The Ark

The Ark's Open Stage
2026-06-08 20:00 - 23:00, 2026-05-13 20:00 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) | 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. More info here!
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. 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.
Tickets available at the door.

The Arcadian Wild
2026-06-07 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Arcadian Wild is an indie folk/pop group from Nashville, TN, led by songwriters Isaac Horn, Lincoln Mick and Bailey Warren, The Arcadian Wild confidently inhabits and explores an intersection of genre, blending the traditional with the contemporary. Combining elements of confessional pop, folk, progressive bluegrass, 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.

Like A Star: Celebrating 20 Years of Corinne Bailey Rae
2026-06-07 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
In 2006 Corinne Bailey Rae released her self-titled debut album, a record she had recorded on a shoestring budget while still unsigned. An early appearance on BBC2’s ‘Later With Jools’ and some intimate gigs around the UK had already started a word-of-mouth buzz leading her to be tipped as the next big thing. But the success of that album was instant and immense. Debuting at Number One in the UK, featuring hit singles such as ‘Put Your Records On’ and ‘Like A Star’, becoming a smash-hit around the world, and crashing straight into the Billboard Top 20 in the US – the first British female singer-songwriter to do so in decades – meant Bailey Rae gained a huge global audience within months.
And now, four years and four-million album sales later, comes the long-awaited second album. For the 30-year-old singer and songwriter from Leeds, this meant politely declining the suggestions that she work with this or that big-league producer in this or that big-money studio. It meant co-producing the album herself with friends and musicians she had worked with in the past to retain intimacy and control, shrugging off the huge, worldwide expectations engendered by the self-titled debut and refusing to be bedazzled by that album’s multiple Grammy and Brit Award nominations.

Jane Siberry
2026-06-06 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Jane Siberry, a highly respected figure in the international music scene with a career spanning over four decades, is starting her upcoming tour on March 19th in Oregon and concluding on April 29th in Halifax. Known for her ethereal voice, poetic lyrics, and genre-defying sound, Jane has captivated audiences worldwide since the 1980s, delivering an impressive catalog of 15 studio albums and countless live performances.

Jane’s live performances are renowned for their emotional depth, humourous and moving storytelling, and the spontaneous magic that happens when she is on stage. Tour audiences can expect an intimate and transformative concert experience, blending classics from her repertoire with new pieces.

Chris Smither
2026-06-05 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Born in Miami, during World War II, Chris Smither grew up in New Orleans where he first started playing music as a child. The son of a Tulane University professor, he was taught the rudiments of instrumentation by his uncle on his mother’s ukulele. “Uncle Howard,” Smither says, “showed me that if you knew three chords, you could play a lot of the songs you heard on the radio. And if you knew four chords, you could pretty much rule the world.” With that bit of knowledge under his belt, he was hooked. “I’d loved acoustic music – specifically the blues – ever since I first heard Lightnin’ Hopkins’ Blues In My Bottle album. I couldn’t believe the sound Hopkins got. At first I thought it was two guys playing guitar. My style, to a degree, came out of trying to imitate that sound I heard.”

In his early twenties, Smither turned his back on his anthropology studies and headed to Boston at the urging of legendary folk singer Eric von Schmidt. It was the mid-’60s and acoustic music thrived in the streets and coffeehouses there. Smither forged lifelong friendships with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt who went on to record his songs, “Love You Like A Man” and “I Feel the Same. (Their friendship has endured as their career paths intertwined over the years.) What quickly evolved from his New Orleans and Cambridge musical experiences is his enduring, singular guitar sound – a beat-driven finger-picking, strongly influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin’ Hopkins, layered over the ever-present backbeat of his rhythmic, tapping feet (always mic’d in performance).

VOICES: feat Al Bettis & Ki5 with Aviva Match
2026-06-04 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Inspired at age 30, singer/songwriter Al Bettis picked up a guitar and a notepad and got to work. The self-trained acoustic guitarist has gained popularity for his smooth vocals and sincere lyrics. His shows are a journey through love, heartbreak and redemption as he offers stories about the musings behind many of his songs. Reminiscent of legends like Al Green and Otis Redding, with musical influence from artists such as Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz his soothing voice and raw sound is something you surely want to experience.
Ann Arbor’s electrifying musical maestro, Kyler Wilkins aka Ki5, is back on the Ark stage! He’s delighted to be joined once again by vocalist Aviva Match who carries a powerful, sincere tone that compliments his breathy, heartfelt vocal expressions.
Driven by a love of vocal harmony and coming off the 2026 release of the MIND EP, Ki5 is excited to share intricately designed and entirely spontaneous moments of playful musicality with his hometown. 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 performed vocal lines collide with each other, beatboxing, and possibly even 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.
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.

