The Ark

BIG FUN
2024-04-09 20:00 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
What happens when you blend jazz, funk, and world music with a touch of bluegrass? BIG FUN! Based in Traverse City, Michigan, BIG FUN will take you to a sonic land you’ve never experienced before, with Don Julin (Billy Strings) on banjo, Joe Wilson (Steppin’ In It) on dobro, Jack Dryden on double bass, Will Harris on percussion and bandleader/composer Jeff Haas (Building Bridges with Music) at the Ark grand. The group’s shared passion for musical fusion creates a serendipitous acoustic sound palate. BIG FUN promises you an unforgettable night of innovative compositions, soulful melodies, and rhythmic journeys that defy musical margins.

The Ark's Open Stage
2024-04-10 20:00 - 23:00, 2024-05-08 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. 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.
Why play Open Stage at the Ark? Do it to be heard. Do it so you know you can. Do it to take your music to the masses. Tremendous local performers like Dick Siegel, Misty Lyn, and Matt Watroba spent time honing their craft on Open Stage audiences. Even nationally recognized talents like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gilda Radner, and David Alan Grier paid their dues here. If you’re not interested in getting on stage tonight, get your practice in at being a great audience member and observer of new music.

Amy Speace
2024-04-11 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Heralded by Rolling Stone and Billboard Magazine, Amy Speace is one of contemporary folk and Americana music’s leading voices. Lauded by mentors Judy Collins, Tom Paxton and Janis Ian, as well as the songwriting community in Nashville, her songs have been recorded by Judy Collins, Red Molly, Sid Selvidge among others. After 20 years of touring, she has played concerts all across the US and Europe and has graced stages from Glastonbury Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival in the UK to Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and Mountain Stage.
She began her career in the iconic folk venues of New York City where she was discovered by Judy Collins and signed to her Wildflower Records label. Relocating to Nashville in 2009, she quickly became embraced by the songwriting community, with regular shows at The Bluebird Café as well as her international touring. In 2020, her song “Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne” was named International Song of the Year by the Americana Music Association UK. Her 2021 release, “There Used To Be Horses Here” received widespread critical acclaim from Rolling Stone to Billboard. Performing Songwriter gave it 5 out of 5 stars and named it as the #4 release of 2021. Her latest album, “Tucson” (Windbone/Proper Records) landed #1 on the Folk Radio Charts in April, 2022 and was widely lauded as one of Speace’s finest work. Her 2013 record, “How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat,” which was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered was named to the Top 10 Albums of the century.

The Brother Brothers
2024-04-12 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Brother Brothers are the indie folk duo of Adam and David Moss. The identical twins were born and raised in Peoria, Illinois and originally based in Brooklyn, but have been ultimately and profoundly shaped by a life surrounded by travel and the web of community worldwide. They are the kind of people who have a story about everything, and moreso, one you might genuinely like to hear.
American Songwriter once said, “no matter what musical context Adam and David Moss may come to put themselves in, what the duo want to say through music will always come to show the beauty that exists—even in the deepest cracks—of human living.” Proclaims No Depression, “the warm harmonies and silky melodies of identical twins David and Adam Moss evoke the kind of ’60s-era folk tunes that reverberated through dark, wood-paneled bars in the Village… If these brothers aren’t among the Americana Music Association’s nominees for Emerging Artist or Duo-Group, I want a recount.”
The Brother Brothers come to The Ark with a new album, “The January Album.”

Frontier Ruckus
2024-04-13 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Since the release of their 2008 debut album, the songs of Frontier Ruckus have delivered a singularly detailed representation of the glorious yet grim minutiae of Midwestern suburban life. The obsessively crafted lyrical world of songwriter Matthew Milia is brought to life by David Jones and Zachary Nichols whose instrumental contributions serve as colorfully instinctive extensions. From stages at Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo to the intimate living rooms of fans, this magnetic chemistry has helped Frontier Ruckus garner a dedicated following across the United States and Europe.
Frontier Ruckus have just released their new album On the Northline via Loose Music. Their first full length release since 2017’s Enter The Kingdom, the new record exemplifies the group’s intricate orchestral folk pop sound which has endeared them to fans nationwide, backdropping guitarist/singer/lyricist Matthew Milia’s poetic observations on the mundane and the holy.
Premium Rat, a singer songwriter with punk tendencies, opens.

