The Ark

Natalie & Brittany Haas with Nic Gareiss

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Sisters Natalie (cello) and Brittany (fiddle) Haas began their musical lives together, filling their childhood home with Bach suites and old-time tunes alike. It was on their own, however-following divergent paths through disparate musical traditions, countries, and cultures-that they both arrived as virtuosi and composers at the highest levels of contemporary string music. Fans of acoustic music can hardly mention one without referencing the other's work.

$20

Shane Koyczan

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Internationally recognized author and spoken word artist Shane Koyczan has emerged as a creator of poetry that dares to belong to the people and speak directly to them in their own voice. In 2013, he collaborated with animators to make the anti-bullying viral video “To This Day” which has had over 13 million views, and he performed a customized version “For the Bullied and the Beautiful” to acclaim at the 2013 International TED Conference in Long Beach, California. Shane shapes his words and delivers in multi mediums from authored, video, spoken word, operatic, and musically performed.

$25

Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

When Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore made the album Downey To Lubbock together in 2018, they wrote the title track as a sort of mission statement. “I know someday this old highway’s gonna come to an end,” Alvin sings near the song’s conclusion. Gilmore answers: “But I know when it does you’re going to be my friend.” Six years later, they’re serving notice that the old highway hasn’t ended yet. “We’re still standing, no matter what you might hear,” they sing on “We’re Still Here,” the final track to their new album Texicali. Due out Jun 21, 2024 on Yep Roc Records, Texicali continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).

$35

Trace Bundy

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Internationally-acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. His music is poetry in motion, using harmonics, looping, multiple capos, and his unique banter and stage presence to deliver an unforgettable live concert experience. Listening to his intricate arrangements is one thing, but seeing the fan-dubbed “Acoustic Ninja” play live confounds even the most accomplished music lovers as to how one person can do all that with just two hands and ten fingers.

$25

Yasmin Williams

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Based in Alexandria, VA, Yasmin Williams is an acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and film composer. She has an unorthodox, modern style of guitar playing and utilizes various techniques including alternate tunings, percussive hits, and lap tapping in her music to great effect. Her “radiant sound and adventitious origins have made her a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar” (The New York Times). Williams’s music has been described as rich, harmonious, and “in a lot of ways, the joy and possibility she brings to the guitar reminds me more of Eddie Van Halen than any of the other fingerstyle guitarists to whom she's compared” (NPR Music).

$25

Steve Poltz

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Steve Poltz is not normal. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but has lived most of his life in southern California, and those geographic poles are quite likely responsible for his unhinged genius. No Depression crowned him, "A sardonic provocateur with a lighthearted acoustic-driven wit, suggesting at times a sunnier, less psychedelic Todd Snider, or maybe a less wan, washed Jackson Brown.”

$25

Sixpence None The Richer

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

In 1997, Sixpence None the Richer released their self-titled album and two years later exploded globally when the track “Kiss Me”, from that album, was released as a single. The song has been featured in countless movies and TV shows and catapulted Sixpence None the Richer’s starpower into the mainstream, earning airplay in more than ten different countries. Fast forward to 2024 and all-original members (Leigh Nash, Matt Slocum, Dale Baker, and Justin Cary) have reunited and are writing and recording new music and preparing for a world tour.

$40

Both Sides Now: The Music and Lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

“Two singer-songwriters sit on the edge of a cliff . . .” With these words, we are drawn into the world of Both Sides Now, a theatrical concert that explores the music and lives of long-time friends and one-time lovers, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Created by, and starring Robbie Schaefer and Danielle Wertz, the cabaret-style performance travels decades alongside songs such as A Case of You, Hallelujah, Big Yellow Taxi, Suzanne, and many more.

$25
Artist Spotlight Series Live and Virtual

Pete Muller

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Pete Muller has spent much of his adult life walking a tightrope between two vastly different worlds. “One part of me is a very practical, analytical thinker,” says the singer/songwriter and business leader, “and the other is this creative artist who can’t help but express what’s going on in his soul. For a long time, I thought I had to choose between the two, but I’ve realized that I can love both sides of myself, that it’s AND, not OR.”

Free

Noah Gundersen with Abby Gundersen

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Marking the 10th anniversary of his acclaimed album, Ledges, Noah Gundersen will play intimate, stripped-back shows with his sister Abby Gundersen playing fiddle.

$25, $35, $110 VIP

Carbon Leaf

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

A touring mainstay and an indie folk rock staple, this Virginia quintet’s well-hewn live show and musical style drift in and out of Americana, bluegrass, rock, folk, Celtic and pop traditions with ease, using an arsenal of instruments to define the band’s lively stage presence and sonic landscape.

$35

Ana Popovic

The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Ana Popovic, the award-winning, hard-touring, guitar slinger, blends smoking electric funk and slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and a tight blues groove with soulful, feminine vocals. Add to the mix her incredible stage presence, which makes her an irresistible force in the world of contemporary blues music.

$35