Gemini (twin brothers San and Laz Slomovits) have played an annual family concert for Ark audiences on the Sunday after Thanksgiving every year since 1994 to benefit Mott Children’s Hospital, where San’s daughter, Emily was born. Emily will join the brothers for this show.
Ark Family Room shows are free and streamed to The Ark’s Facebook page.
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!
Sunday’s matinee show will feature storytellers Bill Harley, Sheila Arnold, and Steve Daut in a program for families.
Gemily (Gemini + Emily) is the folk music trio comprised of Laz and San Slomovits and San's daughter, Emily. Laz and San, as the highly popular family music duo, Gemini, have been performing throughout Michigan and the United States since 1973. Emily first began joining them on stage when she was just eight years old, and increasingly since graduating from college in 2016. All three are versatile instrumentalists and excellent singers. Between them they play over a dozen instruments including guitars, violins, ukulele, mandolin, pennywhistle, and a variety of folk flutes and hand percussion instruments.
As childhood friends growing up in Denver, Colorado, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing were always exploring the outdoors. Whether it was rafting down their neighborhood creek or discovering hiking trails through the Rocky Mountains, Joe and Justin were born adventurers. Now, as the GRAMMY® Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers, they have put this passion for the outdoors at the heart of their Americana Folk music.
As childhood friends growing up in Denver, Colorado, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing were always exploring the outdoors. Whether it was rafting down their neighborhood creek or discovering hiking trails through the Rocky Mountains, Joe and Justin were born adventurers. Now, as the GRAMMY® Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers, they have put this passion for the outdoors at the heart of their Americana Folk music.
Four-time GRAMMY Nominee Justin Roberts is one of the founders of the modern family music scene. For 25 years, Roberts has been creating the soundtrack to families’ lives, helping kids navigate the joys and sorrows of growing up, while inspiring parents to remember their own childhoods. His songs are the kind of get-stuck-in-your-head pop nuggets that draw comparisons to Elvis Costello, Fountains of Wayne, and Paul Simon rather than simple nursery rhymes, prompting USA Today to call him “hands-down the best songwriter in the genre.”