Cheryl Wheeler
2024-04-14 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the mic. There is poet Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic Cheryl, a trend defier and savagely funny social critic. The result is a series of delightful contrasts, for really Cheryl Wheeler is a woman of many musical personalities—heart-wrenching romantic balladeer, marvelous observational humorist, poet of ordinary New England scenes and people, committed activist, irascible grump. Cheryl’s special guest tonight is her frequent partner in crime, New York songwriter Kenny White.

Oumou Sangare
2024-04-15 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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.”

Suzanne Vega - Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs
2024-04-16 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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. Known for performances that convey deep emotion, Vega’s distinctive, “clear, unwavering voice” (Rolling Stone) has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper-brushed near-whisper” by The Washington Post, with NPR Music noting that she “has been making vital, inventive music” throughout the course of her decades-long career.
Bearing the stamp of a masterful storyteller who “observes the world with a clinically poetic eye” (The New York Times), Vega’s songs have tended to focus on city life, ordinary people and real-world subjects. 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!

Kittel & Co.
2024-04-17 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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. “[Kittel & Co.] takes the string band tradition to marvelously rarefied levels of collective virtuosity…. thrillingly spontaneous” –Times UK.

U-M Jazz Showcase featuring drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts
2024-04-18 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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. Check out some of the next generation’s jazz artists as they spread their wings and interact with a nationally known percussion soloist!

Willie Nile
2024-04-19 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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.
Willie has toured across the U.S. with The Who and has sung with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. As the induction program from the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame says: “His live performances are legendary.” His 2020 album New York At Night got rave reviews, with Downbeat calling it a “sonic love letter to Gotham.”

Mr. B's 27th Annual Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration
2024-04-20 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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! Audiences in southeastern Michigan tend to think of Mr. B as a local hero, but in fact he’s well known among fans and practitioners of blues and jazz piano music all over the country and around the world. In the past, Mr. B’s Piano Celebration concerts have brought great sets by otherwise hard-to-find performers from New Orleans, New York, and Europe, and they’re by no means confined to boogie and blues. Along with Mr. B himself, this year’s show features Lluis Coloma, Brendon Davis, and Elder Robert Moore.
Note early start time!

Nick Shoulders & The Okay Crawdad
2024-04-21 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
This show has been rescheduled from an earlier date. Tickets purchased for the earlier date will be honored for this performance.
“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. In the spirit of Hazel Dickens and Jimmy Driftwood, the incisive yet wildly jubilant All Bad vocally objects to the reckless destruction of the natural landscape and development run rampant, while still offering plenty of joy and dance-ready rhythms. Spanning a variety of early country styles, the album’s infectious harmonies shine alongside everything from jangling cajun waltzes to surf-rock infused bluesy ballads–all tied together by a voice seemingly out of place in this century, yet ever ready to speak up about its problems.
Released via Gar Hole Records (a label founded and co-owned by Shoulders), All Bad marks the first LP made with his longtime band, the Okay Crawdad, since 2019’s premier full-length Okay, Crawdad and their subsequent pandemic-imposed hiatus. After writing most of the album from the front seat of a tour van, the Fayetteville, AR-based musician and bandmates Grant D’Aubin (harmonies/bass), Cheech Moosekian (drums) and Jack Studer (lead guitar) recorded the album in a home studio on the banks of the Mississippi River with New Orleans collaborators Ross Farbe and Sam Doores.
Surrounded by a singing style passed down from a time before microphones, Nick’s childhood of bird call whistles and an over-exposure to southern gospel music eventually steered him toward an adolescence drumming for metal and punk bands, and subsequent years as an active illustrator and member of Arkansas’s heavy music scene. After numerous personal calamities and a growing obsession with the rural musical traditions of his lifelong home, Shoulders left the Ozarks and lived out of his van, singing on the street corners of the west while slowly being drawn to the vibrance of the New Orleans dance and busking world. After forming in early 2018, the ‘Okay Crawdad’ band flourished briefly in the wildly talented south Louisiana alt-country scene, culminating in the release of ‘Rather Low’ by the popular YouTube channel Western AF, catapulting Nick’s songs to a vastly wider audience right as Covid-19 and lockdowns ensued. Since then, a rapid ascension into the world of touring music has seen Nick playing alongside the likes of Sierra Ferrell and at major festivals such as Stagecoach. With the hard rhythms and heavenly melodies of their newest release, All Bad, the band manages to concoct a body of work that is at turns sublimely freewheeling and profoundly illuminating, yet primed to permanently warp the listener’s perspective to glorious effect.
Maddy Kirgo of New Orleans opens.

