The Ark

John McCutcheon
2023-11-12 19:30 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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 Garrison Keillor—and, even better than that, Will Rogers. John comes to Michigan with a new release, his 43rd, “Leap!”

Croce Plays Croce 50th Anniversary Tour
2023-11-12 18:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
A.J. Croce has been a staple of the Americana, AAA, Blues, Top 40 and other charts throughout his own stellar career, releasing ten studio albums that effortlessly transcend multiple genres and have had 20 songs chart in the Top 20 on various radio charts. However, the 50th Anniversary Celebration of You Don’t Mess Around With Jim has prompted the most affectionate look back yet at his father’s enduring legacy. The renewed interest leading up to the celebration of the classic album (which was recorded for only $18,000 and spent an incredible 93 weeks on the charts) has inspired a special version of A.J.’s popular ‘Croce Plays Croce’ concert series.
A.J. crisscrossed the country in 2021 with this unique concert experience to sold out shows and rave reviews: ‘As a considerate tribute, Croce Plays Croce covered just about everything a fan could expect. With A.J.’s stories and sentiment, though, it was elevated beyond a mere musical homage. Instead, the evening felt more like a family reunion.’ – Live Music News & Review
This special 50th Anniversary performance promises A.J.’s unique interpretation of Jim’s iconic You Don’t Mess Around With Jim album with a full band and visual presentation of the songs, including indelible hits, “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels’), “Time In A Bottle,” and others.
Jim Croce found long-overdue success in 1972 following years of struggling to make a name in the music business. That year he released his debut album, You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, which topped the Billboard Album chart for more than a month, spawning the hit singles “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels),” and “Time in a Bottle”. His final studio effort, I’ve Got a Name, was released just after he passed in Fall of 1973, ten days after his death. Three more hits (“Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues,” “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” and the title song) came from that album, which reached #2 in the album charts. His records earned three #1’s and ten Top 10’s. His three classic albums (including Life and Times) amazingly were recorded in just a one-and-a-half-year period. Jim Croce was just thirty when he died but helped christen the singer/songwriter era of the early 70s, influencing generations of great songwriters to come. He has achieved unprecedented record sales for a working-class, solo ‘folk’ artist including The Songwriter’s Hall of Fame induction, surpassing the 50 million sales mark (worldwide) with his memorable self-penned tunes gracing more than 375 compilations. His music continues to be included in major films, TV shows, and commercials including Apple’s Siri Ad, Tarantino’s Django Unchained, the X-Men franchise, Netflix’s Stranger Things and currently in George Clooney’s The Tender Bar.
A.J. was only two years old when his father was killed in a tragic airplane crash in 1973, but came to love and appreciate his dad’s blue-collar, empathetic wordplay and irresistible melodies, “just like everyone else…by listening to the albums,” says A.J. The younger Croce never performed his dad’s song live until he came across a batch of old covers Jim Croce recorded of classic and obscure blues and folk songs, including work by Fats Waller, Bessie Smith, and Pink Anderson. “I was amazed to discover he was into stuff I was playing myself,” says A.J. The revelation eventually led the singer to conceive the ‘Croce Plays Croce’ concert experience where he delves into both artists’ mesmerizing work, their shared influences and career paths.
As the respected online music database AllMusic states in its comprehensive biography of A.J.’s legendary father: ‘Listening to the songs Croce recorded, one cannot help but wonder how far his extraordinary talents could have taken him if he would have lived longer.’ His son A.J. not only appropriately honors his father’s legacy, but further illuminates the power of the Croce pedigree with an iconic identity all his own.

Ryan Montbleau Band
2023-11-11 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
For as long as he can remember, Ryan Montbleau has been a seeker. From the jungles of Peru to the volcanoes of Hawaii, from the beaches of Costa Rica to the streets of Brooklyn, from the backseat of a 16-passenger van to backstage at Carnegie Hall, the acclaimed singer/songwriter has spent much of his life crisscrossing the globe on a perpetual search for meaning, purpose, and understanding. It’s a quest that’s guided him both personally and professionally over the years, one that’s come to define not only his music, but his very sense of self. And yet, listening to Ryan’s ambitious multi-part album, “Wood, Fire, Water, and Air,” there is a profound sense of satisfaction in sitting still, a recognition that perhaps all those spiritual treasures he’s been chasing for so long were closer than he thought. “My whole adult life has been this journey of trying to figure out where home is,” Ryan reflects. “I think I’ve finally found it.” Rolling out across four distinct EPs, “Wood, Fire, Water, and Air” marks Ryan’s first studio release since putting down permanent roots in Burlington, Vermont, where he recently purchased a house after more than two decades of living on the road.

