onstage to join the encore.
Each of Nanci’s appearances in Ann Arbor brought new music, and often we felt like we had front row seats at her creative process. The message she left when she signed the wall backstage at The Ark: “Sing out, sing loud, for Pete’s sake.” We miss her terribly and are deeply thankful for her music.
Featured performers for Saturday’s tribute include Annie and Rod Capps, Chris Buhalis, Dave Boutette & Kristi Lynn Davis, Dick Siegel & Dave Keeney, Jen Sygit, London Beck, The Lucky Nows, Matt Watroba, May Erlewine, Nadim Azzam, The RFD Boys, Rochelle Clark, and The Accidentals with special guests Kim Richey, Maia Sharp, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and The Burney Sisters.

45th Ann Arbor Folk Fest - Night 2
2022-01-29 18:30 | Hill Auditorium, 825 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
Based on the current direction and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Ark has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Although the Folk Festival is The Ark’s largest annual fundraising event and cancelling means losing a vital source of our annual operating revenue, our primary concern at this time is for the health and safety of patrons, artists, crew, staff, and the broader community. You can read more about our decision here.
If you have purchased tickets for the festival, look for an email from The Ark or from the Michigan Union Ticket Office with information on ticket refunds.
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Emmylou Harris
Patty Griffin
Oshima Brothers
Sweet Water Warblers
Brittney Spencer
Jared Deck
Sara Watkins – MC
FOLK FEST TICKET INFO
Get ready to Find Your Folk! The 45th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival returns to Hill Auditorium on Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29, live and in-person. The festival is the largest annual fundraiser for The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music. Presented by The Ark and Ford Motor Company Fund, the 2022 Folk Fest brings two nights of music which includes a blend of well-known and up-and-coming artists, providing you with an opportunity to hear artists you know and love while discovering great new talent. The lineup delivers the full spectrum of “Ark music,” presenting a taste of what’s happening on the leading edge of acoustic music while delving into the very heart of folk and roots traditions.
All funds raised through the Festival benefit The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
COVID-19 FAQ
Please Note: Proof of vaccination is required for admission and current University policy requires masking at all times during events at Hill Auditorium. Please check The Ark’s COVID policy page the week of January 24, 2022 for up-to-date information about Festival requirements regarding masking, COVID vaccination, testing, and health screening. All attendees will be required to comply with the health and safety protocols in place at the time of the Festival.

45th Ann Arbor Folk Fest - Night 1
2022-01-28 18:30 | Hill Auditorium, 825 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
Based on the current direction and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Ark has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Although the Folk Festival is The Ark’s largest annual fundraising event and cancelling means losing a vital source of our annual operating revenue, our primary concern at this time is for the health and safety of patrons, artists, crew, staff, and the broader community. You can read more about our decision here.
If you have purchased tickets for the festival, look for an email from The Ark or from the Michigan Union Ticket Office with information on ticket refunds.
Friday, January 28, 2022
Glen Hansard
Punch Brothers
Madison Cunningham
The Ghost of Paul Revere
Gina Chavez
Kyshona
Sara Watkins – MC
FOLK FEST TICKET INFO
Get ready to Find Your Folk! The 45th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival returns to Hill Auditorium on Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29, live and in-person. The festival is the largest annual fundraiser for The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music. Presented by The Ark and Ford Motor Company Fund, the 2022 Folk Fest brings two nights of music which includes a blend of well-known and up-and-coming artists, providing you with an opportunity to hear artists you know and love while discovering great new talent. The lineup delivers the full spectrum of “Ark music,” presenting a taste of what’s happening on the leading edge of acoustic music while delving into the very heart of folk and roots traditions.
All funds raised through the Festival benefit The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
COVID-19 FAQ
Please Note: Proof of vaccination is required for admission and current University policy requires masking at all times during events at Hill Auditorium. Please check The Ark’s COVID policy page the week of January 24, 2022 for up-to-date information about Festival requirements regarding masking, COVID vaccination, testing, and health screening. All attendees will be required to comply with the health and safety protocols in place at the time of the Festival.