David Wilcox
2024-04-23 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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
The Ohio native with the warm baritone found his artistic muse in North Carolina during the mid-1980s. In 1987 he released his debut album, “The Nightshift Watchman,” which led to winning the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in 1988.Thirty-plus years and twenty-plus albums later, Wilcox won top honors in the 23rd annual USA Songwriting Competition in 2018 for his effervescent “We Make the Way by Walking.” Wilcox 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. That kind of storytelling is certain to become a good friend.
The Ark’s Artist Spotlight Series is made possible with support from the Ford Motor Company Fund. It is presented live, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page.
Tonight’s show is FREE (nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers).

The Moth GrandSLAM Championship
2024-04-24 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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.
“When the noise and ugliness got so loud, I focused in on a point of beauty.” –Maniza Naqvi
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.

The Accidentals
2024-04-25 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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. “If the Moxie Strings hadn’t come to our school, we might not have pursued music professionally,” admits Sav.
Sav and Katie transferred to Interlochen Arts Academy for the remainder of high school, and since then they have released six full-length albums, three EPs, and two live albums, scored the indie documentary “One Simple Question,” and collaborated with Keller Williams, Kaki King, Tom Paxton, Kim Richey, Dar Williams, and Mary Gauthier.
Joining Sav and Katie is Detroit multi-instrumentalist Katelynn Corll. The journey of The Accidentals has only just begun. “The goal of our music has always been shared experiences. Music helps us process things that are hard to process,” says Sav. “A lot of the writing comes from touring, and touring is just a myriad of extremes, triumphs, and failures. It’s how we connect with people in those moments that shape our experiences. Hopefully, people can relate to something we’re creating in a way that feels like understanding. Maybe it offers a different perspective, and that leads to less loneliness and more community.”

Bela Fleck "My Bluegrass Heart"
2024-04-26 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, 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.
The Grammy award-winning album, My Bluegrass Heart is the third chapter of a trilogy which began with the 1988 album, Drive, and continued in 1991 with The Bluegrass Sessions. Fleck’s band will spotlight a multi-generational gamut of the best of bluegrass players, all sporting a myriad of Grammy Awards and nominations, as well as gigantic piles of IBMA awards for their instruments: fiddler Michael Cleveland, mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull, celebrated multi-instrumentalist Justin Moses, bassist/multi-instrumentalist Mark Schatz, and the amazing Bryan Sutton on guitar.

