BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//The Ark - ECPv6.17.3.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://theark.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Ark
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Detroit
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260311T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260311T230000
DTSTAMP:20260309T143001Z
CREATED:20251113T150016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260309T143001Z
UID:10001088-1773259200-1773270000@theark.org
SUMMARY:Ladysmith Black Mambazo
DESCRIPTION:Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone.  This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours. \nLet us tell you a story. An impossible to believe\, yet\, true story. Once upon a time there was a teenage boy working on his family farm in apartheid South Africa. The year was 1960. This boy loved to sing\, in fact he loved to sing so much that he allowed himself an impossible dream. In his dream he would create a group of singers\, from his family members\, to sing traditional South African songs. His group would perform all over South Africa and they would become the greatest music group his country would ever know. How could such a dream come to a young farm boy in a country rife with hardship\, violence and trouble? Well\, Joseph Shabalala was this young farm boy and his dream would become Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  \nThe year 2025 marks the 65th anniversary of Joseph Shabalala forming Ladysmith Black Mambazo. His group would not only conquer all of South Africa\, but would become a worldwide phenomenon\, winning more GRAMMY Awards (Five)\, and receiving more GRAMMY Award nominations (Nineteen)\, than any World Music group in the history of recorded music.  \nDuring the dark years of South African Apartheid\, Ladysmith Black Mambazo followed a path of peaceful protest through songs of hope and love. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison\, in 1990\, he said that Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music was a powerful message of peace that he listened to while in jail. When Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize\, in 1993\, he asked the group to join him at the ceremony. It was Mandela who called Ladysmith Black Mambazo “South Africa’s Cultural Ambassadors to the World.”  \nThe group sings a traditional music style called isicathamiya (Is-Cot-A-Mee-Ya)\, which developed in the mines of South Africa. It was there that black workers were taken to work far away from their homes and families. Poorly housed and paid\, the mine workers would entertain themselves\, after a six-day work week\, by singing songs into the wee hours on Saturday night and Sunday. When the miners returned to their homes\, this musical tradition returned with them.  \nIn the mid-1980s\, American singer/songwriter Paul Simon famously visited South Africa and incorporated the group’s rich harmonies into his renowned Graceland album – a landmark recording considered seminal in introducing World Music to mainstream audiences. This brought the group to the attention of music lovers all over the world\, the beginning of a global musical career that shows no sign of ending.  \nAfter leading his group for over fifty years and approaching his seventy-fifth birthday\, Joseph Shabalala retired in 2014\, handing the leadership to his three sons\, Thulani\, Sibongiseni and Thamsanqa Shabalala. Having joined their father’s group in 1993\, their many years of training had prepared them in ways no others could be trained. Now\, carrying their father’s dream into the future\, the Shabalala Family continues the group’s success for the world to hear.  \nLadysmith Black Mambazo is Thulani Shabalala\, Sibongiseni Shabalala\, Thamsanqa Shabalala\, Msizi Shabalala\, Albert Mazibuko\, Abednego Mazibuko\, Mfanafuthi Dlamini\, Pius Shezi and Sabelo Mthembu.
