A multiethnic Latin pop songstress, Gina Chavez is a ten-time Austin Music Award winner. Her bilingual record "Up.Rooted" topped both the Amazon and Latin iTunes charts following a feature on NPR's All Things Considered and has gained wide critical acclaim. Her Tiny Desk concert made NPR's top 15 of 2015, and she recently made 12-country […]
John Raymond and S. Carey have been playing music together for close to twenty years since their time studying music at the University of –Eau Claire. While they both received training in jazz and classical music, their careers would soon head in very different directions. S. Carey would become the right-hand man to Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver); collaborate as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Low, and Bruce Hornsby among others; and release four albums of his own to critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, and more. John Raymond, on the other hand, would become a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer “steering jazz in the right direction” (Downbeat); release eight albums garnering praise from the New York Times, Stereogum, and others; and teach on faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world.
In 2019, the two reunited and began experimenting on what their artistic voices would sound like together. Raymond brought in a host of musical ideas, while Carey contributed lyrics and helped shape the ideas into songs. Producer Sun Chung (formerly with ECM Records) came on board shortly after, and together they enlisted a cast of A-list musicians to help flesh out the music including pianist Aaron Parks (Terri Lyne Carrington, Terence Blanchard), bassist Chris Morrissey (Norah Jones, Mark Guiliana), and guitarist Dave Devine (Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band).
The result is their new album, “Shadowlands” (out September 29), a stunning, genre-bending collection of songs that combines the warmth and beauty of Carey’s aesthetic with the improvisational, spontaneous nature of Raymond’s. The music ranges from intimate and meditative to soaring and anthemic, with electric moments of musical interplay throughout. It’s the kind of collaboration that feels as if it were years in the making.
While in Arizona studying audio engineering, Ben Daniels decided to be a musician. A natural poet, he soon became a young songwriter schooled on Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, J.J. Cale, and John Prine, among others.
Since 2006, Ben has written songs that speak directly to the things we all see, recognize, and think. Years later, his lyrics have the authenticity of an artist.
Together since 2008, the Ben Daniels Band cuts through with an Americana sound from the Michigan ground. From their opening song to the finale of their set, their musicianship, experience, and originality make no two shows alike. And with the bluegrass roots of Tommy Reifel (bass), Wesley Fritzemeier (drums/mandolin/fiddle), and George Merkel (guitar), Ben Daniels Band's live show never fails to take over the venue.
Michigan native Claudia Schmidt has covered a lot of musical ground, beginning with a stirring rendition of "Tammy" at age 4 around a neighborhood bonfire. Then came years of choirs, a guitar, a dulcimer, and some theater thrown into the pot. Over four decades of mostly original songs exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms, she has created a repertory full of the stuff of life itself. Claudia is joined on the bill by Michigan songwriter and frequent Steppin' in It collaborator Rachael Davis, who was born in Lansing and grew up in Cadillac. What grabs you first about Rachael is the voice, with a bluesy richness that will make you pull off the road to listen. Add in some incisive songwriting, and you have a Michigan artist with a strong and growing following. Says songwriter Susan Werner: "We don't have Eva Cassidy anymore, but we do have Rachael Davis.”
Special Guest: Anna Vaus
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesTrousdale (say: TRUES-dale) is a powerful female band consisting of Quinn D’Andrea, Georgia Greene, and Lauren Jones. Their melodic and heartfelt harmonies are often compared to those of The Chicks and The Staves, but the girls draw inspiration from a wide array of music, including Crosby Stills & Nash, Kacey Musgraves, and HAIM. Driven by their passion to empower young women, Trousdale is committed to making quality music that spreads a message of self-acceptance and love.
Special Guest: Matthew Logan Vasquez
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesBased in Philadelphia, Low Cut Connie is a rock and roll band that also serves as the alter ego for the songwriting and the amazing stage presence of frontman Adam Weiner. LA Weekly has called Low Cut Connie’s live performances “unmatched in all of rock right now.” Among the band’s backers are Barack Obama, who put “Boozophilia” on his Spotify playlist, Elton John, and Bruce Springsteen. Low Cut Connie’s recent dates include a performance at President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Low Cut Connie comes to Michigan with a new release, “Are You Gonna Run?”
Shovels & Rope is the Charleston, South Carolina–based duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent. They perform as an energetic two-piece band, stirring up a righteous racket with two old guitars, a handful of harmonicas, the occasional keyboard, and a junkyard drum kit harvested from an actual garbage heap and adorned with tambourines, flowers and kitchen rags. But the songs are the deadliest arrows in this duo's quiver. Since 2010, Shovels & Rope has been traveling the highways and back roads of North America, logging hundreds of shows and performing for crowds large and small. If you enjoy the tough new strain of Southern songwriting exemplified by Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell, the Felice Brothers, Hayes Carll, and Butch Walker, Shovels & Rope are not to be missed. The group’s latest album, “Manticore,” has a new sound born of pandemic-time studio experimentation.
This annual concert benefits the Veterans for Peace Chapter 93 Peace Scholarship Fund. Proceeds will go to scholarships for college students enrolled in an accredited peace studies program and for programs to assist combat veterans suffering from serious trauma. Previous performers have included Chris Buhalis, Dave Keeney and Sophia Hanifi, Annie and Rod Capps, Dave Boutette and Kristi Lynn Davis, Dick Siegel, Judy Banker, Rochelle Clark, Laith Al-Saadi, Rollie Tussing, Michael Smith, Billy King, Jud Branam and Kevin Brown, and Shari Kane and Dave Steele. All artists will be performing peace-themed songs.
Allison Russell - poet, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, and co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago - embarks upon her next chapter in The Returner, a body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of Black liberation, Black love, of Black self-respect. Written and co-produced by Allison along with dim star (her partner JT Nero and Drew Lindsay), The Returner was recorded over Solstice week in December 2022 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. It features Russell’s “Rainbow Coalition” band of all female musicians along with special guest appearances from the legendary Wendy & Lisa, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier.
Special Guest: Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
Royal Oak Music Theatre 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, United States“If you like guitar playing, it simply doesn’t get any better than Tommy.” – Jason Isbell Tommy Emmanuel has achieved enough musical milestones to satisfy several lifetimes. Or at least they would if he was the kind of artist who was ever satisfied. At the age of six, he was touring regional Australia with his […]
The Verve Pipe has spent the better part of three decades in evolution, creating a sound that transcends genre and generation. It's a sound rooted in pop hooks, alt-rock guitars, and the sharp songwriting of frontman Brian Vander Ark. A sound that's taken the band from the golden days of late-'90s modern rock—when The Verve Pipe enjoyed multi-platinum success with hits like "Photograph" and the chart-topping "The Freshmen"—to the rule-breaking creativity of the 2010s and beyond, an era that's found the band reinventing itself with each release. Throughout it all, The Verve Pipe has released critically-acclaimed music as both a major-label act and an independent band, maintaining a commitment to forward-thinking rock & roll with albums like 2021's Threads.
Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. His music is poetry in motion, using harmonics, looping, multiple capos, and his unique banter and stage presence to deliver an unforgettable live concert experience. Listening to his intricate arrangements is one thing, but seeing the fan-dubbed "Acoustic Ninja" play live confounds even the most accomplished music lovers as to how one person can do all that with just two hands and ten fingers. Trace has played about 30 countries and counting—from high-tech performance halls in South Korea and Italy, to remote villages in Zimbabwe and Guatemala. In the hands of Trace Bundy, says Guitar Player, "the acoustic guitar is an imagination station, and there was no telling where he is going to take the audience at any given turn. Thrilling stuff."