VOICES featuring Ki5 and Marqu3tte
2024-04-26 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, 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.
Prepare to be spellbound as the mesmerizing loop station magic of Ki5 reimagines your favorite R&B, pop, and soul hits with the finesse of an a cappella virtuoso. His performance is a soul-stirring experience that transcends genres and defies expectations. Once again, he’s not just bringing you music – he’s taking you on an exhilarating journey through the sonic universe as soulfully written vocal lines collide with each other, beatboxing, and even light instrumentation.
Drawing inspiration from musical luminaries like Reggie Watts, Bobby McFerrin, and Bon Iver, Ki5’s authentic, empathetic, and liberating style is nothing short of transformative. His artistry has catapulted him to the spotlight, sharing stages with legends such as Erykah Badu, CeCe Peniston, and Reggie Watts – a testament to his boundless versatility as both an artist and a show-stopping performer.
He’s bringing new music to The Ark from his latest project, Mind, which is set to come out in summer 2024.
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.
Voices is a series of artist-cultivated concerts at The Ark conceived and created by Ann Arbor musician Kyler Wilkins, AKA vocal looping artist Ki5. The series seeks to expand the representation of Michigan BIPOC artists and audiences at The Ark. Each show, intentional time will be taken to get to know each artist in the form of brief interviews and musical breaks to have them speak about their journey as musicians and performers with the hope that people in the audience are more connected to and inspired by those voices.

Sarah Jarosz: Polaroid Lovers Tour
2024-04-27 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Four-time GRAMMY winner Sarah Jarosz has announced her new album, “Polaroid Lovers,” and she’s bringing it to The Ark! The record is releasing on January 26, 2024 via Rounder Records. It features a decidedly more electric sound than Sarah’s earlier bluegrass-flavored efforts, and it shows this brilliant artist maturing as a songwriter. A Texas native, she’s spent most of her adult life living in New York City, but shortly before writing the album Sarah left her adopted home to join her soon-to-be husband in Nashville. The geographic shake-up led to a sonic one as well for “Polaroid Lovers.” For the first time in her career she opened herself up to collaborators, leading to writing sessions with Daniel Tashian, Ruston Kelly and Natalie Hemby. “‘Polaroid Lovers” is an album-long meditation on those strangely ephemeral moments that indelibly shape our lives. “What I love about a Polaroid is that it’s capturing something so fleeting, but at the same time it makes that moment last forever,” says Sarah. “It made sense as a title for a record where all the songs are snapshots of different love stories, and there’s a feeling of time being expansive despite that impermanence.”
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Dartbank Wealth

The Polaroid Lovers Tour VIP Experience Includes:

One (1) general admission — OR — premium reserved ticket (varies by show)
Pre-show soundcheck performance
Q&A with Sarah
Group photo with Sarah (Sarah stays on stage)
Exclusive signed poster
Early entry into the venue

Gemily
2024-04-28 13:00 - 15:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Gemily (Gemini + Emily) is the folk music trio comprised of Laz and San Slomovits and San’s daughter, Emily. Laz and San, as the highly popular family music duo, Gemini, have been performing throughout Michigan and the United States since 1973. Emily first began joining them on stage when she was just eight years old, and increasingly since graduating from college in 2016. All three are versatile instrumentalists and excellent singers. Between them they play over a dozen instruments including guitars, violins, ukulele, mandolin, pennywhistle, and a variety of folk flutes and hand percussion instruments.
San and Laz’s recordings have won numerous awards from, among others, the American Library Association, Parents’ Choice Magazine, National Parenting Publications, the Wolf Trap Institute, Early Childhood News and ASCAP. Emily, who studied classical violin for over a decade, is an excellent violinist in a variety of styles including classical, jazz and folk. In addition to Gemini, she has performed and recorded with Billy King, Annie and Rod Capps, Judy Banker, Billy Brandt, and Jill Jack.
Gemily’s concerts feature a wide range of traditional and contemporary folk, jazz and classical music. Their beautifully blended harmony vocals and exciting instrumental work breathe new life into a wide variety of American and international music, from folk to classical, klezmer to Broadway show tunes, traditional to contemporary. Audiences thrill to their musicianship, warmth, humor and ease on stage.