Lake Street Dive
2023-11-10 19:00 - 23:00 | Masonic Jack White Theatre, 500 Temple Street, Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
Since forming in 2004, Lake Street Dive have matched their sophisticated musicianship with a fearless refusal to limit their sound. As shown on their most recent full-length album, 2021’s critically acclaimed Obviously, the Boston-bred band also possess a keen talent for combining sociopolitical commentary with immediately catchy pop gems. With their current lineup comprised of founding members Rachael Price (vocals), Bridget Kearney (bass), and Michael Calabrese (drums) — as well as keyboardist/vocalist Akie Bermiss and touring guitarist James Cornelison — Lake Street Dive continue to create joyously soulful rock & roll with equal parts ingenuity, intelligence, and irresistible abandon.
Although a certain spirited eclecticism has defined Lake Street Dive since their earliest days, the band’s four original members (including former guitarist/trumpet player Michael “McDuck” Olson) first crossed paths while studying jazz at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. Their full-length debut In This Episode… arrived in 2007, followed by three more independently released and rapturously received albums. As the band’s energetic live show continued to earn them a devoted following, Lake Street Dive made their Nonesuch Records debut with Side Pony: a 2016 effort that instantly shot to No. 1 on three Billboard charts and later landed on Paste’s 50 Best Albums of 2016 list. The following year, the group experienced a new infusion of creative energy with the addition of Bermiss (previously their touring keyboardist), who has since begun sharing writing and arrangement duties. Arriving in 2018, Lake Street Dive’s selfproduced sixth album Free Yourself Up debuted in the top ten on the Billboard 200 and spent seven-and-a-half months on the non-commercial radio charts, with the smoldering hit single “Good Kisser” holding steady in the top five at Americana radio for over a month.
In recent years, Lake Street Dive have brought even more boldness to their kaleidoscopic sound while deliberately expanding their songcraft. To that end, Obviously finds the band examining such complex matters as gender inequality (on “Being a Woman”) and the monumental challenges faced by younger generations (on “Making Do”), shaping each track with a profound intentionality and ineffable mastery of melody and groove — a process Price refers to as “putting these messages into three and a half minute snippets, dropping whatever truth we can and hoping it’s the type of thing that people want to ruminate on.” Made with producer Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Mary J. Blige), the result is an endlessly illuminating body of work that’s earned praise from the likes of Rolling Stone (who noted that “[a]t a moment when pop strives for lo-fi, solitary-world intimacy, the jazz-pop-whatever band refuse to think small”).
Last fall, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their first covers EP, Lake Street Dive released Fun Machine: The Sequel, a 6-track EP of cover songs produced by Robin MacMillan and recorded at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn and Lucy’s Meat Market in Los Angeles. This new collection of songs reveals what makes the group so unique and their curations so special. Lake Street Dive don’t just inhabit these interpretations; they knock the walls down, re-finish the floors, and on some of them add a new room or two — it’s a way to both acknowledge their inspirations while also advancing their own musical foundation, inspiring a new generation of fans along the way. And as always, it’s their signature combination of immaculate musicianship, exceptional, inventive chops, and free-wheeling, playful sense of fun and originality leading the way.
Over the years, they’ve captivated massive audiences at such esteemed festivals as Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Toronto Jazz Festival, in addition to headlining tours all across the globe and sharing stages with acts like Brandi Carlile and Sheryl Crow. And through their fierce commitment to constantly elevating their artistry, Lake Street Dive have ultimately emerged as one of the most compelling voices in alternative music today, both reliably sublime and thrilling unpredictable.
Lake Street Drive have partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 per ticket will go towards supporting gun violence prevention initiatives.

Antje Duvekot & Joe Crookston
2023-11-09 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
A former Artist-in-Residence at Folk Alliance International, Joe Crookston of Ithaca, New York, is a writer, singer, guitar picker, painter, clawhammer banjo player, and believer in all things possible. You’ll be pulled in by the magic and musical world he creates, and you’ll end up in the moment, humming and buzzing with the rest of the crowd. He’ll sing to you—you’ll sing with him. He’s plumbing for lyrical gold, like some kind of social archaeologist. Joe’s story songs are universal, masterful and his concerts are a grand celebration of all of us. At the end of the night, you’ll leave inspired, with a renewed sense of what’s possible.
New England folk institution Ellis Paul has called Antje Duvekot the next great American folk singer-songwriter. Born in Germany, Antje immigrated to the U.S. as a teen. Following the path of Natalie Merchant, Dar Williams, and Patty Griffin, she developed a sound all her own. The Boston Globe says that her “provocative, dark-eyed ballads are becoming the talk of the folk world.” Antje is a winner of the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival’s Best New Folk Award, and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act.
Joe Crookston and Antje Duvekot are touring in the Midwest in early November performing a creative storytelling collaborative concert called Imagine Nation.
They will perform the entire show together on stage, weaving in and out of harmonies presenting as a duo.

Bonnie Raitt Birthday Tribute
2023-11-08 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The music of Bonnie Raitt crosses boundaries between blues, folk, rock, and country, and she found a deep common denominator. It’s perhaps for that reason that Bonnie continues to be listened to and to influence younger musicians. Tonight’s show features Michigan artists who come together to honor Bonnie Raitt on her 74th. May there be many more! On the bill are Shelly Smith, bassist Brennan Andres, vocalist Jess Merritt (of The Understorey), jazz singer Heather Black, and more artists TBA!

Victor Wooten and The Wooten Brothers
2023-11-06 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Hailed as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a founding member of the Grammy-winning supergroup Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Continuing the tradition of virtuosity forged by James Brown, Funkadelic, and Prince, Victor will make you wonder how he could possibly be creating his incredible bass effects in real time. His show is a high-wire act on low-pitched strings that owes some of its inspiration to another Wooten mentor, the inimitable Bootsy Collins. A multiple-time winner of Bass Player magazine’s Bass Player of the Year award and a five-time Grammy winner, Victor Wooten is a musical experience not to be missed! Tonight Victor appears with brothers Joseph, Roy, and Regi Wooten.