The RFD Boys
2022-01-22 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
It’s hard to believe, because each show is fresh and new, but the RFD Boys have been delighting Michigan audiences since 1969 with their fabulous musicianship and sly, exquisitely timed between-song humor. They’re legends of Michigan bluegrass, but they’re more than that too. With an appearance on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited, with songs recorded by the likes of the Country Gentlemen, and with performances alongside bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, the RFD Boys are a part of America’s bluegrass tradition. The RFD Boys one of southeastern Michigan’s most durable musical ensembles, and their shows capture a deep slice of musical Ann Arbor. Their 50th-anniversary appearance at the Folk Festival was a special moment and introduced many listeners to Dan Roehrig, who joined the band on guitar, mandolin, and bass in mid-2018. Dan grew up listening to Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Tony Rice, and you can hear it in both his singing and guitar playing.
Also available as a Virtual concert on our Facebook page. Free! Tip jar available.
Watch the Livestream on Facebook Live
Watch the Livestream on The Ark’s YouTube channel

G. Love & The Juice
2022-01-18 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
After 27 years of coast to coast touring, the global pandemic grounded the touring juggernaut we have come to know as G. Love & Special Sauce. With band members sheltered in place and scattered across the country and G. Love’s ever-pressing need to release creative juices bore a collaborative and experimental musical group.
Love & The Juice is that new mosaic, drawing from his signature hip hop blues he invited seasoned touring musicians who shared in this vision to deliver a musical experience which includes classic G. Love songs, improvisation jams and the low-down dirty blues which has been a hallmark of Garrett Dutton shows since the 1990’s.
Love & The Juice is a collective of all-star musicians which will be hitting a city or town near you. The current configuration has G. Love fronting the band with his legendary Harmonic, Guitar and Vocals. Jimi Jazz Prescott on upright bass performing his patented electrified upright bass. Chuck Treece, Iconic Philadelphia musician, professional skateboard and longtime collaborator on vocals and drums and Van Gordon Martin of the Organically Good Trio, Big Daddy Kane and Dub Apocalypses on Lead Guitar.
• G. Love’s Pre-Show Pop Off includes a general admission ticket with early entry, access to a pre-show performance and Q&A with G. Love at sound check, group photo on stage with G. Love and a limited edition poster autographed by G. Love. You will receive instructions via email 4-7 days before each show with event information. Please note that this event will take place before doors are open so it will be just you and a few others for a very intimate and interactive performance with G!!

Robert Jones & Matt Watroba
2022-01-17 19:30 - 22:00 | Facebook LIVE
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Ever since their first meeting, over thirty years ago, Robert Jones and Matt Watroba have been musical partners. Their relationship started when they hosted back to back, radio shows on WDET-FM, Detroit. Later on they started performing together and, in doing so, they discovered a friendship based in mutual respect and a love for traditional American music. Now, Matt and Robert literally travel the nation extolling the virtues of “Music That Matters”.
For Matt and Robert, American Roots Music (Folk, Blues, Spirituals, Work Songs, Chants, etc.) is music that matters. This is the music that America and the world have in common. It is music that reflects history, social change, migration, hopes and dreams. It is music that is rich and diverse, direct and powerful. As talented as they are individually, Matt and Robert together form a synergy that hard to describe. Together, they formed a non-profit company called Common Chords to connect communities through music and the arts.

Ellis Paul
2022-01-16 19:30 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
COVID-19 FAQ
Though some may refer to Ellis Paul as a folksinger, he is more, for lack of a better word, a singular storyteller, a musician whose words reach out from inside and yet also express the feelings, thoughts and sensibilities that most people can relate to in one way or another, regardless of age or upbringing. The exhilaration of the open road. A celebration of heroes. The hope for redemption. Descriptions of those things that are both near and dear. His stories are a continuation of tales Paul has told over the expanse of nineteen albums, numerous critical kudos (15 Boston Music Awards alone), inclusion in several blockbuster soundtracks, and stages he has headlined near and far. He has also released a pair of children’s albums, earning him honors from the Parent’s Choice Foundation for both. His latest The Hero In You has been turned into a picture book, detailing the lives of great American heroes.