George Crotty Trio
2024-04-29 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
George Crotty has forged his own exciting vocabulary on the cello, pushing the boundaries of the cello as a jazz instrument. Following his graduation from the Berklee College of Music, Crotty immersed himself in New York’s jazz and world music scenes, playing with several ensembles, such as the Brooklyn Raga Massive, and the Detroit-based National Arab Orchestra. Additionally, he has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with Simon Shaheen, Paquito D’Rivera, Anat Cohen, and Darol Anger. The George Crotty Trio’s “Chronotope” (2022) showcases the Canadian cellist’s expressive fluidity and modal orientation. The group’s cross-cultural interplay draws on diverse influences within jazz and global music traditions including post-bop, modal jazz, Indian raga, and Arabic maqam.

The Arcadian Wild
2024-04-30 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Arcadian Wild is a four-piece indie folk/pop group from Nashville, TN. Led by songwriters Isaac Horn and Lincoln Mick and Bailey Warren on fiddle, The Arcadian Wild confidently inhabits and explores an intersection of genre, blending the traditional with the contemporary. Combining elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, and formal vocal music, The Arcadian Wild offer up songs of invitation; calls to come and see, to find refuge and rest, to journey and wonder, to laugh and cry, to share joy and community and sing along.
The band’s 2023 album, “Welcome,” marks the start of a captivating new chapter for the genre-bending trio, who returned to the studio with renewed purpose and insight after devoting the last few years to a series of critically acclaimed singles and EPs. Like much of the band’s catalog, the album blurs the lines between chamber folk and progressive bluegrass, drawing on everything from country and classical to pop and choral music with lush harmonies and dazzling fretwork, but this time around there’s a rawness to the writing, an embrace of candor and simplicity that cuts straight to the heart of things like never before. The result is perhaps the most arresting collection yet from a band known for its ability to stop listeners dead in their tracks, an exquisitely beautiful celebration of community, connection, and the power of belonging that feels tailor-made for these challenging times.

Earthwork Collective Spring Tour
2024-05-01 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Earthwork Music is a collective steward of community, collaboration, and creativity. Earthwork Music members will be banding together for a special tour across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula performing their songs and telling their stories.
This year’s lineup:
Nicholas James Thomasma
Dede Alder
Josh Holcomb
Sari Brown
Ralston Bowles
Ben Traverse
Gregory Stovetop
Elisabeth Pixley-Fink
Samantha Cooper
Chris Good
Mark Lavengood
Sarah Cohen
Vince Russo
Amber Hasan
Audra Kubat
Joe Reilly
Graham Parsons
Mike Savina
Jordan Hamilton

For Pete's Sake
2024-05-02 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
On hiatus since 2019, “For Pete’s Sake”, an all-star, in-the-round celebration of the songs and life of Pete Seeger, returns to The Ark! This year’s revival of the longtime Ark tradition features Michigan music favorites San, Laz, & Emily Slomovits; host of “No Roots – No Fruit” podcast and popular community singer, Matt Watroba; folk-roots singer-songwriter and beloved troubadour, Chris Buhalis; Hollerfest prime mover and prolific singer-songwriter/performer, Billy King; Michigan folk royalty, Annie & Rod Capps; legendary writer of classics like “Angelo’s” and “What Would Brando Do” and a do-not-miss performer, Dick Siegel; and songwriter, performer, and active proponent of our southeast Michigan music scene, Judy Banker – coming together to celebrate Pete’s birthday by sharing stories and, in the true Seeger style, lots of singalongs. All proceeds from this event go to support The Ark.
In the spirit of Pete’s belief in the power of singing together, we are making the concert available via LIVE STREAM so you all can join us from wherever you are.