Mipso
2023-11-05 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Chapel Hill’s indie Americana quartet Mipso—Jacob Sharp (mandolin, vocals), Wood Robinson (bass, vocals), Joseph Terrell (guitar, vocals), and Libby Rodenbough (fiddle, vocals)—just keeps growing in reach and was recently signed to the longtime New England folk label Rounder. Influenced by the contradiction of its progressive home and the surrounding rural southern landscapes, Mipso has been hailed as “hewing surprisingly close to gospel and folk while still sounding modern and secular” (Acoustic Guitar) and was recently recognized by Rolling Stone as an “Artist You Need to Know.” The band brings a unique sound, full of wistful beauty, hopeful undercurrents, and panoramic soundscapes. Venturing ever further from its string-band pedigree to discover a broader Americana where classic folk-rock and modern alt-country sounds mingle easily with Appalachian tradition, Mipso’s music is lush and forward moving, with lyrics that sear and salve in turn.

Judy Banker Band
2023-11-04 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Americana and Alt-Country artist Judy Banker returns to The Ark with her all-star band for a birthday concert that also celebrates the release of her fourth studio album, “Bona Fide.” With this newest release, Judy’s songwriting—rife with melodic hooks and raw, poetic lyrics set to layered, innovative arrangements—has evolved, crossing over and blending jazz, R&B, and rock to create something that feels at once familiar and wholly original. Judy and her band—David Roof, John Sperendi, Tony Pace, Alan Pagliere & Brian Williams—will be performing “Bona Fide” cover to cover as well as favorite selections from Judy’s other records.
As a longtime Ann Arbor–based musician, Judy has deep connections to the region. Musical partner to Michigan songwriting legend Jay Stielstra for nearly 15 years, and music director of the fall 2022 40th-anniversary revival of Jay’s musical play “North Country Opera,” Judy has been writing and recording her own music for the past decade, with her debut release, “Without You,” nearing its ten-year anniversary. With three highly regarded studio albums under her belt and a single, “Blessed Be the Nation”—a poem of Pete Seeger’s Judy set to her original music—Judy has established herself as a staple of the southeast Michigan music scene.
Along with copies of “Bona Fide” and other music merch, Judy will have available for purchase copies of photographs she is known for capturing of the rural/natural areas surrounding Ann Arbor. A portion of photograph sales will go to support the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. Ann Arbor songwriter Annie Bacon opens.

Tartan Terrors
2023-11-03 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Tartan Terrors are not a band but, in the words of the organizers, “North America’s premiere Celtic event, featuring the best in music, comedy and dance.” Amazed by the blistering chops of a two-time world champion bagpiper, the driving tones of drums from around the world, and a guitar played unlike any you’ve ever heard, standing-room-only audiences come to understand why Dig This magazine declares Tartan Terrors “one act to keep an eye on!” Combine all the music with championship-caliber Highland Dancers and internationally recognized comedic performers, and this Celtic group goes beyond the ordinary. Members of Tartan Terrors have performed on four different continents; in some of the most prestigious festivals, Highland Games, and theaters in North America, for a U.S. president and Britain’s Queen, and on Good Morning America. Experience the phenomenon of Tartan Terrors and see why Celtic Beat hails them as “the heirs apparent to the mayhem”!

The Ark's Open Stage
2023-11-01 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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. Twelve 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.

Lonesome Ace Stringband
2023-10-30 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Masters of their trade, The Lonesome Ace Stringband bring grit, skill and abandon to Americana music, bridging old-time, bluegrass and folk traditions into a seamless hybrid of original material that is at once fresh and timeless.
Instrumentation alone sets this Toronto-based trio’s sound apart: consisting simply of fiddle (John Showman), clawhammer banjo (Chris Coole), and upright bass (Max Heineman). The spine-tingling harmonies and interchanging lead vocals only bring more magic to the equation. They’re releasing their fifth album, a feisty and mighty all-original collection (Try To Make It Fly Oct 2023) and touring it to Canada, the US and Europe.

Darlingside
2023-10-29 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Comprised of Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner and David Senft, four likeminded multi-instrumentalists who first met at Williams College in 2009, Darlingside’s career has been defined by the elegance of their compositions and the unity of their four voices. Their talent for harmony and melodic world-building is part of what garnered praise from outlets like NPR, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, and what has created demand worldwide for their extraordinary live performances. Becoming beautifully unindividualized has, in other words, worked very well for Darlingside in the past. With a vigor and discipline more common to graduate-level writing workshops than to indie rock, Darlingside has, over the years, experimented with all manners of idiosyncratic methods for elevating and upholding a truly democratic process of songwriting—processes that include multiple rounds of group writing and recording exercises—all with the aim of escaping the trap that bands with multiple songwriters often fall into: ego-driven infighting and artistic incoherence.
It’s a rare thing and becoming rarer by the day: a group of musicians with that emulsifying magic to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. And to see Darlingside perform live is to confirm this special chemistry. With the release of Everything Is Alive (2023) the band will, for the first time, take to the road without Dave Senft. Instead of filling his spot directly, the band has wisely chosen to honor the special chemistry of the foursome by letting those arrangements live on the recordings without obligation to faithfully recreate them onstage. While Dave remains a contributing member of the band, on tour Darlingside will perform in a completely different configuration altogether—a configuration that will, at times, include the album’s drummer Ben Burns, singer Molly Parden, and others—proving again how the group can adroitly rearrange themselves for the breaking of a new and different day.

Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
2023-10-28 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
​​Since 2005 when Erin Zindle first created The Ragbirds, the band has gathered and maintained a passionate, grassroots fan base by continually reinventing themselves with an ever-evolving sound, while remaining rooted in the high-energy, world-inspired folk-rock that they have become known for. With a change of cast in 2019, the band is shifting its weight and focusing more on the melodic components. The rhythms of their new sound leave room for the songs to breathe and for the vocals to take on the spotlight. Now equipped with four vocalists, the band is diving into the textures they can create with vocal harmonies and exploring the newly-created space with instrumental curiosity, adding more improvisational elements into the otherwise-tight arrangements. The sweet energetic charm of lead singer Erin Zindle demands attention. She is an enigma of ageless quality, agile and joyful, yet rooted in wisdom. In her daily life, Erin is devoted to the tedious work of songcraft, but in her performances, the songs flow from her effortlessly, as if she is channeling them, radiating as she sings the words she has polished to a fine shine. The pain in her songs highlights the wonder of the grace and freedom she embodies. Every live performance leaves the listener in a higher place than when it began. Touring for nearly 15 years from their home-base of Ann Arbor, Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds have developed a well-deserved reputation as one of the most dynamic, hard-working, high-spirited live bands in roots music.

California Guitar Trio
2023-10-27 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The universe of guitar knows no boundaries for The California Guitar Trio. Since 1991, the group has enthralled listeners with a singular sound that fearlessly crisscrosses genres. The trio’s questing spirit drives it to explore the intersections between rock, jazz, classical, and world music. It even throws in the occasional surf or spaghetti Western tune for good measure. 31 years and 2000+ gigs later, the CGT remains intensely committed to explore, evolve and communicate a wide-ranging musical worldview.
Comprised of Bert Lams, Tom Griesgraber and Paul Richards, the group has established a unique, personal connection with audiences. In addition to dazzling musicianship and interplay, The California Guitar Trio’s (CGT) shows are full of captivating stories and humor that enable concertgoers to feel like they’re part of the music, not just spectators. In fact, the group’s goal is to transcend their instruments, so people focus on the music first, and its considerable technical prowess a distant second.
CGT’s most recent studio release Elegy showcases its acoustic side, with beautiful lush originals and innovative cover arrangements of The Beatles, Radiohead and more. Other highlights include Masterworks, an album of classical works, with expansive takes on Bach, Beethoven, Arvo Pärt, and Schubert. Andromeda, which combines their many influences into a visionary album of original material; CG3+2, an exploration of kinetic rock territory in collaboration with bassist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto; and Echoes, which re-imagines timeless material by artists such as Mike Oldfield, Penguin Café Orchestra, Pink Floyd, and Queen.

The Wailin' Jennys
2023-10-26 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Wailin’ Jennys are neither a reggae group nor an all-female Waylon Jennings tribute band. Three extraordinary voices with one singular vision: The Wailin’ Jennys continue to evolve into far more than the melodious sum of their individual talents years after blowing in on a fresh acoustic breeze from Canada’s midwestern heartland. Canadians Nicky Mehta, and Ruth Moody and New Yorker Heather Masse were all well-established talents individually, and their collaboration is an example of how exciting it can be when performers with distinct outlooks find ways of working together. Each member of the trio contributes distinctive original songs to the mix, which ranges from folk-rock to Celtic to traditional song. This trio has won fans for its incredible harmonies at venues ranging from “A Prairie Home Companion” (multiple times) to the small-town parks and festivals in Manitoba that gave them their start.
Blue LLama Jazz Club is proud to be the stage sponsor of The Wailin’ Jennys show at The Ark! Show your ticket at Blue LLama after the event on Friday (10/27) or Saturday (10/28) to get your first cocktail for just $2!

Charlie Cunningham
2023-10-25 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Charlie Cunningham has emerged as a truly under-the-radar success story. He has headlined London’s iconic Queen Elizabeth Hall and has become a regular fixture in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls. Splitting his time between piano and nylon string guitar, Charlie creates melancholic yet rhythmically driven songs. When these are expressed with his characteristic restraint, something timeless takes shape. Despite his dyslexia making it nearly impossible for him to read music, Charlie earned a music degree and by his mid-20s worked a variety of odd jobs and wrote songs in his free time. Eventually, he moved to Seville, immersed himself in flamenco music and focused intensely on his guitar playing. Planning to stay for three months, he stayed for three years. Once home, Charlie found work playing in bars across London and Oxford —eventually returning to songwriting. Charlie has subsequently released two albums and four eps which have garnered over half a billion streams. Charlie comes to Michigan with his his third album, “Frame.” A collection of lush, delicate pop songs brimming with references to art rock, golden era jazz, and neo-classical composition—all the while maintaining the pared-back and clear-eyed musicality for which he is so well recognized. Throughout the album, Charlie creates the fragility, power and tension found in timeless songwriting, reanimated through a modern lens.

Mr. Sun
2023-10-24 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
If you haven’t heard of the cheerfully named supergroup Mr. Sun, you’ve certainly heard its proponents, four of the finest musicians on the American Roots scene: Renowned fiddler Darol Anger, Professor Emeritus at Berklee College of Music, who has released dozens of influential solo albums over a 50-year career in addition to his work with David Grisman and Mike Marshall, and founded the Turtle Island Quartet, Psychograss, and Republic of Strings; Joe K. Walsh, mandolin virtuoso and vocalist who spent four years with the award-winning bluegrass act the Gibson Brothers before becoming a solo artist, songwriter, and Strings Department Professor at Berklee; all-around guitar genius Grant Gordy, a former member of David Grisman’s band and respected solo artist and educator; and the phenomenal Scots bassist Aidan O’Donnell, who has backed harpist Maeve Gilchrist and countless modern jazz heroes. Their appearances in the last few years at Wintergrass, Rockygrass, Grey Fox, Freshgrass, Redwing Roots, and at IBMA conventions have created a reverberant clang throughout the Acoustic Americana music world.
This program is made possible with support from the Ford Motor Company Fund. It is presented live, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page.
This is a FREE show. Nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers.

