Six-time Grammy winner, Daniel Ho, will be teaching techniques and singing in the Hawaiian language using his original song, Aloha Pumehana, co-written by Hawaiian Music scholar and University of Michigan professor Amy Kuʻuleialoha Stillman!
Three masters, featured regularly at Maui’s renowned “Slack Key Show®” share the uniquely Hawaiian styles of slack key guitar and ‘ukulele, with origins in the early 19th century when Portuguese immigrants introduced the ‘ukulele to Hawai‘i and Mexican cowboys brought guitars along with their ranching knowledge. Ever since, Hawaiians have made these instruments their own.
The modern renaissance of folk music began when John Gorka won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk award in 1984, and it grew to maturity when he released his debut album, "I Know," three years later. Here was a singer-songwriter with a striking baritone voice that made you feel like you'd been hearing it all your life, with the songwriting chops to take on and see into nearly every type of song—from personal pieces about love and sadness, to bemused observations about daily life, political thinking-aloud, and sheer unmitigated whimsy. Almost four decades later, John still calls himself an aspiring folksinger, and his music has just kept getting deeper and better over his more than 15 critically acclaimed albums.
Lúnasa is an Irish traditional band with a rhythmic difference. Rhythm—their ingenious application of it, and their clear mastery of it—has made Lúnasa one of the most influential and innovative bands performing Irish instrumental music today. What Lúnasa has accomplished in their decade-and-a-half career has deep precedents in jazz and progressive bluegrass, and has made them unique in Celtic circles.
Opener: Jack Van Cleaf
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesMadi Diaz has been making records and writing songs professionally since the late 2000s, but it wasn’t until she released 2021’s “History Of A Feeling” that she felt the glare of wider notoriety. It wasn’t her debut album, but it certainly felt like it. She made her daytime and nighttime television debuts, embarked on her first solo tour since 2014, supported Waxahatchee and Angel Olsen on tour, and collaborated with them on record. After touring internationally, Madi is taking her new album, “Weird Faith,” on the road. When Madi started writing “Weird Faith,” she knew it would be bigger than a love story. She didn’t yet know that she was rendering a self-portrait, one that captures the Madi Diaz of a fleeting moment in time, hungrily alive and forever searching.
Grammy-nominated Seth Glier and New Song Music and Performance Competition grand prize winner, Crys Matthews, are artists committed to using songwriting as a tool for positive change.
The Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet masterfully blends rhythms, sounds, and textures from across the globe with world music–inspired original compositions. Featuring oud, violin, electric bass, synthesizer and world percussion, the Worlds Quartet is fueled by the spirit of jazz, world music and dynamic exploratory improvisation. Bassist, composer, and bandleader Dave Sharp leads the Worlds Quartet to explore music traditions from Turkey, Egypt, Ukraine, India, Bulgaria and Greece.
Opener: Chris Pureka
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesGlen Phillips is the lead singer and main songwriter for the band Toad the Wet Sprocket, which he joined when he was only 14. In the words of James Christopher Monger, "Phillips has matured into . . . a quiet storm that dutifully blends Cat Stevens' confident huskiness and Jackson Browne's weary but warm observer of all things broken." Glen has evolved into one of the great folk-rock songwriters of our time, still staying true to his Toad-like roots, and The Ark is the place to hear him!
The Ark helped spread Josh Ritter’s name among Michigan audiences when he made a standout performance at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival in 2003, and we’re proud that we, along with Emmylou Harris and Paste magazine, which named Josh one of the 100 greatest living songwriters in 2006, spotted this monster talent in the making. Josh has gone on to record a dozen albums, write a book or two, tour with Jason Isbell, and play much larger halls than The Ark. So it’s very special to us to invite Josh to perform in a rare small club appearance. He’s an entrancing performer, a true master of the songwriter’s art. This is a special Works In Progress + Songs You Know solo show.
Opener: Two Runner
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesIn the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing—including Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie—imbue Parr’s music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past.
Hailing from Akron, Ohio, The Shootouts are known for their energetic blend of honky-tonk, Americana, and Western swing. The band has been nominated for “Best Honky Tonk Group” at the 2023 and 2024 Ameripolitan Music Awards – a nomination the band was also honored with in 2020. In 2023, The Shootouts released their third album, “Stampede,” kicking off their album release tour with their Grand Ole Opry debut. The album features special guest appearances from Ray Benson & Asleep at The Wheel, Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, and Raul Malo.
Similar backgrounds yet different paths. Paul Thorn and Steve Poltz have a 20+ year friendship and are taking it on the road and in the ring together this spring for a multi-city tour, surely to bring love, laughter and mischief along with them. Equal parts humor, poignant stories, and expert musicianship, these two storytellers with contagious smiles will put on a show that will make you laugh one minute and cry the next.