Carrie Newcomer
2024-05-03 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Carrie Newcomer weaves her life and her art together, with music, community activism, and personal concerns all playing a role. She’s one of those people who exudes a spirituality that’s all her own, and she has to be seen in concert to be truly appreciated. Says novelist Barbara Kingsolver: “She’s a poet, storyteller, snake-charmer, good neighbor, friend and lover, minister of the wide-eyed gospel of hope and grace.” And you can forget all that and just luxuriate in her incredibly rich alto voice! Carrie has traveled to India and performed as a U.S. cultural ambassador, and local religion journalist David Crumm, writing on the ReadTheSpirit website, named her to his list of “10 Spiritual Sages to Watch.” Carrie always comes to The Ark with new music, and this time she’s bringing a brand new album, “A Great Wild Mercy.”

Jill Jack
2024-05-04 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Jill Jack’s annual birthday bash has become a New Year’s tradition at The Ark! Jill’s magical connection to her audience is the result of her generous artistry. By combining her gifts as a conceptual visionary with a warm gathering of musical influences, Jill touches that secret heart of ours with her melodies and lyrics. In her hometown of Detroit, Jill needs no further explanation. She’s been lauded in equal measure to her talents: Since 1997 she’s won dozens of Detroit Music Awards in every conceivable category that applies to a singer-songwriter. Jill extends the tradition of the confessional (i.e. achingly open, unafraid of intimacy) singer-songwriter, and is proud of that style and its continuation. You get all of Jill Jack in a performance—her blend of folk and rock traditions, her open humor. Jill’s generous spirit has benefited plenty of other musicians around the Detroit area, so come and wish her a happy birthday!
This show has been rescheduled from an earlier date. Tickets purchased for the original date will be honored for tonight’s show. If unable to attend on this new date, ticket holders have until February 15th to request a refund.

The Mammals
2024-05-05 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Mammals are folksingers Ruth Ungar, Mike Merenda, and a cohort of compelling collaborators who form a touring quintet on the fiddle, banjo, guitar, organ, bass, and drums. Over the past 20 years they have quietly composed a canon of original songs (“Some of the best songwriting of their generation” – LA Times) that both reflect our culture and offer a vision of how the world might yet be. “These days we sing about what we’re for over what we’re against,” says singer/songwriter, Mike Merenda, and what they’re for is “nothing short of sublime” according to (Americana UK).
A rough and tumble decade in the 00’s forged The Mammals identity as “subversive acoustic traditionalists” (Boston Globe) or a “party band with a conscience.” Re-emerging in 2017 from a hibernation period during-which the band’s founders explored new songwriting terrain as the duo Mike + Ruthy, The Mammals “don’t suffer from multiple genre syndrome, they celebrate it as if gleefully aware that the sound barriers separating old-timey music, vintage pop and contemporary folk are as permeable as cotton” (Washington Post). Their latest album, Nonet, “marshalls the defiant spirit needed to heal a damaged world” (No Depression).
In 2023 they released a series of singles recorded at their own Humble Abode Music, as well as issuing bonus material from 2020’s landmark album Nonet.

Eric Gales
2024-05-06 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Eric Gales is a blues firebrand. Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing and songwriting.
Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful, Eric is ready for the fight of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album “Crown.” Here, Eric opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal reflections on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric’s personal experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16-track collection boasts his finest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unflinchingly confident.

Los Straitjackets
2024-05-07 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Los Straitjackets are the leading practitioners of the lost art of the guitar instrumental. Using the music of the Ventures, The Shadows, and with Link Wray and Dick Dale as a jumping off point, the band has taken their unique, high energy brand of original rock & roll around the world. Clad in their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, the ‘Jackets’ have delivered their trademark guitar licks across 30 years, 16 albums, thousands of concerts and dozens of films and TV shows. Viva Los Straitjackets!
Opening is Wasted Major, a six man band and brotherhood joined together by their shared love of classic rock, southern rock, country, and each other. Formed in 2021 at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, the group has played up and down Broadway in Nashville, America’s southeast, and has rocked stages across Europe.