Adrian Legg
2023-10-23 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Voted Guitarist of the Decade by Guitarist magazine and Best Acoustic Fingerstylist four years in a row by readers of Guitar Player, Adrian Legg dazzles audiences with an unclassifiable mixture of country, jazz, folk, rock, and classical styles. For all his rapid-fire playing, though, Adrian never loses sight of melodies and their power to move us. Says Newsday: “Unlike Richard Thompson or Robert Fripp, in whose league he belongs, Legg seems never to have been seduced by rock. But unlike Leo Kottke or Ry Cooder, whom he also occasionally resembles, Adrian Legg is an adventurer, not an archivist.”
But there’s even more to Adrian Legg’s draw as an engaging, one-of-a-kind performer. Legg is more fully characterized as a “genuine entertainer who excels at not only painting pictures, if not frescoes, and telling stories with music— but also wittily regaling his audiences with tales from his life and travels and his cogent and often oblique yet thought-provoking observations on a spectrum of topics. It’s all part of his dedication to making his performances a full- blooded emotional experience.”
Loyal fans around the globe enthusiastically appreciate Legg’s witty, entertaining stories, often shared in between songs onstage and on his live albums. As noted by popular BBC radio personality Andy Kershaw, “Quite simply, there is no one else like him,” citing Legg’s “dazzling technique and equally large dollops of spirit, humor, passion, eclecticism and spontaneity.”

Hawktail + Väsen
2023-10-22 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Sweden’s Väsen-Duo, Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson, have, after almost 40 years of interaction and touring, refined their sound and their stage presence to the extent that today they are unique in their kind. With their playful and perfect interplay, they seem to defy the laws of physics in what appears to be a telepathic communication. The music is intense and full of humor. They create their very own musical language which in its appeal is as modern as it is ancient. With the foundation firmly rooted in the traditional music of Uppland, they have always looked curiously at new musical goals. Olov & Micke have played together since 1983 when they met at Oktoberstämman in Uppsala and discovered that they had a large common repertoire and a similar way of playing. They perform on a variety of stringed instruments, including kontrabasharpa, oktavharpa, three-rowed nyckelharpa, violoncello da spalla and a blue electric base-viola. Väsen comes to Michigan with a new album, “Melliken.”
Hawktail (formerly Haas Kowert Tice) brings together musicians you’ve heard in a dozen other places into an exciting new combination! Fiddler Brittany Haas was a member of Crooked Still and is a fixture on Chris Thile’s “Live from Here” radio shows. Bassist Paul Kowert is a longtime member of Punch Brothers and has also been active in classical music. Guitarist Jordan Tice grew up in bluegrass and has played with The Dave Rawlings Music Machine. And mandolinist Dominick Leslie has studied with Thile, Mike Marshall, and David Grisman, and has performed with Noam Pikelny & Friends and other bands. Put it together, and you have a band that can range across genres and recombine them with ease, imagination, and brilliant virtuosity. Hawktail comes to Michigan with a new release, “Place of Growth.”

Carbon Leaf
2023-10-21 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Blending rock, folk, Celtic, bluegrass and Americana traditions into a high-energy style the group calls ether-electrified porch music, this Virginia quintet’s poetic songs are brought to life with acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, fiddle, bass, drums, cello, banjo, penny whistle, pedal steel, accordion and rich vocal harmony. Carbon Leaf writes, records and produces its music independently from their studio in Richmond, VA, and has performed over 2,400 live shows across 17 albums in their long career. The group’s independent music and spirit continue to resonate with its fans.

Darrell Scott
2023-10-20 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
In the words of the Boston Globe, Darrell Scott “is to Nashville what Richard Thompson is to Britain and what Paul Brady is to Ireland.” Most artists fall toward one side or the other of the divide between great songwriting and instrumental virtuosity, but in the songs of Darrell Scott words, music, and instruments are inseparable. Darrell has written some of the sharpest country songs of the 21st century (like the Dixie Chicks’ “Long Time Gone”), and he can play just about anything with strings. Darrell’s song “Hank Williams’ Ghost” was named Song of the Year at the 2007 Americana Music Awards. Darrell has toured with Robert Plant and The Zac Brown Band, and, as a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist he’s been an artist to whom many in Nashville turn for a shot of inspiration. His music features guitars (including lap and pedal steel), keyboards, electric and acoustic bass, harp, bouzouki, harmonium, mandolin, banjolin, cello, glockenspiel, drums, and various other percussion instruments. Darrell has two recent albums, “Darrell Scott Sings the Blues of Hank Williams” and “Jaroso.”

Lindsay Lou
2023-10-19 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
“I saw a literal manifestation of the sacred feminine, and had this profound sense that I was meant to embody it,” recalls singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou after journeying through a hallucinogenic ritual that would inform the way she processed waves of grief in the sea of change ahead of her. The loss of her grandmother, the end of her marriage, and the overwhelming turmoil of COVID lockdowns found the Nashville-based artist on a spiritual journey of self-knowledge and healing with this gift from the mystic swirl. On her brand-new album, “Queen of Time,” Lou explores that quest across ten tracks of tender, heartbreakingly beautiful music. Produced by Dave O’Donnell (James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Heart) ) and featuring a gamut of guests including GRAMMY-winners Billy Strings and Jerry Douglas, Queen of Time celebrates love and loss, and captures a new arc of haloed beauty.