Peter Mulvey & Jenna Nicholls present Floyd Mercantile
2026-05-31 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
In April 2025, Peter Mulvey and Jenna Nicholls, along with guitarist Ross Bellenoit, traveled to Floyd, a small mountain town located in the Blue Ridge Highlands of Southwest Virginia, for five uninterrupted days of recording. What emerged is Floyd Mercantile — a record that feels both intimate and timeless.
The makeshift studio was a decommissioned general store called (you guessed it!) Floyd Mercantile — a weathered wooden building standing across the road from an open pasture where cows wandered and grazed in the gentle early spring. (One cow even volunteered to be on the album cover.) Inside those old walls, the trio recorded the album live — no isolation booths, no heavy overdubbing — just three musicians in a room, listening closely and letting the songs unfold in real time.
The sessions were recorded by Jeff Oehler and filmed in their entirety by partner Sue Bibeau and their associate Skylar Locke. Together, Sue and Jeff comprise Beehive Pro, an audio, visual, and design collective famed for their intimate recordings and thoughtfully considered visuals.
They captured not just the sound, but the atmosphere — the wood floors, the daylight through the dusty windows, and the creak of the porch boards could all be considered session players on this album.
The repertoire bridges eras. Mostly comprised of songs Peter and Jenna wrote separately, there are a few gems from the Great American Songbook: “Skylark” (Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer), “Them There Eyes” (Maceo Pinkard/Doris Tauber/William Tracey), and “I’ll Be Seeing You” (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal).
The visual and sonic tones of the project reflect the periods these songs evoke — even the newly composed tracks feel in conversation with another time. The goal was not nostalgia, but continuity: to stand inside the lineage of American song and add something honest and present to it.
Floyd Mercantile is not just an album. It’s a document of place. Of three musicians in a room. Of songs — old and new — allowed to breathe in the quiet of a Virginia afternoon.

Kim Richey
2026-05-30 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
In January 2024, Kim Richey found herself in Mexico, gazing out at a sea of people singing along to “I’m Alright,” one of her classic tracks. The three folks on stage with the veteran, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter were also raising their voices in harmony. To her right sat Brandi Carlile, to her left, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Brandy Clark. The formidable foursome was participating in a songwriter’s round only half-jokingly dubbed “Titans of Americana” at Carlile’s female-forward Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival on the Riviera Maya in Mexico.
“That was nuts looking out and seeing everybody arm-waving and singing along,” says Richey, still both incredulous and cheered by the memory of performing with that supergroup and later appearing alongside other Girls Just Wanna Weekend-ers Annie Lennox, Lucius, Allison Russell, and Sarah McLachlan among others. “It was just like, ‘wow’!”
The good news for fans of this particular Titan is a whole new batch of songs to sing along with and arm wave to with the release of her 10th studio album Every New Beginning. The 10 songs on Every New Beginning represent the full spectrum of the Ohio native’s gifts as both a revered songwriter who can leap from melancholy to mirthful in a single couplet — whose songs have been recorded by the likes of Brooks and Dunn, Patty Loveless, and Mary Chapin Carpenter — and owner of one of music’s truly celestial voices.
That voice, which Brandi Carlile has cited as formative in crafting her own style, is a widely sought after harmony instrument and has been featured on scores of albums including Jason Isbell’s acclaimed Southeastern, Trisha Yearwood’s Everybody Knows, Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams, Reba McEntire’s Starting Over, and Has Been by Capt. Kirk himself, William Shatner, among many others.