Jill Jack’s Birthday Bash
2022-01-15 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Due to a band member recently testing positive for COVID and numbers on the rise, Jill Jack has made the decision to cancel this show. Refunds will be issued from the point of purchase.
The Jill Jack Band wishes everyone a happy and healthy New Year and looks forward to seeing you at next year’s Birthday Bash!
COVID-19 FAQ
Jill Jack’s career has spanned decades and taken her around the globe, performing solo and with her band at sold-out shows, and opening for world-renowned acts.
Jack grew up in Huntington Woods and has lived in Ferndale for the last 24 years. Her work includes self-written songs in a style she broadly calls Americana, encompassing elements of folk, rock, country, pop and blues. She plays acoustic and electric guitar, and describes her stage presence as friendly, with a focus on storytelling and a dash of humor.
“By the end of the show, we will all be great friends,” Jack said in an email. “As a musician, I feel we can heal with music. Listening to music is an emotional experience. I want to bring all of those emotions to the surface, while allowing the audience to be relieved of anxiety from their life.
“My storytelling is very relatable,” she added. “While some of my stories can be emotionally deep, I always add a hint of humor. It helps people feel a connection, and also that they are not alone in their troubles.”
Since 1997 she has won 46 awards from the Detroit Music Awards Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to recognize Detroit-area artists at the local, regional and national levels. Her career spans more than 25 years and 12 award-winning CDs, as well as three new singles during the pandemic.
She has toured across the country, appearing as a headliner at venues and festivals such as SXSW (South by Southwest), the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, the 30A Songwriters Festival, the WYCD Downtown Hoedown, the Blissfest Musical Festival, The Bluebird Cafe and The Living Room in New York City. She has played for audiences as big as 20,000 people and as intimate as 20.
She has also starred in consistently sold-out shows at the historic Ark in Ann Arbor, and opened for such prominent touring acts as Bob Seger, John Waite, Emmy Lou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, Dan Fogelberg, Marshall Crenshaw, Chris Isaak and Loretta Lynn.
In addition to live performances, she has composed soundtracks for documentaries by the Emmy Award-winning director Keith Farnie, and in 2011 she composed for the million-dollar ad campaign “I’m A Believer” for the city of Detroit. She has composed commercial jingles for such businesses as Thrifty Florist and Little Caesars.
Jack also believes in giving back, with missionary work in Haiti and community service through the Detroit Children’s Choir, the Michigan Arthritis Foundation, Rock for Jobs, Gilda’s Club Bras for a Cause, the Girl Scouts of America, Enchanted Makeovers and Lost Voices — a group that supports young victims of abuse, neglect, violence, addiction and human trafficking, through the gentle encouragement of song.
She said her time in Haiti has been especially meaningful to her. She has been there four times in the last seven years.
“My first experience was the most intense, because no one can prepare you for the sights and sounds of Haiti,” Jack said. “Yes, there is so much poverty. But Haitians pride themselves on their ingenuity, their (faith), their music, their art and their dedication to one another.
“As missionaries, we went where we were needed,” she said. “Some days, we did very hard physical labor, building churches. This meant carrying buckets of wet concrete, bricks, painting, etc. Other days, we were assisting at orphanages, and most recently eye testing and fitting for glasses. Delivering food, clothing and essentials was daily.”
Back at home, Jack helps aspiring artist-entrepreneurs through her career coaching company, Dream Big, Inc. She started the company six or seven years ago, working with upcoming artists to help them focus and reach their creative goals. Dream Big also has half-day workshops available for songwriters to help them craft their music.
“It just felt like another extension of my work,” Jack said. “I originally started the company to help young artists and their parents navigate their way through the music business. But it has turned into a much bigger mission.”
She is currently working with nonprofits, established musicians who need encouragement and even senior citizens who want to leave their mark in music.
“It is never too late to pursue a dream. The only thing that can get in your way is you,” Jack said. “Each client is different, with different needs. Some meet with me weekly, and some biweekly, monthly or quarterly. I am flexible and do not force. I am here to guide and be a support system.”
She also shared a bit of advice for those looking to make a livelihood out of performing.
“It is not the easiest of career choices, and maintaining it for 25 years is a labor of love. Perseverance and authenticity is my motto. Be yourself, no matter what,” Jack said. “The minute you try to be like someone else, you have lost your authenticity and you feel it, your audience feels it. Work from your heart. Not everyone will like you, but they will respect your hard work and tenacity.”
Written by https://www.candgnews.com/reporterbio/andy-kozlowski

The Sweet Remains
2022-01-14 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been cancelled. Purchases made will be automatically refunded by MUTO. Contact MUTO at muto-tix@umich.edu with questions.
COVID-19 FAQ
The Sweet Remains consist of three gifted and charismatic singer-songwriters, each of whom contribute to the writing and the three-part harmonies that define the band’s sound. Driven by strong lyrical and melodic writing, their songs easily appeal to fans of modern folk-rockers like Jason Mraz, Ray Lamontagne, and John Mayer. However, it is their lush harmonies, that distinguish The Sweet Remains from the throngs of guitar-toting troubadour, harking back to supergroups of the 60’s and 70’s like CSN, the Eagles, and Simon & Garfunkel. When Rich Price, Greg Naughto, and Brian Chartrand met for a chance jam session in a Rhode Island hotel room in 2008, the three instantly recognized a musical blend and kinship that would eventually overcome geography (and solo careers) to form The Sweet Remains. Since then they’ve toured as far away as Denmark and Germany, and gained critical raves from the likes of the Boston Herald, which wrote that “it’s been a long time since three-part harmonies this lush were yoked to songs this melodically gorgeous.” Come and luxuriate in the sounds of the harmony trio of the year!

