Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the Ebird and Friends Holiday Show has become known for connecting audiences with stellar artists in the Michigan music community. This year’s featured performers are Tunde Olaniran, Emilee Petersmark, Timothy Monger, Chris Dupont, and Kylee Phillips.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the Ebird and Friends Holiday Show has become known for connecting audiences with stellar artists in the Michigan music community. This year’s featured performers are Tunde Olaniran, Emilee Petersmark, Timothy Monger, Chris Dupont, and Kylee Phillips.
Avoiding easy categorization, The Bad Plus has won critical acclaim and a legion of fans worldwide with their unique sound and flair for live performance. Now in their 21st year, The Bad Plus continues to push boundaries as founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums) embark on a new piano-less incarnation of the band with Ben Monder (guitar) and Chris Speed (tenor saxophone)—re-energizing their sound and inspiration.
Opener: John-Allison Weiss
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesIt’s rare for an artist to bridge the divide between critical acclaim and dedicated fan engagement. Chris Pureka is a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose body of work has resonated deeply with these seemingly disparate milieus. Her music has straddled the folk, americana and indie rock genres over the course of her 20 year career, and over that time, her bold vulnerability in processing the intimacies of life in song has struck a chord with those listeners who crave authenticity and depth.
Named for a tough but enduringly creative neighborhood north of downtown Cincinnati, Over the Rhine is the duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. Their ethereal sounds—dreamy, sweeping, highly literate and melancholy—have drawn comparisons to the likes of Cowboy Junkies. If you've never heard Over the Rhine, this is a great time to check them out—their December shows draw on their superb holiday albums, which bring renewal and a sense of the season to all.
Special Guest: Dave Roof
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesMidwestern songwriting legend Dick Siegel has been bringing his joyous, eccentric and penetrating musical vision to audiences across North America for more than three decades. Songs like “When the Sumac is on Fire,” “Angelo’s” and “Carry Me Away,” drawn from the traditions of American folk, roots and pop music, have become radio show theme songs, quotable classics and—most importantly—all-time personal favorites deeply imbedded in the hearts of his fans.
Award-winning guitarist, educator, and performer Rollie Tussing makes a raggedy brand of music informed by the era of 78 rpm records, juke joints, and street performers. He composes a lot of his own songs and has a knack for reworking an old obscure tune, finding beauty in the forgotten scratches, pops and grooves of his esoteric record collection.
The David Mayfield Parade offers music that stretches from the avant-garde to David Mayfield’s own musical roots, which are buried deep in the bluegrass tradition from a childhood of touring with his family’s band.
Tonight’s show offers an opportunity to hear three of the legends of Michigan music together on the same stage—guitarists George Bedard and Steve Nardella will be joining Mr. B on stage for a Thanksgiving weekend blues and boogie blowout! This trio has a grand history of playing together in the past, and when they have, the results have been amazing. This will be a long-awaited reunion show for these three giants of blues and boogie and it's not to be missed!
Matt Watroba, a Detroit Music Awards winner as Best Overall Folk Performer, is the kind of guy who makes friends easily: not only is he on a first-name basis with most of the major folk musicians in North America after a couple of decades of sharing stages with them, but he also has the kind of rapport with audiences that makes them feel as if they're sitting among friends in a living room.
The Wildwoods are an enchanting Folk/Americana trio based in Lincoln, Nebraska, whose flowing songwriting tandem has been praised by Paste Magazine as "focused and charmingly human". The Wildwoods' delicate melodies and descriptive lyrics come from nature, love, experiences from the road, and growing up in Nebraska. The Ark's Artist Spotlight Series is made possible with support from Ford Motor Company Fund. Nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers
Windborne has been called the most exciting vocal group in a generation. With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share a vibrant energy onstage with a blending of voices that can only come from decades of friendship alongside dedicated practice.