Mike Massé
2026-05-29 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Mike Massé is an internationally acclaimed artist and arranger who performs epic acoustic classic rock. He is a YouTube icon with over 195 million channel views. Legends of rock like Toto, Boston, Sarah McLachlan, Styx, Rush, Berlin, Asia, and others have expressed love and gratitude for his acoustic renditions of their songs. Toto cites his acoustic cover of “Africa” as their favorite.
Mike initially gained notoriety for his performances posted on his widely viewed YouTube channel. The success of that channel allowed him to quit his day job as a public defender after 13 years and move his family to Denver to become a full-time musician who performs around the world.
Mike’s acoustic arrangements are praised for their originality, creativity, accuracy and simplicity. He is careful to remain true to what is beloved about the original recordings, while bringing his own masterful musical flair to each rendition.

Dave & Kristi
2026-05-28 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
One time garage rock troubadour Dave Boutette, and former Radio City Rockette Kristi Lynn Davis make what could be considered an unexpected musical pairing, but they have certainly found a way to make it work. Since pairing Dave’s celebrated songwriting with Kristi’s natural gift for harmony, the duo has delighted audiences at music festivals, house concerts, and listening rooms from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the Maryland shore. Their most recent release THE CHICKADEES reached #11 on the Folk DJ Chart in June of 2025.
For additional spark in the set list that night, Dave & Kristi will be bringing along Jason Dennie on mandolin and Brad Phillips on fiddle.
Dave & Kristi’s songs mix many schools of American roots and popular music including folk, blues, swing, and old time country. The lyrics testify to the power of true love, rebirth, Polka bands, coffee, and migrating fish.

Paper Wings
2026-05-27 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Long-time friends and collaborators Emily Mann and Wila Frank, known together as Paper Wings, dream up warm, pastoral folk songs furnished with delicate banjo and spellbinding harmonies so close you often can’t tell their voices apart. On their latest project, Listen to the World Spin, the Nashville duo’s songwriting flourishes, displaying their exceptional ability to reference nostalgic sounds of American folk music while maintaining their own compelling style of artful and unpretentious lyricism. Embracing themes of solitude, nature, and passage through time and space, Listen to the World Spin is a beautiful exploration of how we are never alone in our search for meaning and certainty in difficult times. “We needed these songs to guide and comfort us through the last few years,” says Frank, “And we hope they’ll do the same for others.” Listen to the World Spin was released on March 15th, 2024 with support from Free Dirt Records.

Ike Dweck
2026-05-26 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Brooklyn-born and raised, rising independent singer-songwriter Ike Dweck is building a reputation for deeply personal lyrics and unflinching introspection. Since debuting in 2023, he’s continued to shape a sound that blends raw vulnerable folk with a modern, aggressive rock, inviting listeners into the heart of his experiences.
From writing solo to collaborating with fellow artists and songwriters Chance Emerson and Vincent Lima, as well as producer Jack Riley (previous work with Cameron Whitcomb and Grace VanderWaal), Ike has cultivated a creative circle that advances his word-choice-driven songwriting while keeping authenticity at its core. Much of his work revolves around the realities of battling mental health and navigating relationships. In doing so, Ike has created a community of fans that resonate similarly, finding connection and validation through his vulnerability.
Remaining proudly independent, Ike has been releasing new singles song by song for over two years, now surpassing over 1 million listeners on Spotify in the first half of 2025 across 15+ original songs in his release discography. There’s an immense growing anticipation for what’s ahead for Dweck, with plans to step into touring as a headliner for the first time next year, build his own Brooklyn-proud merchandising brand, and activating his fanbase of more than 3.5 million followers with a bootstraps methodology.
The Ark’s Artist Spotlight Series is made possible with support from Ford Philanthropy. It is presented live, and also livestreamed on The Ark’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Tonight’s show is FREE (nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers).

The Seldom Scene
2026-05-22 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Fifty-three years into a legendary career, much has changed about The Seldom Scene, starting with the venerable progressive bluegrass quintet’s various lineup iterations over time. But even as band members have stepped in and out of various roles, what’s most important is what hasn’t changed: an undeniable knack for blending both old and new music and traditions without sacrificing what makes either potent and durable. Their current iteration is a true blue lineup: guitarist mandolin player Lou Reid, bassist Ronnie Simpkins, banjoist and fiddler Ron Stewart, dobro player Fred Travers, and guitarist Clay Hess.
Since they started up together in 1971, The Seldom Scene has dexterously performed original and traditional songs while presenting fiery and soulful reinterpretations of material by Merle Haggard, James Taylor, and more. The concept of bluegrass unshackling itself from a conservative, straight-ahead mindset seems like a given now, when some of its biggest stars fill stadiums and cross over with mainstream audiences, but the continued presence of the Scene acts as a reminder that it wasn’t always so. Even if their playing style feels more at home in intimate clubs, where the audience can feel their exuberance radiating from the stage, the Scene’s elastic relationship to genre established an important precedent that encouraged their contemporaries and allowed bluegrass bands to expand their repertoire in ways that laid the groundwork for today’s bluegrass boom.