Bill Edwards Album Release Concert
2023-10-18 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The constant for Ann Arbor-based Bill Edwards has always been songwriting. He won first prize in Billboard’s® national songwriting contest and his songs have been recorded by other singers and featured on TV and on the silver screen. He’s held staff-writer positions in Nashville and instructed others in the fine art of words and music. But you haven’t heard Bill’s songs until you’ve heard them presented in his own fine voice and with his expressive playing. Bill will be releasing his newest album, “So Far,” at this concert with a full band. This is his ninth full-length album. Opening the show will be metro Detroit singer / songwriter / producer Jeff Scott.

Lucinda Williams: Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets Tour
2023-10-17 19:30 - 23:00 | Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Lucinda Williams’ music has gotten her through her darkest days. It’s been that way since growing up amid family chaos in the Deep South, as she recounts in her candid new memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I told You. Over the past two years, it’s been the force driving her recovery from a debilitating stroke she suffered on November 17, 2020, at age 67. Her masterful, multi-Grammy-winning songwriting has never deserted her. To wit, her stunning, sixteenth studio album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, brims over with some of the best work of her career. And though Williams can no longer play her beloved guitar – a constant companion since age 12 – her distinctive vocals sound better than ever.
“I’m singing my ass off,” she told Vanity Fair in February, following her first European tour since 2019. The love emanating from audiences and her musical family onstage and in the studio exemplify the healing power of music, says Williams. In 2020, she spent a week in intensive care, followed by a month in rehab before returning home. The blood clot on the right side of her brain impaired the left side of her body’s motor skills, forcing her to relearn some of the most basic of activities, like walking. In July 2021, she played her first gig, opening for Jason Isbell at Red Rocks. She began seated in a wheelchair, but soon she was upright. “Just the energy of the audiences being so welcoming and warm and the band playing so great and being so supportive gave me so much strength,” Williams relates. “I figured, ‘Hell, all I have to do is stand up there and sing. How hard can that be?”
Soon after touring with Isbell, she returned to the studio. “Writing had been part of my rehabilitation,” says Williams. “It didn’t occur to me to stop and not do anything.” During those long months working with physical therapists and regaining mobility and strength, Williams turned to notebooks of partial lyrics and jotted down some new ideas. She also began collaborating on songs with her husband, manager, and co-producer Tom Overby. The pair’s successful collaborations on several tracks from Williams’ critically acclaimed previous effort, Good Souls Better Angels (released in 2020 and nominated for two Grammy Awards) opened her up to cowriting – “it just expands things,” Williams says. But post-stroke, she had to revise her own songwriting process, since she could no longer
play guitar. “My process has always been to come up with some lyrics, then get the guitar and come up with a melody and some kind of structure,” Williams relates. “Once I get that, then I’d go back and edit the lyrics and add more. Pretty much like when you write and revise a story, except the guitar is added to it. It was very rare that I’d ever write all the lyrics completely without the guitar.”
As they worked on new songs, Williams and Overby enlisted New York singer-songwriter Jesse Malin, whose 2019 album, Sunset Kids, they co-produced. Williams’ longtime road manager, Travis Stephens, a veteran guitarist in several Nashville bands, also jumped in to help. “Like Jesse, Travis is a singer and a songwriter, so he threw his bit in and that led to the co-writing of some songs,” says Williams. “I was comfortable writing with them. Jesse knows me pretty well now, so he was able to anticipate certain things when we worked together – the same with Tom and Travis. I could contribute the melody and all.”
Recording sessions began in November 2021 and – as Williams’ strength increased, continued into 2022. She and Overby rejoined Ray Kennedy, coproducer and engineer of her landmark Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998), with whom she reunited to cut Good Souls Better Angels. In addition to Williams’ longtime touring guitarist Stuart Mathis, joining the mix were drummer Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), keyboardist Reese Wynans (the Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble vet who
appeared on Essence), bassist Steve Mackey (Dolly Parton), and pedal steel/guitarist Doug Pettibone, who played with Williams earlier in her career. “Since I couldn’t teach the band the songs on guitar, I would sing it to give an idea of the feel and the vibe,” says Williams. “We’d do it a few times until we got the right groove. It was really challenging because I wasn’t playing guitar. But sometimes when things are challenging like that, good stuff can come out of it.”
And it certainly did! The band rocks out on the album’s jubilant opening track “Let’s Get the Band Back Together,” which features a gang of background singers, including Margo Price and Buddy Miller. Inspired by “that need for community after all the isolation of the pandemic,” Williams offers, the song is “about getting old friends together again who’d drifted apart.” Price also joins her on the bluesy protest “This Is Not My Town.” The evocative “New York Comeback” also includes guest vocalists – Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. A Lucinda Williams fan, Springsteen joined her onstage in London a few years back, and he and Scialfa had wanted to contribute to a Williams album for some time. With Wynans on B3 and the Pettibone-Mathis guitar attack, the musical setting perfectly matches the theme of “Comeback,” as well as on the catchy story-song “Rock N’ Roll Heart,” to which Springsteen and Scialfa also contributed vocals. Says Williams, “Having Bruce and Patti on these songs feels really great. It’s just so cool!”
Another musical hero of Williams, the late Tom Petty is the subject of the elegiac “Stolen Moments.” Williams, who’d toured with Petty in 1999, played his last Hollywood Bowl shows before his sudden death in October 2017. “Tom was a down to earth, sweet, loving person, and I miss his music but I miss him more,” she relates. “I wrote this song after he passed away. I was just heartbroken, and I’m still reeling.”
Another fallen musician, Bob Stinson, founding lead guitarist of the Replacements, inspired “Hum’s Liquor.” “Tom came up with that,” says Williams, of her husband, a Minneapolis native who lived near the liquor store. Overby witnessed from his window Stinson’s daily morning visits, which eventually cut the former Replacement’s life short. “It haunted me,” Overby relates, “and when I read Bob Mehr’s biography of the band and learned about his childhood abuse, it explained a lot.” Tommy Stinson added vocals to the track, which “was really emotional,” says Williams. “We told him it’s a tribute to his brother,” Overby adds, and “Tommy loved the song.” (The album is dedicated to Bob Stinson, “a true rock n roll heart.”)
Williams’ own rock n roll life is reflected in several of the album’s most moving ballads. The bittersweet “Last Call for the Truth” finds her asking for “one more taste of my lost youth,” while on “Jukebox,” her corner-bar Wurlitzer with “Patsy Cline and Muddy Waters” offers solace when she’s “going crazy with the sound of my own voice.” Angel Olsen contributes backing vocals on the latter, and vocalist Siobhan Maher Kennedy appears on the former. The haunting “Where the Song Will Find Me” is beautifully orchestrated with layers of violin and cello, played and arranged by Lawrence Rothman. And the ode
to perseverance, “Never Gonna Fade Away,” is – like Williams’ live performances – further testimony to the redemptive power of music.
Through all the hardships Williams faced in 2020 – a destructive tornado damaging her new home in Nashville, being sidelined by the pandemic, and then the catastrophic stroke – her music kept her going and continues to bring her more laurels. The past year has seen Williams honored by BMI for her songwriting, her induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Week tribute at the Troubadour, with her songs performed by a diversity of Americana artists. She duetted with Willie Nelson on Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever,” which won a Grammy in February for Best Country Performance. On her birthday in January she performed at a sold-out show in Belfast, Ireland. “I was so glad I was there when I turned 70,” she relates. “The audience sang ‘Happy Birthday,’ Travis brought a birthday cake out onstage, and we took it on the bus and all had a piece of cake. Afterwards, I was so inspired I started writing a song about Northern Ireland.”
As she promises on the powerful last track of Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart–one of the best albums of her career–Lucinda Williams is “never gonna fade away.”