URL:https://theark.org/event/ladysmith-black-mambazo-260311/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/LBM-0057-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260409T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260409T203000
DTSTAMP:20260320T165722Z
CREATED:20260224T201439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260320T165722Z
UID:10001179-1775761200-1775766600@theark.org
SUMMARY:James McMurtry Duo feat. BettySoo: The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
DESCRIPTION:“One of America’s greatest living songwriters.” (Rolling Stone) Texas-based songwriter and guitarist James McMurtry is a supremely insightful and inventive storyteller whose fans include everyone from Stephen King to John Mellencamp. Funny and sad often in the same breath\, McMurtry teases vivid worlds out of small details\, crafting searingly honest lyrics set against a rock/Americana backdrop. His Ypsilanti Freighthouse debut draws from his 2025 album The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. The story-songs on that album find inspiration in scraps from his family’s past: a rough pencil sketch by Ken Kesey that serves as the album cover; the hallucinations experienced by his father\, the legendary writer Larry McMurtry; an old poem by a family friend. “A solid smorgasbord of aging\, Americana\, and arrested development.” (The Austin Chronicle) \nTwo performances\, 7:00pm and 9:30pm \nPRESENTING SPONSOR\nMatt and Nicole Lester
URL:https://theark.org/event/james-mcmurtry-the-black-dog-and-the-wandering-boy/2026-04-09/1/
LOCATION:Ypsilanti Freighthouse\, 100 Market Pl\, Ypsilanti\, MI\, 48198\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert,Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/James-McMurtry-5-by-Mary-Keating-Bruton-PREFERRED-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260409T213000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260409T230000
DTSTAMP:20260320T165722Z
CREATED:20260224T201439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260320T165722Z
UID:10001180-1775770200-1775775600@theark.org
SUMMARY:James McMurtry Duo feat. BettySoo: The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
DESCRIPTION:“One of America’s greatest living songwriters.” (Rolling Stone) Texas-based songwriter and guitarist James McMurtry is a supremely insightful and inventive storyteller whose fans include everyone from Stephen King to John Mellencamp. Funny and sad often in the same breath\, McMurtry teases vivid worlds out of small details\, crafting searingly honest lyrics set against a rock/Americana backdrop. His Ypsilanti Freighthouse debut draws from his 2025 album The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. The story-songs on that album find inspiration in scraps from his family’s past: a rough pencil sketch by Ken Kesey that serves as the album cover; the hallucinations experienced by his father\, the legendary writer Larry McMurtry; an old poem by a family friend. “A solid smorgasbord of aging\, Americana\, and arrested development.” (The Austin Chronicle) \nTwo performances\, 7:00pm and 9:30pm \nPRESENTING SPONSOR\nMatt and Nicole Lester
URL:https://theark.org/event/james-mcmurtry-the-black-dog-and-the-wandering-boy/2026-04-09/2/
LOCATION:Ypsilanti Freighthouse\, 100 Market Pl\, Ypsilanti\, MI\, 48198\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert,Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/James-McMurtry-5-by-Mary-Keating-Bruton-PREFERRED-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260411T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260411T230000
DTSTAMP:20260323T142250Z
CREATED:20251001T134050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T142250Z
UID:10001046-1775937600-1775948400@theark.org
SUMMARY:Penny and Sparrow
DESCRIPTION:Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone.  This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours. \nA wise wizard once said: “when in doubt\, always follow your nose.”  \nThe last album from Penny and Sparrow\, Olly Olly\, was a work of revelation and liberation. A search for and an embrace of the self. I imagine they were left with a headscratcher of a question: well\, shit. Where do you go from there? \nFortunately\, they listened to the wizard and followed their noses backwards to find their way forward.  \nAiming to strip away pretense and invite experimentation\, they commandeered a garden shed from a friend and retrofitted it to make a twenty-track album that is vast\, weird\, and wholly unexpected.  \nIf Lefty is anything\, it is the journal of Penny and Sparrow’s inner child. Dog-eared\, lock busted open. On its pages the sketches of dreams\, nightmares\, erotica\, and literary fan fiction graffiti the margins of poetry\, elegies\, and love letters in the wild colors of saxophone blue\, electronic pink\, and blood harmony red.  \nBeautifully varied and richly rendered\, it is an album that wanders from theme to theme\, style to style\, exultation to tragedy. Yet it is never lost. If anything\, it is at play.  \nUnited by its intimate vocals and aching harmonies\, its acoustic laments trickle into ethereal pop only to surge into whimsical ballads and crest into grand hooligan anthems that sway gently down to familiar shores where melancholic ballads tell of love lost\, found\, forgotten\, and remembered.  \nAndy and Kyle have written some albums in blood. Others they’ve whispered to the sea. This one they danced in the sky with smiles on their faces. Lefty feels like not just a celebration of their journey beyond the bounds of their traditional genre\, but as if they have rediscovered the joy in music by honoring the sounds that inspired two boys growing up in Texas to one day make the damn stuff themselves. \n–Pierce Brown\, author and friend \nVIP includes:\nOne general admission ticket\nEarly entry into the venue\nAccess to an intimate pre-show soundcheck party (2-3 songs)\nQ&A with Penny & Sparrow\nLimited edition tour poster; autographed by Penny & Sparrow\nCrowd free merchandise shopping\nLimited availability \nEarly Entry includes:\nOne general admission ticket\nEarly entry into the venue\nLimited edition tour poster; autographed by Penny & Sparrow\nCrowd free merchandise shopping\nLimited availability
URL:https://theark.org/event/penny-and-sparrow-260411/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61460002-1-scaled-e1759325861147.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260426T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260426T230000
DTSTAMP:20260423T134542Z
CREATED:20260212T150023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260423T134542Z
UID:10001171-1777231800-1777244400@theark.org
SUMMARY:May Erlewine with Packy Lundholm
DESCRIPTION:Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone.  This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours. \nOne of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters\, May Erlewine has a gift for writing songs of substance that feel both fresh and soulfully familiar. Her ability to emotionally engage with an audience has earned her a dedicated following far beyond her Michigan roots. This year\, May is teaming up with Chicago guitar wizard\, Packy Lundholm. The heart forward power duo will be offering their music in the name of love\, service and rock & roll.