Suzy Bogguss
2026-05-21 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
During the creative explosion that was country music in the 1990s Suzy Bogguss sold 4 million records with sparkling radio hits like “Outbound Plane,” “Someday Soon,” “Letting Go,” “Drive South,” and “Hey Cinderella.” But you can’t peg Suzy that easily…
In the midst of her country popularity she took time off to make a duets album with the legendary Chet Atkins. In 2003 she made an album of modern swing music with Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel. An album of original music in 2007 landed her at number 4 on the jazz charts. Her folk music roots show through in her frequent appearances on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, in the Grammy she earned for her work on Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, and in her critically acclaimed album and book project from 2011, American Folk Songbook. In 2014 she released Lucky, a collection of songs written by Merle Haggard and interpreted through Suzy’s crystal vocals from the female point of view. Her latest offering, Prayin’ For Sunshine, is an Americana tour de force with all songs written by Bogguss.
She continues to tour the world, both on her own and with fellow country radio divas Terri Clark and Pam Tills as “Chicks With Hits” and more recently, with Kathy Mattea on their Together At Last tour. So yes, you can call her a country singer if you want, but really that’s just the beginning.

Open Stage Showcase
2026-05-20 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Our Open Stage Showcase lets us shine a light on some of our standout performers who’ve graced our Open Stage through the year.
Bob Hoot of HOOT and Hollers is a singer/songwriter living in Whitmore Lake, MI. Hoot moved back to Michigan in January 2024 after 45 years in Madison WI where he performed and recorded with with Tent Show Troubadours (2016–2023) and HOOT and Hollers (est. 2020– ) Hoot has been performing solo shows in and around the Ann Arbor area, primarily in the summer outdoor concert season. Set lists include songs from Hoot’s catalog of over 115 originals, as well as favorite covers. This show will also be a CD release event for the latest Hoot and Hollers album titled Ain’t My First Rodeo. HOOT and Hollers music is available on all streaming services. Bob Hoot will be joined by Gabrielle Hartman (violin).
Peter Bedford began to teach himself how to play guitar after listening to James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” album in 1970. After teaching school for 40 years and continuing to play and teach private lessons, he moved back to Michigan and began to attend and play at the Ark’s Open Stage nights. Through the luck of the draw and with the support of many loyal friends he found himself on stage more often than not. Pete says that he is deliberately keeping a lot of old songs alive by performing them and talking about them. With a songbook of nearly 200 songs in his head, you can expect to hear a sampling of them at the Showcase. Pete frequently performs with life-long friend, Gary Putrow accompanying him on bass under the name “Pete and Putts”. Gary will join Pete on a number of tunes.
Student and Ark member tickets available at the door.

Chris Knight
2026-05-17 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
After 23 years as a recording artist, singer-songwriter Chris Knight remains boldly empowered to make music that always delivers the unflinching truth. In fact, the man raised in Slaughters, Kentucky uses a simple, direct barometer to regularly check his muse: “If I can’t believe myself, I won’t sing the song.”
What Knight writes about is what he knows. He was raised in mining country, so it’s no surprise that he would earn a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University and then work as a mine reclamation inspector and then miner’s consultant. But eventually his passion for writing songs and playing guitar, both inspired by his musical hero, the late John Prine, led him to chronicle his surroundings in words and music.
“I came from a big family and grew up in the woods six miles from two small towns, so there were a lot of stories,” he says. “There were always a lot of ideas to write about.”

It’s no wonder that Knight has single-handedly scraped a reputation as one of America’s most uncompromising and respected singer-songwriters through 23 years and nine studio albums. He’s done this minus fanfare and artifice. The native son of Slaughters, Kentucky (population: 238) only sings songs he believes. He also speaks only when he has a potent message.