Joni Mitchell 80th Birthday Celebration
2023-10-16 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
With Billy King, Emily Slomovits, San Slomovits, and Jen Sygit!
A quartet of mainstays of the Michigan music scene join together to perform Joni Mitchell songs in honor of her 80th birthday. Come sing along with your favorites and hear newly reimagined arrangements of familiar, iconic Joni songs, and less well-known gems from her nearly 60-year career. The songs of Joni Mitchell have been resounding for several generations now, and we’re bringing together a multi-generational group for a celebration that is not to be missed!

Trace Bundy
2023-10-15 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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. Trace has played about 30 countries and counting—from high-tech performance halls in South Korea and Italy, to remote villages in Zimbabwe and Guatemala. In the hands of Trace Bundy, says Guitar Player, “the acoustic guitar is an imagination station, and there was no telling where he is going to take the audience at any given turn. Thrilling stuff.”

The Verve Pipe
2023-10-14 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Verve Pipe has spent the better part of three decades in evolution, creating a sound that transcends genre and generation. It’s a sound rooted in pop hooks, alt-rock guitars, and the sharp songwriting of frontman Brian Vander Ark. A sound that’s taken the band from the golden days of late-’90s modern rock—when The Verve Pipe enjoyed multi-platinum success with hits like “Photograph” and the chart-topping “The Freshmen”—to the rule-breaking creativity of the 2010s and beyond, an era that’s found the band reinventing itself with each release. Throughout it all, The Verve Pipe has released critically-acclaimed music as both a major-label act and an independent band, maintaining a commitment to forward-thinking rock & roll with albums like 2021’s Threads.