URL:https://theark.org/event/may-erlewine-260426/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/May-2026-web-scaled-e1770755408503.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260508T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260508T230000
DTSTAMP:20260407T144820Z
CREATED:20251210T170051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260407T144820Z
UID:10001111-1778270400-1778281200@theark.org
SUMMARY:Iron & Wine
DESCRIPTION:Iron & Wine is the musical project of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Born and raised in South Carolina\, Beam is a former film professor who got his start making home recordings before landing on Sub Pop Records. Iron & Wine’s 2002 debut\, The Creek Drank the Cradle garnered both critical and popular acclaim\, vaulting Beam into the spotlight of the burgeoning indie- folk/Americana scene as one of its new and leading voices. \nFor over 20 years\, Iron & Wine has captured the emotion and imagination of listeners with distinctly cinematic songs. His recorded output includes seven full-length studio records\, collaborations with Calexico\, Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses)\, and Jesca Hoop\, countless EP’s\, singles and compilation/soundtrack appearances\, a live concert documentary\, and five GRAMMY nominations. \nIron & Wine’s latest record\, Light Verse was released in April 2024 with Paste Magazine noting “… Beam returns with an expanded sonic palette while also rekindling the bright spark that made 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog so magical.”
URL:https://theark.org/event/iron-wine-260508/
LOCATION:Michigan Theater\, 603 East Liberty\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert,Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IRON-WINE-Updated-2026-Press-Photo-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260509T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260509T230000
DTSTAMP:20260507T134927Z
CREATED:20251218T150047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T134927Z
UID:10001129-1778356800-1778367600@theark.org
SUMMARY:Howley
DESCRIPTION:Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone.  This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours. \nFor over a decade\, David and Martin Howley have been at the heart of a musical revolution. As founding members of We Banjo 3\, the Galway-born brothers brought Irish traditional music to new heights — blending it with Americana\, bluegrass\, and contemporary songcraft to create a sound beloved across the world. Their electrifying live shows\, virtuosic playing\, and brotherly chemistry made We Banjo 3 one of the most celebrated acts on the international folk scene. \nNow\, the brothers return with a brand-new project: Howley — a re-imagining of that signature sound for a new era. With Martin’s dazzling mastery on banjo and mandolin and David’s unmistakable voice and rhythmic guitar\, Howley is both a continuation and a renewal — rooted in tradition but reaching fearlessly toward the future. \nJoined by two world-class artists\, Kiana June (fiddle\, vocals) and Caitlin Leahy (percussion\, flute\, vocals)\, Howley expands the brothers’ trademark sound with lush harmonies\, fiery fiddle\, and rhythmic flair. The result is warm\, vibrant\, and deeply human — a band that feels both comfortingly familiar and thrillingly new. \nMartin Howley\, a seven-time All-Ireland champion and the first Irish banjoist to perform on the Grand Ole Opry\, brings dazzling precision and playful charisma to every performance. \nDavid Howley\, known for his soulful voice and magnetic stage presence\, fuses the sensitivity of a songwriter with the power of a rock frontman. \nKiana June\, the “fiddle-fueled” virtuoso of Gaelic Storm and Come From Away\, infuses the music with both elegance and fire. \nCaitlin Leahy\, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist from the celebrated Leahy’s Luck family\, provides rhythmic heartbeat and shimmering vocal textures. \nTogether\, they form a sound built on connection — the pulse of family\, the spark of shared history\, and the joy of collaboration. \nWith Howley\, the brothers have created something new: music that celebrates their past but looks ahead with open arms. Their live show is full of laughter\, harmony\, and heart — the kind of energy that reminds audiences why they fell in love with folk music in the first place.
