Born in Flint and a true Michigan institution, Mr. B (Mark Braun) is a rare living link to the early days of boogie woogie, having learned directly from legends like Little Brother Montgomery and Blind John Davis. He plays in concert halls, he plays outdoors, he’s even played on a piano he towed by swimming out to Mackinac Island, but wherever you hear him, it’s an exciting show.
Giving traditional Jewish music a new flavor by infusing elements of jazz, balkan, funk, latin, and polka, Schmaltz blends traditional Klezmer sensibilities with modern influences to produce their energetic, horn forward sound. With roots deeply seeded at the University of Michigan, the band features a number of SMTD alumni and is proud to call Ann Arbor home.
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. Performers have eight minutes (or two songs) each to do their thing. Doors open at 7:30, and names are drawn at 7:55 and 8:30. If your name isn't chosen, bring your raffle ticket with you next time, and you'll double your chances.
Laz and San Slomovits, the duo Gemini, moved to Ann Arbor in 1973, and have played The Ark every year since then. About twenty years ago, San’s daughter, Emily, began joining them on stage, necessitating a new name for their trio, Gemily (Gemini + Emily). They’re known for their beautiful voices, genetically tight harmonies, a stage-full of instruments, and songs and instrumentals ranging from traditional American and British Isles folk music, to songs of the 60s Folk Revival, klezmer tunes, pop songs and their own originals.
Duke Tumatoe, born William “Bill" Severen Fiorio in 1947, is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He has gigged with Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, John Fogerty and George Thorogood. He was a founding member of arena-rock giants REO Speedwagon. He has released fifteen albums as the bandleader of Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs and Duke Tumatoe & The Power Trio. His 1988 live album I Like My Job was produced by John Fogerty.
For over a decade, Jill Jack has celebrated her birthday the best way she knows how — through music, with her beloved fans and incredible band! Join the party as The Jill Jack Band electrifies the stage and fills the room with love, laughter, and unforgettable melodies. Happiness is guaranteed — all you need to do is buy a ticket!
Ember & Ash, the duo forged by Erin Zindle and Alex Holycross, is as captivating and dangerous as a spark on the wind in the dry season. Armed with fiddle and guitar, these two Michigan songwriters have had long careers, both defying genre boundaries in their own respective bands (The Native Howl’s “Thrash Grass” and The Ragbirds’ edgy global folk-rock).
Ann Arbor's Community High Jazz is one of the best programs of its kind anywhere. The Ark is proud to host this year's students on stage for two shows: one at 6:00 and another at 8:00. Tickets available at the door.
Produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and recorded at his Nashville studio, Amythyst Kiah’s new album Still + Bright explores the vast expanse of her inner world: her deep-rooted affinity for Eastern philosophies and spiritual traditions, a near-mystical connection with the natural world, the life lessons learned in her formative years as a self-described “anime-nerd mall goth.” In dreaming up the backdrop to her revelatory storytelling, Kiah and Walker arrived at a darkly cinematic and exhilarating twist on the rootsy alt-rock of her 2021 breakthrough album Wary + Strange—an LP that landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2021 and drew acclaim from major outlets like Pitchfork.
On her new album, Sunset Drive, Denitia shares her story of going after something new — a life back in Nashville, where she attended college, immersed in both the city’s roots music scene and the community of the artist collective Black Opry — while experiencing the menagerie of emotions that come with leaving behind what you knew and starting over. Across the album, she draws from the country and alternative rock music she listened to growing up outside of Houston; the songs of artists such as the Eagles, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Neil Young, ever present in her life; and the decade she spent entrenched in Brooklyn’s indie music scene.
Djangophonique is an award winning project that delivers the infectious joy, and expressive freedom that is at the heart of Django Reinhardt’s jazz manouche. With respect for the tradition and a fearless creativity that bends the conventions of the style, Djangophonique is keeping the Hot Club revival alive and well.
Heywood Banks is simply one of a kind, almost impossible to describe, with a style his very own. Equal parts genius and buffoon, this songwriter-comic-singer-poet-musician has become a cult hero and a pop icon, with a show that appeals to college students, stoners, businessmen, yuppies, rednecks, punks, kids or your grandmother. Heywood intersperses his humorous observations of life with twisted, inventive, bizarre songs, sung and played in a variety of styles, from folk, to country to rock to pop, and way beyond.