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Oumou Sangare

Oumou Sangare

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

"The Songbird of Wassoulou" brings the music of Mali to Michigan! Oumou Sangaré is a true icon of West Africa whose powerful music and fierce feminism have inspired artists from Alicia Keys to Aya Nakamura to Beyoncé. The songs on her most recent album, “Timbuktu,”  were largely written in Baltimore during the lockdowns of the COVID pandemic. The album blends the sounds of traditional West African instruments with those of instruments most associated with the blues. Oumou will share music from this ambitious album as well as sounds from throughout her acclaimed career. How acclaimed? The New Yorker says, "Percussive, danceable, and haunting, the singer's visionary mix is the primary reason that her voice has come to carry as much respect as Aretha Franklin's."

$35
Suzanne Vega
Sold Out

Suzanne Vega – Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs

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

Widely regarded as one of the foremost songwriters of her generation, Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been called contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has given sold-out concerts in many of the world’s best-known venues. Notably succinct and understated, her work is immediately recognizable—as utterly distinct and thoughtful as it was when her voice was first heard on the radio over 30 years ago. Suzanne Vega will be joined on stage by her longtime guitarist, Gerry Leonard, performing a career-spanning show including favorites like Tom’s Diner, Luka, and more!

$45, $55, $70
Kittel & Co.

Kittel & Co.

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

Kittel & Co. stands at the forefront of American acoustic music. Jeremy Kittel, a GRAMMY-nominated composer, heads this extraordinary group of musicians - each recognized as an innovator on their instrument. The members of Kittel & Co. have collaborated with Béla Fleck, Sarah Jarosz, Chris Thile, and Yo-Yo Ma. Together, Jeremy Kittel and mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham, transcendent guitarist Quinn Bachand, bassist Jacob Warren, and hammer-dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman coalesce into a singular voice that’s thrilled audiences from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival to A Prairie Home Companion.

$25
Jeff "Tain" Watts

U-M Jazz Showcase featuring drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts

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

Students $5 with student ID! This show features students and faculty from the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the U-M, along with a prominent special guest each year. This year’s guest is drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts. Tain spent his formative years with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and his writing skills now command equal attention, highlighted by a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition. Watts has recorded and toured with George Benson, Harry Connick Jr, Kenny Garrett, Michael Brecker, Kenny Kirkland, Courtney Pine, Geri Allen, Alice & Ravi Coltrane, Greg Osby, McCoy Tyner, Steve Coleman & Fort Apache.

$20
Willie Nile

Willie Nile

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

The New York Times called Buffalo, NY born Willie Nile "one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in years." Uncut Magazine called him “A one-man Clash.” His album Streets Of New York was hailed as “a platter for the ages” by Uncut. Rolling Stone listed The Innocent Ones as one of the “Top Ten Best Under-The-Radar Albums of 2011” and BBC Radio called it “THE rock ‘n’ roll album of the year.” His single from that album, “One Guitar,” was the “Top Pick of the Week” in USA Today.

$25
Mark Braun

Mr. B’s 27th Annual Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration

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

Once a year, Mark "Mr. B" Braun, Ann Arbor's own wizard of blues and boogie piano music, comes together with other top piano players from around southeastern Michigan and beyond. Call it a piano summit, or perhaps a meeting of the minds! Along with Mr. B himself, this year's show features Lluis Coloma, Brendon Davis, and Elder Robert Moore.

$30
Nick Shoulders
Sold Out

Nick Shoulders & The Okay Crawdad

Opener: Maddy Kirgo

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

“All Bad,” the latest album from Nick Shoulders, ultimately encapsulates everything that makes Nick’s inimitable form of country music so vital: a heady balance of dazzling musicianship and punk defiance, coupled with gritty eccentricity and a generational connection to the roots of the genre. With a singing style inherited from his family’s vocal lineage, Nick’s songs achieve the rare feat of imparting difficult truths while inciting a certain joyful abandon, balancing a sound forged by years of hard travel with a heartfelt reverence for the origins of country music.

$20
David Wilcox
Artist Spotlight Series Live and Virtual

David Wilcox

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

David Wilcox is a penetrating storyteller. The revered folk musician has an effortless talent for spinning lyrics that quietly cut deep, and crafting melodies that seamlessly ride the plot twists and turns. Wilcox handily exemplifies the power of lyrical and musical catharsis. David has deservedly earned praise over the years in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, and Rolling Stone, to name a few. Today, Wilcox is still earning his admirers with storytelling that cuts deep into the soul and observes the human condition from both the nerve center and the outside looking in.

Free, Donations accepted for Food Gatherers
The Moth
Sold Out

The Moth GrandSLAM Championship

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

The ultimate storytelling competition, The Moth GrandSLAM invites winners from our open-mic StorySLAMs back to the stage for the Ann Arbor storytelling championship. The theme for the night is... A POINT OF BEAUTY. Five minute stories about the gobsmackingly gorgeous nestled in the mess, the astonishingly attractive, the sensationally stunning. Witnessing an awe-inspiring work of art, or admiring the humble daisy growing through the crack in the sidewalk. Seeing past the sound and the fury to find something unexpectedly exquisite.

$40
Sold Out

The Accidentals

Opener: Danni Nicholls

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

Long before glowing acclaim from ​NPR ​and ​Billboard​, packed shows, unforgettable festival appearances, millions of streams, and collaborations with everyone from BTS to Kaboom Collective, the journey of The Accidentals commenced in a public high school classroom in Traverse City, MI. As the story goes, concertmaster​ ​violinist Savannah Buist and cellist Katie Larson raised their hands at the request for volunteers to play a music boosters concert and wound up being musical soulmates. After Sav and Katie attended a school presentation by The Moxie Strings, their collective fate would be sealed forever.

$30
Bela Fleck
Special Event

Bela Fleck “My Bluegrass Heart”

Royal Oak Music Theatre 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, United States

Over the last four decades, Béla Fleck has made a point of boldly going where no banjo player has gone before, a musical journey that has earned him 16 Grammys in nine different fields, including Country, Pop, Jazz, Instrumental, Classical and World Music. But his roots are in bluegrass, and that’s where he returns with his first bluegrass tour in 24 years, My Bluegrass Heart.  

$35, $49.50, $59.50, $75.00
Ki5 and Marqu3tte

VOICES featuring Ki5 and Marqu3tte

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

Ann Arbor’s electrifying musical maestro, Kyler Wilkins aka Ki5, is back on the Ark stage! He's delighted to be joined on a few songs by vocalist Aviva Match who carries a powerful, sincere tone that compliments his breathy, heartfelt vocal expressions. Also gracing the Ark stage for the fourth Voices show is Marqu3tte - an artist from Detroit that blends Soul, Rock and Pop sounds to create what some call Neo-Rock.

$20