Tommy Emmanuel
2023-10-13 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
“If you like guitar playing, it simply doesn’t get any better than Tommy.” – Jason Isbell
Tommy Emmanuel has achieved enough musical milestones to satisfy several lifetimes. Or at least they would if he was the kind of artist who was ever satisfied. At the age of six, he was touring regional Australia with his family band. By 30, he was a rock n’ roll lead guitarist burning up stadiums in Europe. At 44, he became one of five people ever named a Certified Guitar Player by his idol, music icon Chet Atkins. Today, he plays hundreds of sold-out shows every year from Nashville to Sydney to London. All the while, Tommy has hungered for what’s next. When you’re widely acknowledged as the international master of the solo acoustic guitar, what’s next is an album of collaborations with some of the finest singers, songwriters and, yes, guitarists alive today.
“For me, music has always been about collaboration–the push and pull you get from another human being’s energy,” explains Tommy. “Even when I play solo, it feels like I’m playing to the emotions I’m getting from the crowd. To feel the love or the joy or the hope coming through these other pickers and singers was electric–I played in ways I never would on my own.”
Accomplice One is a testament to Tommy’s musical diversity, the range of expression that stretches from authentic country-blues to face-melting rock shredding, by way of tender and devastating pure song playing. The songs are a mix of new takes on indelible classics and brand new originals from Tommy and his collaborators.
The artists who stepped forward to join Tommy in the studio are an impressive list of some of today’s most respected performers, from across the musical spectrum–a lineup including Jason Isbell, Mark Knopfler, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Amanda Shires, Ricky Skaggs, J.D. Simo, David Grisman, Bryan Sutton, Suzy Bogguss and many more.
This is an album for all types of Tommy Emmanuel fan–from longtime guitar aficionados who’ve followed his career for decades, to lovers of great songs and melodies who flock to Tommy’s shows for the emotional authenticity driving every performance.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell conjures up the sweaty atmosphere of his Muscle Shoals roots on opener “Deep River Blues,” a classic fingerpicked blues which has been a longtime staple of Tommy’s live shows. Country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs lends his mandolin and unmistakable voice to “Song and Dance Man,” a chronicle of a life lived for the next show. Tommy’s subtlety and tastefulness blends with Amanda Shires’ gorgeous vocal and fiddle playing to transform Madonna’s “Borderline” and Rodney Crowell’s “Looking Forward to the Past” could’ve topped the country charts in another era, with Tommy’s propulsive rhythm supporting Crowell’s sly lyrics while his tasty lead playing weave in and out.
For those hankering for virtuosic hot picking, the rave-up “Wheelin’ and Dealin’” sees him trading licks with J.D. Simo and Charlie Cushman, while a jaw-dropping rendition of “Purple Haze” with Dobro master Jerry Douglas captures all the fire and energy of the Hendrix original as the two modern masters push each other to new heights with each raunchy slide and bend.
On “You Don’t Want to Get You One of Those,” a sly vocal and acoustic duet with Dire Straits’ legend Mark Knopfler, there was a third, invisible presence in the studio– the late Chet Atkins.
“Mark and I both learned so much from Chet–he was a hero and a mentor to each of us, and we’ve tried to bring his spirit forward into the future in our own playing,” says Tommy. “This song that Mark wrote captured Chet’s sense of humor so well and I had the time of my life in the studio with him conjuring the master as we laid it down.”
While this was the first time he and Knopfler had collaborated, the album also featured some of Tommy’s longtime fellow road warriors, who have covered the miles in buses and planes around the world on tour over many years. “Djangology” is a gypsy jazz treat cut live in Havana, Cuba with Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo and “Rachel’s Lullaby” reunites Tommy with Hawaiian ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro.
The song, written for Tommy’s youngest daughter, shows him continuing to find inspiration from an evergreen source–his love of his family. Since he and his brother Phil taught themselves to play as toddlers, the guitar has been Tommy’s real first language–and he’s more articulate on his signature Melbourne-made Maton acoustics than most people are with words.
His unerring sense of groove marked him as Australia’s youngest rhythm guitarist as The Emmanuel Quartet crisscrossed the country. By the time he made it to the big city in his late teens, Tommy was a rock star, slinging a Fender Telecaster alongside the biggest stars of the day. It was a good life, but deep down Tommy knew there was more to his musical destiny. A shy country kid with little confidence, it took an encouraging meeting turned jam session with his guitar hero Chet Atkins to build his self-belief.
By the late 80s he was ready to go it alone, to make instrumental guitar records made for an audience broader than just guitar fans–a move with zero precedence in Australian music. Despite the odds, Tommy released a string of hit albums, racking up awards wins and nominations, and becoming a huge celebrity in his home country, culminating in an incendiary performance with his brother Phil at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Influenced by the Merle Travis/Chet Atkins fingerstyle of guitar picking, Tommy developed a style of solo guitar playing that encompasses the range of a whole band– covering drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitar and a vocal melody simultaneously. No loop pedals, no overdubs, just one man and ten fingers. While some artists take ten-piece bands on the road and still fill out the sound with backing tracks, Tommy builds a complete sonic world entirely on his own. For many players, the technical mastery of the technique would overwhelm the emotion of the music, but not for Tommy. His idols are not just the great players, but also the great pop songwriters and singers–Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, The Beatles and their ilk.
While thousands of fans have spent years trying to unpack and imitate Tommy’s technique, for him it’s just the delivery system. His approach is always song and emotion first, his music the embodiment of his soulful spirit, sense of hope and his love for entertaining. Which is not to say he dismisses the CGP, the Guitar Player awards, the Grammy nominations, the numerous magazine polls naming him the greatest acoustic guitarist alive. He’s grateful for it all, and the incredible journey that’s led him to the most invigorating period of his career–six decades into it. For Tommy though, the greatest reward is always the same–to make the next great record, and to see the beaming audience at the next great show. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be in show business. Now I just want to be in the happiness business–I make music, you get happy. That’s a good job.”
Tommy isn’t the kind of man who looks to nostalgia–it’s more that he treats his history in the same way he treats the history of music overall: There’s magic threaded in through all the eras that’s worth celebrating and revisiting. Now in his sixties –although on stage he can seem 25–life and music are about improvisation, variety and happiness.
“Making Accomplice One has been this great journey through so many of the worlds I’ve inhabited through the years,” concludes Tommy. “Playing with old friends, new friends, heroes, people I’ve been like an older brother to… and musically to jump around from bluegrass to jazz to blues to just pure songs, it’s like going to the world’s greatest buffet and picking out all my favorite meals. People try to categorize what I do, to put me in a genre or put a label on me. I always go back to that old Duke Ellington line, about there being two types of music, good and bad.” Well I try and play the good kind, and on this record I got to play it with the best people.”

OnSale: Fri, 3 Mar 2023 at 12:00PM EST

An Evening with Allison Russell
2023-10-13 18:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Allison Russell – poet, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, and co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago – embarks upon her next chapter in The Returner, a body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of Black liberation, Black love, of Black self-respect. Written and co-produced by Allison along with dim star (her partner JT Nero and Drew Lindsay), The Returner was recorded over Solstice week in December 2022 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. It features Russell’s “Rainbow Coalition” band of all female musicians along with special guest appearances from the legendary Wendy & Lisa, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier.