Masters of Hawaiian Music
2022-01-13 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been cancelled. Purchases made will be automatically refunded by MUTO. Contact MUTO at muto-tix@umich.edu with questions.
Four-time Grammy-winner, master slack key guitarist GEORGE KAHUMOKU JR., known as “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man”, is a multiple Na Hōkū Hanohano (Hawaiian Grammy) Award winner, a vocalist, storyteller, songwriter & author, teacher, sculptor, farmer, and chef.
A master of the slack key guitar and National Heritage Fellow, LED KAAPANA has been one of Hawaii’s most influential musicians for four decades. His mastery of stringed instruments, his exceptional picking style on slack key guitar and ‘ukulele, and his extraordinary baritone to leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) vocal range, have made him a musical legend and earned him multiple Na Hōkū Awards.
‘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.

Skerryvore
2022-01-12 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been cancelled. Purchases made will be automatically refunded by MUTO. Contact MUTO at muto-tix@umich.edu with questions.
COVID-19 FAQ
With a mix of fiddle, accordions, pipes and whistles, alongside guitar and vocals, underpinned by driving bass, drums and keys, Skerryvore represent the best in contemporary Scottish traditional music. Their 6 studio albums demonstrate the wide range of influences the individual musicians bring to the mix – a unique fusion of folk, trad, rock and Americana, with even some jazz in there!
Comfortable in the studio though the band are, it’s on the road in front of a live audience that they really come into their own. Their live album, recorded at Scottish venues in late 2019, and released in summer 2020, highlights this, as well as giving a hint that there’s still much more to come for Skerryvore’s growing worldwide fanbase.

Oliver Wood Trio
2022-01-11 20:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been rescheduled for May 11, 2022. Tickets will be reissued automatically for the rescheduled date. Refunds will be available by request only no later than 30 days after the announcement of the new date.
COVID-19 FAQ
Oliver Wood is a mainstay of modern-day American roots music. The frontman of the Wood Brothers since 2004, he’s spent the 21st century blurring the boundaries between folk, gospel, country-soul, and Americana, earning an international audience and a Grammy Award-nomination along the way. Always Smilin’, his debut as a solo artist, continues that tradition while also shining new light on Oliver’s sharp songwriting, savvy guitar chops, and a voice that evokes the swagger of a Saturday evening picking party one moment and the solemnity of a Sunday morning gospel service the next.

Drew Nelson
2022-01-09 19:30 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been cancelled. Purchases made will be automatically refunded by MUTO. Contact MUTO at muto-tix@umich.edu with questions.
COVID-19 FAQ
Michigan-born Navy veteran Drew Nelson is a storytelling songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A fly fisherman and world traveler, he writes as a witness to the lives and journeys of those he has met along the way, mixing Americana and roots-rock with traditional folk styles. Drew describes himself as “a God-fearing feeder of birds.” This Grand Rapids native lists his influences as “Greg Brown, Peter Mulvey, Tom Waits, Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett, Richard Shindell, Andrew Calhoun, Kat Eggleston, John Gorka, Jan Krist, Ralston Bowles, U2, Bruce Cockburn, and, well…Dylan, Dylan, Dylan.” He’s opened for John Gorka, a big fan, at The Ark, and has toured with Melissa Etheridge and Edwin McCain.

The Yellow Room Gang
2022-01-08 20:00 | Facebook LIVE
This livestream event has been cancelled due to scheduling difficulties.
It’s a night with eight of our favorite Michigan songwriters: “One Shining Moment” composer David Barrett, Detroit native and Great American Song Contest winner Jim Bizer, contemporary country-folk road warrior Annie Capps, Irish-American chanteuse Kitty Donohoe, four-time Detroit Music Award winner Jan Krist, Michael Hough and David Tamulevich of the “Music to Cure What Ails You” duo Mustard’s Retreat, and southeastern Michigan folk veteran Matt Watroba. The Yellow Room is the “brilliantly yellow” living room of Tamulevich’s house on Ann Arbor’s Old West Side, where gang members meet monthly for musical brainstorming and mutual critique. Come and be a fly on the wall as the exchange of creative ideas flows freely! “To have any one of these songwriters perform at Trinity House is a real treat,” says promoter Bill Keith. “To have them perform together is unbelievable.” The Yellow Room Gang has been around for over 15 years now, with all the members coming up with new music all the while.
Free to view – donations to the virtual tip jar in support of the artists and The Ark are appreciated.