Guitar Women: An Evening with Sue Foley, Rory Block, & Cindy Cashdollar
2026-05-16 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Grammy-nominated blues artist Sue Foley, legendary blues icon Rory Block, and steel guitar master Cindy Cashdollar unite for Guitar Women, a rare collaboration bringing together three distinctive artists whose careers span decades of touring, recording, and musical innovation.
Moving from traditional Delta blues to Texas roadhouse grit to the luminous sweep of steel guitar, the evening features solo performances, collaborations, and candid reflections drawn from a lifetime in music.
The concert coincides with the May release of Foley’s new book Guitar Women, which honors the trailblazing women who shaped the sound of the guitar.
An unforgettable night of masterful musicianship and shared musical history.

Jon Muq
2026-05-15 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
For Jon Muq, a singer-songwriter born in Uganda and now living in Austin, Texas, music is part of a larger conversation he’s having with the world and everybody in it. Drawing from African as well as western musical trends and traditions, he devises songs as small gifts, designed to settle into everyday life and provoke reflection and resilience. “These days the world is sad,” he explains, “so I wanted to make happy songs. I wanted to write songs that connected with the listener in a very personal way. When someone listens to my music, it’s not just about me and what I’m singing. It’s about how they understand the songs individually. I think these songs can speak many languages, depending on what you want from them.”
Muq’s experiences as a child in Uganda and as a man in America give him a unique perspective on the world he’s addressing. “I grew up in a very different life, where so many people pass through hard times just because they don’t have much. Our biggest issue was food scarcity. Then I came to a different world, which gave me a picture of how to write a song that can find balance with everyone wherever they are, whether they have a lot or not much.” With his May 31st debut album with producer Dan Auerbach and tours with Billy Joel, Norah Jones, Mavis Staples, Amythyst Kiah, Corinne Bailey Rae, and others, Muq is expanding the scope of his music to speak to more and more people.
Presented with support from Bank of Ann Arbor

Joe Pernice
2026-05-14 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Joe Pernice is a songwriter celebrated for his rare ability to pair luminous melodies with quietly devastating emotional depth. Over the course of a career spanning more than three decades, Pernice has built a body of work that is literate, melodic, and enduring—music that reveals new layers with each listen.
First gaining attention in the early 1990s with alt-country band Scud Mountain Boys, Pernice later founded the Pernice Brothers, a project that would firmly establish his reputation as one of the most refined songwriters of his generation. From the initial Overcome by Happiness and across numerous albums, his songs have been marked by elegant arrangements, strong pop instincts, and lyrics that balance wit, melancholy, and narrative precision. Drawing from folk, power pop, and chamber pop traditions, Pernice’s music feels both timeless and unmistakably personal. His collaborations with a range of musicians include Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Joshua Karp, Neko Case, Aimee Mann, and the iconic Jimmy Webb.
Critics have consistently praised his work for its craftsmanship and emotional intelligence. Major publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Magnet, The Guardian, and Mojo have highlighted his gift for melody and his ability to cloak dark, complex themes in deceptively beautiful songs.
Beyond music, Joe has written one of the first books in the original 33 1/3 book series. His novella explores the Smiths’ Meat is Murder and Catholic high school life in Boston in 1985. Joe’s novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop, is a dark, irreverent story of a young man trying to sort through love, life and commitment.
With his latest album, Sunny, I Was Wrong, Joe continues his signature style of rich storytelling melded with inspired arrangements, each song a world unto its own.

Leo Kottke
2026-05-13 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Due to illness the upcoming Leo Kottke show has been cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience. Refunds will be returned to original form of payment.

Davina and the Vagabonds
2026-05-12 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national music scene with their high-energy live shows, level A musicianship, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time, from Vancouver to Miami and across Europe.
Much like the music, the story spurns era, expectation, and classification. The often unbelievable, sometimes harrowing, and wholly inspiring journey of Davina Sowers gave birth to her eponymous band Davina and The Vagabonds in 2004. As the tale goes, she grew up in the economically depressed Allegheny town of Altoona, PA, which she now describes as “awesome in the industrial era, but horrible for high school.” She was adopted by her much older stepfather when he was in his 80s; he passed away when she was just 13. Through him and his Edison phonograph, she first heard The Ink Spots, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and many others. “Great man. He was my angel and still is,” she says.
On her own, she vividly recalls hours in front of the record player where she religiously spun Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Simon and Garfunkel records belonging to her folk singer mom.
To this day, Davina still refers to music as “my first and eternal love.” Despite early dalliances with classical piano and guitar, she developed a heavy drug habit in high school, which morphed into heroin dependency, left her homeless, sent her in and out of jail, and brought on all manner of trouble. Kicking dope on the streets, she “got clean, started the band, and worked [her] ass off every day since.”
Davina and the Vagabonds shine every time they play. To date, they’ve performed in forty-five states, twelve European countries, and two Canadian provinces. Not to mention, they’ve earned feverish acclaim from the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and more in addition to performing on BBC’s international favorite late-night program Later… With Jools Holland and appearing on PBS’s Bluegrass Underground.

Community High Jazz
2026-05-11 18:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
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.

Vance Gilbert
2026-05-10 19:30 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Vance was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. Starting out hoping to be an R&B and jazz singer once at college, there he discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter thing. Word spread like wildfire about Gilbert’s stage-owning singing and playing, and Shawn Colvin invited him to be special guest on her 1992 Fat City tour where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god..” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Most recently he’s been the opener of choice for Mad About You/Stranger Things star Paul Reiser’s stand-up shows (50 +) for the last 7 years, along with his own busy acoustic music touring and coaching schedule.
Vance’s most recent album, “The Mother Of Trouble”, features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient and Bonnie Raitt Grammy hit song co-writer Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana-Roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh.

Howley
2026-05-09 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
For over a decade, David and Martin Howley have been at the heart of a musical revolution. As founding members of We Banjo 3, the Galway-born brothers brought Irish traditional music to new heights — blending it with Americana, bluegrass, and contemporary songcraft to create a sound beloved across the world. Their electrifying live shows, virtuosic playing, and brotherly chemistry made We Banjo 3 one of the most celebrated acts on the international folk scene.
Now, the brothers return with a brand-new project: Howley — a re-imagining of that signature sound for a new era. With Martin’s dazzling mastery on banjo and mandolin and David’s unmistakable voice and rhythmic guitar, Howley is both a continuation and a renewal — rooted in tradition but reaching fearlessly toward the future.
Joined by two world-class artists, Kiana June (fiddle, vocals) and Caitlin Leahy (percussion, flute, vocals), Howley expands the brothers’ trademark sound with lush harmonies, fiery fiddle, and rhythmic flair. The result is warm, vibrant, and deeply human — a band that feels both comfortingly familiar and thrillingly new.
Martin Howley, a seven-time All-Ireland champion and the first Irish banjoist to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, brings dazzling precision and playful charisma to every performance.
David Howley, known for his soulful voice and magnetic stage presence, fuses the sensitivity of a songwriter with the power of a rock frontman.
Kiana June, the “fiddle-fueled” virtuoso of Gaelic Storm and Come From Away, infuses the music with both elegance and fire.
Caitlin Leahy, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist from the celebrated Leahy’s Luck family, provides rhythmic heartbeat and shimmering vocal textures.
Together, they form a sound built on connection — the pulse of family, the spark of shared history, and the joy of collaboration.
With Howley, the brothers have created something new: music that celebrates their past but looks ahead with open arms. Their live show is full of laughter, harmony, and heart — the kind of energy that reminds audiences why they fell in love with folk music in the first place.

Justin Roberts
2026-05-09 11:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Five-time Grammy® nominated children’s musician Justin Roberts has been creating the soundtrack to families’ lives for 25 years. Now, with his 16th full length album, Space Cadet, Justin’s rock journey goes interstellar with feel-good songs rooted in themes of inclusion, acceptance, and self-discovery. Inspired by his life as a new dad and experiences in isolation, Space Cadet offers feel-good fun for the whole family. Justin has been praised by the New York Times for his “remarkable ability to see through a child’s eyes…,” and is known for writing meaningful songs that acknowledge kids’ emotional depth while still letting the fun shine through. In concert, kids and adults dance it out with Justin and his incredibly talented band, the Not Ready for Naptime Players, all while exploring what it means to be yourself and embrace what makes you unique.
Justin is the author of multiple children’s books and is available for author appearances and assemblies. The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade, illustrated by Christian Robinson, is the story of how one person can make a difference and was inspired by his beloved song, “Billy the Bully.” In The Great Henry Hopendower, a young boy remembers his much-loved grandpa and his newest book, I’ll Be Your Polar Bear, is a heartwarming story about the lengths a father will go to comfort and protect his child.

The RFD Boys
2026-05-08 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
It’s hard to believe, because each show is fresh and new, but the RFD Boys have been delighting Michigan audiences since 1969 with their fabulous musicianship and sly, exquisitely timed between-song humor. They’re legends of Michigan bluegrass, but they’re more than that too. With an appearance on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited, with songs recorded by the likes of the Country Gentlemen, and with performances alongside bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, the RFD Boys are a part of America’s bluegrass tradition. The RFD Boys are one of southeastern Michigan’s most durable musical ensembles, and their shows capture a deep slice of musical Ann Arbor. Their 50th-anniversary appearance at the Folk Festival was a special moment and introduced many listeners to Dan Roehrig, who joined the band on guitar, mandolin, and bass in mid-2018. Dan grew up listening to Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Tony Rice, and you can hear it in both his singing and guitar playing.
Tickets available at the door. There are no advance tickets for this show.

Iron & Wine
2026-05-08 20:00 - 23:00 | Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Iron & Wine is the musical project of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Born and raised in South Carolina, Beam is a former film professor who got his start making home recordings before landing on Sub Pop Records. Iron & Wine’s 2002 debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle garnered both critical and popular acclaim, vaulting Beam into the spotlight of the burgeoning indie- folk/Americana scene as one of its new and leading voices.
For over 20 years, Iron & Wine has captured the emotion and imagination of listeners with distinctly cinematic songs. His recorded output includes seven full-length studio records, collaborations with Calexico, Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), and Jesca Hoop, countless EP’s, singles and compilation/soundtrack appearances, a live concert documentary, and five GRAMMY nominations.
Iron & Wine’s latest record, Light Verse was released in April 2024 with Paste Magazine noting “… Beam returns with an expanded sonic palette while also rekindling the bright spark that made 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog so magical.”

For Pete's Sake: Pete Seeger Birthday Concert
2026-05-07 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The annual Pete Seeger Birthday Concert returns to The Ark with an all-star celebration honoring the life and work of singer, songwriter, activist, and national conscience, Pete Seeger, who passed in 2014. The evening will be filled with storytelling and singalongs in the true uplifting Seeger audience participation tradition. This year’s lineup features Al Bettis, Ani Mari, Annie & Rod Capps, Billy King, Chris Buhalis, Gemily, Hoodang, Jan Krist, Jim Bizer & Alan Finkbeiner, Judy Banker, Kitty Donohoe, Lauren Crane, and Matt Watroba.

Mark Erelli
2026-05-06 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Ticket prices on our website reflect all-in pricing for purchases made online or by phone. This means the price you see includes the ticket price plus MUTO’s ticket processing fee. Tickets may be purchased with no included fees in person at The Ark during box office hours.
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Mark Erelli is a Boston-based veteran of the folk and roots music scene, renowned for his emotional honesty, craftsmanship, and warmth. Erelli exploded out of the gate in 1999 when he won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Award in the wake of his “auspicious debut” (Billboard), joining the ranks of previous honorees like Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. More recently, Erelli penned the anti-gun violence song “By Degrees,” recorded in collaboration with Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, and others, which garnered a nomination for Song of the Year at the 2019 Americana Honors and Awards. He followed this honor with a pair of records that drew comparisons to both Tom Petty and John Prine, as well as praise for their energy, grace, and resilience. Now, on his fourteenth solo album Spring Green, Erelli delivers his most cohesive and emotionally resonant work to date—a meditation on vulnerability, endurance, and renewal.
Following 2023’s Lay Your Darkness Down, which chronicled his response to vision loss from retinitis pigmentosa, Spring Green finds Erelli in a place of hard-won peace. Co-produced with longtime collaborator Zachariah Hickman and tracked largely live over three days, the album feels fluid and organic—more watercolor painting than photographic snapshot. Its intimate sound recalls classic singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and James Taylor, prioritizing storytelling and emotional clarity over stylistic showmanship.
By choosing to release Spring Green independently through Bandcamp and personally fulfilling each order, Erelli reaffirms his commitment to authentic connection over industry convention. The album stands as both an artistic statement and a survival guide—proof that true strength lies in softness, and that being wholly oneself is more than enough.