URL:https://theark.org/event/howley-260509/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Howley3.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260822T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260822T230000
DTSTAMP:20260814T183631Z
CREATED:20260409T140008Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260814T183631Z
UID:10001237-1787428800-1787439600@theark.org
SUMMARY:Rodney Crowell
DESCRIPTION:Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone.  This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours. \nRodney Crowell is the songwriter’s songwriter and an icon among giants. Native Texan\, Crowell is a multi-Grammy Award-winning troubadour with fifteen number one hits. Over the course of his career\, Crowell has gracefully blended his own mainstream success as an artist with a prolific catalog of songs cut by the likes of Emmylou Harris\, Johnny Cash\, Waylon Jennings\, Keith Urban and more\, making him a master among his peers.  \nWith more than 40 years of American roots music under his belt\, Crowell has also been cited as the architect of Americana music\, extending his genre reach\, but owing to the distinctly universal\, literary quality of his writing\, he has also penned beloved songs for artists as diverse as Bob Seger\, Etta James\, the Grateful Dead\, John Denver\, Jimmy Buffett and countless others. \nA member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame\, Crowell is also the author of the acclaimed memoir\, Chinaberry Sidewalks\, and teamed up with New York Times best-selling author Mary Karr for Kin: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell in 2012\, with Karr saying of her collaborator\, “Like Hank Williams or Townes Van Zandt or Miss Lucinda\, he writes and croons with a poet’s economy and a well digger’s deep heart.” Crowell was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award in 2017\, and that same year released the album Close Ties\, which spawned another Grammy nomination for “It Ain’t Over Yet” with Rosanne Cash and John Paul White in the category of Best Americana Song. 2019’s Texas was a collection of Lone Star-centric collaborations with Ringo Starr\, Willie Nelson\, Ronnie Dunn\, Steve Earle and more\, and Crowell’s most recent album release is the 2021 set\, Triage.  \nCrowell came up in Nashville’s songwriting heyday alongside Guy Clark\, Townes Van Zandt\, and Steve Earle and has continued that legacy of camaraderie and kinship with his peers well into the iconic era of his career. As many say – “your favorite song was probably written by Rodney Crowell.” Crowell has four daughters and lives with his wife and dog in Tennessee. He writes every day and loves tending to his garden.
URL:https://theark.org/event/rodney-crowell-260822/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-PRINT-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260830T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260830T230000
DTSTAMP:20260824T134932Z
CREATED:20260408T170013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260824T134932Z
UID:10001234-1788118200-1788130800@theark.org
SUMMARY:BIIRD
DESCRIPTION:BIIRD are an all-female trad supergroup that have been mystifying the masses with their lively\, zealous set and uncompromising dedication to Irish design since their inception last year. Bringing the trad session vibe from the corner of a pub to a global audience\, their energy is unmatched.  This is a sisterhood born out of a shared passion for keeping the tradition of Irish music alive\, giving it a new look and keeping it on its toes. When they’re performing together\, a magic flows between them\, and that mix of skill and sorcery make them incomparable. \nAfter appearing on the Late Late Show in February 2025 BIIRD went on to sell out every show on their debut Irish & UK tour\, including their upgraded show at Vicar St… all before even releasing any music.  BIIRD then went on to play Mainstage at ATN to 15\,000 adoring fans.  Having recently signed up with Primary Talent as booking agents 2026 promises to be an incredible year of touring for the supergroup with an extensive Irish\, UK and US tour soon to be announced\, among other hugely exciting ventures. \nThe flock of BIIRDs is made up of Lisa on harp\, banjo\, vocals; Laura Doherty on fiddle and guitar; Zoran Donohoe on concertina; Sal Heneghan on fiddle and harp; Miadhachlughain O’Donnell on flute and vocals; Nicole Lonergan on fiddle; Niamh Hinchy on vocals and synth; Aoife Kelly on cello; Ciara Ní Mhurchú on fiddle; Hannah Hiemstra on drums; and Claire Loughran on fiddle and harp.
URL:https://theark.org/event/biird-260830/
LOCATION:The Ark\, 316 S. Main\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, 48104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Low Ticket Alert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theark.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/748bddc7947e4c398e1bf6dec7c63071-scaled.jpeg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR