The Po' Ramblin' Boys
2025-08-24 19:30 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) | 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.
At a time when most people feel constantly distracted by technology and barraged by the news, authenticity and straightforward honesty are paramount. There’s something about the music of The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys that cuts right through the noise of the world and speaks plainly to the soul. Formed in the Smoky Mountains, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are at once exactly what you would expect and not at all what you would expect from a tattooed East Tennessee Bluegrass outfit. No strangers to hard work, the boys are as much at home riding in their 1965 GM Tour bus as they are crawling underneath to fix it when it needs maintenance. But they take pride in being ambassadors of their genre, and the group has brought their music from rural bluegrass festival stages to the rock clubs of Europe, with stunning results.

Caleb Caudle & The Sweet Critters
2025-08-26 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Sweet Critters, the new album from Caleb Caudle was produced by Ben Tanner and John Paul White, recorded at Sun Drop Sound in Florence, AL, and mastered by Kim Rosen at Knack Mastering. The album features Allison Russell, Aoife OʼDonovan, John Paul White, and Caudleʼs own touring band.
Just as the marbled salamanders emerge from under damp logs and leaves, the mushrooms—smooth, pearlescent ones and spongy morels—turn on like night lights glowing in the dark, and the long-horned beetles and regal moths begin buzzing. The fiddlehead ferns and trout lilies curl inward, a copperhead slowly swerves, and a fox steps into the moonlight looking for prey. It is here, in that restless middle of the night, under cover of darkness, where Caleb Caudle’s sixth studio LP Sweet Critters is nestled.
Through sometimes shadowy arrangements that creep and lurk, Caudle continues to mine both the brightest and murkiest corners of his imagination, finding that purest of points where tenderness and grit collide, inspired by musical heroes like Buddy Miller and Guy Clark, and mentors like Elizabeth Cook and John Paul White. It was White who Caudle tapped to produce Sweet Critters, along with Ben Tanner, at the duo’s Florence, Alabama studio Sun Drop Sound.
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.
Tonight’s show is FREE (nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers).

Pierre Bensusan - One Guitar, One Voice - 50th Anniversary
2025-08-27 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.
If World Music means the fusion of traditional, contemporary, jazz, classical and pop music, then Bensusan is one of the most eloquent World Music musicians of our time. A pianist in his beginnings then self-taught on the guitar, the originality of his style makes him one of today’s greatest guitarists and composers for the instrument. Also called “The Prince of DADGAD”, the Rose d’Or of the Montreux Festival, elected Best Guitarist of World Music by the readers of Guitar Player Magazine! His triple album “Encore” won the Grand Prix of the Independent Music Awards in the category Best Live Album… Since his first performances in 1974 in France, the guitarist has sold half a million albums and given thousands of concerts around the globe, both solo and through numerous collaborations.
Pierre Bensusan is an adventurer of unusual lands. His almost “sacred” music is an intimate and orchestral hymn, a solo crossing on a multi-shell Lowden guitar subjected to the natural elements with sound molecules and finger pulp on an ebony fingerboard for open tuning – an unique and transparent technique, under the fingers of an adventurous pilgrim.
“Listening to Pierre’s music is rejuvenating. Beside his extraordinary touch and tone, the notes and melody appeal directly to the tender side of our human nature”
Steve Vai
“This is beautiful… Pierre is one of the GREATS!!!”
Tommy Emmanuel Cgp.
With only his steel-string-acoustic guitar – and sometimes his rich, affecting voice – Mr Bensusan can disassemble your heart and hand it back to you restored and renewed. As he did to mine tonight. A true giant.”
James Volpe Rotondi (former senior editor at Guitar Player Magazine)

Anya Hinkle
2025-08-28 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.
Asheville, NC-based roots artists Anya Hinkle (vocals, guitar) and Billy Cardine (Dobro) team up for an intimate exploration of acoustic music rooted in the sounds of Appalachia and seasoned by their travels around the globe. Following international tours in Japan, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and throughout the US and Hawai’i over the past year, they were recipients of the prestigious USArtist International grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to bring their surprisingly dynamic range of styles and influences to France in 2025.
Originally from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, Anya Hinkle’s music is steeped in the tones of folk and mountain music, featuring award-winning songwriting, vibrant musicianship, and striking honesty. About her newest album, Oceania, Americana Highways writes, “This North Carolina singer-songwriter has an engagingly smooth-toned classic vocal… She’s the real deal – melodic with rich traditional instincts… one of the year’s best.” Anya won the Merlefest Chris Austin song contest and was a finalist in the Hazel Dickens songwriting competition in 2019 for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston,” and was runner-up in the International Acoustic Music Awards in 2022 for “Hills of Swannanoa.”
Billy Cardine is recognized as a pioneer of slide guitar, taking the Dobro into uncharted genres. Billy’s unique voice on all things slide has led him to collaborate with Led Zeppelin’s own John Paul Jones, world-renowned Edgar Meyer in his Porous Borders of Music, and dobro king Jerry Douglas, who stated, “Billy Cardine is an amazing Dobro player. He is fluent in everything that I do, and Josh Graves, and everybody that has come before. I couldn’t have picked a better example for them of where the Dobro is now or what the possibilities are with the instrument.”

Tyler Ramsey
2025-08-29 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Tyler Ramsey is a singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his evocative, genre-blending sound that fuses modern folk, rock, and alternative influences. Based outside of Asheville, North Carolina, Ramsey gained recognition as a key member of Band of Horses, contributing to their soaring indie-folk sound across three studio albums, each of which included Ramsey originals including Grammy-nominated “Infinite Arms” (2010). As a songwriter and guitarist, his intricate playing and introspective lyricism became a defining element of the band’s music.
With masterful guitar work and a gift for storytelling, Tyler Ramsey continues to carve out his own space in the world of folk and indie rock. He has released a series of critically acclaimed albums, including “For the Morning” (2019), which showcased his signature blend of fingerpicked guitar, pedal steel, and atmospheric rock textures. His latest album, “New Lost Ages”, marks a new creative milestone, produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Father John Misty) and recorded in Seattle’s Avast Recording Co. The project captures Ramsey’s evolution as both a songwriter and musician, balancing moments of quiet introspection with grand, sweeping arrangements.
Ramsey’s music is deeply rooted in nature and personal experience, with much of “New Lost Ages” inspired by his life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Seeking solace during a tumultuous period, he retreated to a secluded cabin near his home, channeling his reflections on change, fatherhood, and artistic perseverance into a collection of deeply resonant songs. The resulting album, with contributions from musicians like Morgan Henderson (Fleet Foxes), Sean T. Lane(Ann Wilson), and Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), captures both the intimacy of his songwriting and the expansive sonic landscapes he crafts.
Tyler’s music, praised by outlets such as Relix and NPR, resonates with listeners seeking depth, honesty, and a connection to something timeless. “New Lost Ages” stands as a testament to his journey—one that embraces both the uncertainties of life and the enduring power of song

David Cook
2025-09-02 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Tickets on sale 6/13 at 11am
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.
David Cook (and yes, the same David Cook who launched into stardom following his American Idol Season Seven win – breaking several Billboard chart records when 14 of his songs debuted on the Hot Digital Songs chart and 11 of his songs debuted on the Hot 100) certainly knows his way around a good song. His first album, “Analog Heart,” came out pre-Idol, and his last album, “Digital Vein,” nicely bookended that chapter of Cook’s career, a chapter during which he sold more than two million albums (including his platinum-certified eponymous album) and, collectively, more than five million tracks (including two platinum-certified singles) worldwide.
David continues to find success, not only for himself, but also as a writer for other artists and touring throughout the world. In April 2022, David released his latest single, “TABOS” (This’ll All Be Over Soon). The single’s release coincided with his return to the American Idol® stage to perform for their special 20th-anniversary reunion show. In July 2024, David released his latest single, “Dead Weight” co-written with long-time collaborator, Andy Skib to coincide with his summer tour.

The Ark's Open Stage
2025-09-03 20:00 - 23:00, 2025-09-16 20:00 - 23:00, 2025-09-22 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. 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.

Jobi Riccio
2025-09-04 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Born and raised in Morrison, Colorado – a tourist town in the foothills outside of Denver that’s home to Red Rocks Amphitheater – Jobi Riccio grew up surrounded by music and found inspiration in artists ranging from Sheryl Crow to Joni Mitchell. Sonically, Jobi’s music exists between worlds, melding the classic craftsmanship of her songwriting with modern indie-leaning production to forge a lush, expansive sound that feels traditional and experimental all at once.
She has received significant acclaim for her songwriting, including the 2023 Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship, the 2024 Luck Reunion Artist On The Rise program and a nomination at the 2024 Americana Music Association’s Honors and Awards in the category of Emerging Artist of the Year.
Her debut album, Whiplash (out now on Yep Roc), has garnered praise from The New York Times, CBS, Billboard, NPR, and The Nashville Scene to name a few. “This is the kind of album where you leave knowing an artist better than you ever thought you could in less than 40 minutes, and learn a thing or two about yourself in the process” Says Marissa R. Moss, who named Whiplash her number one Country album of 2023 for Stereogum. Not one to be confined into any one mold, Riccio’s Whiplash introduces influences from a variety of genres, while still holding space for her love for all decades of country and americana music.

The Gibson Brothers
2025-09-05 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.
There’s a reason why Ricky Skaggs pulled Eric and Leigh Gibson off the stage at the Ryman two decades ago and offered to produce their debut record. The same thing that led David Ferguson and Grammy Award winning producer and Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to co-write and produce their 14th album “Mockingbird” (2018) and release it on his own label Easy Eye Sound alongside cultural icons such as Hank Williams Jr. and Dr. John: The Gibson Brothers are the real deal. They can pick. They can sing .And they can write a damn good country song. They’ve won about every bluegrass award you can name and released albums on almost every premier Americana label you can think of including Sugar Hill and Rounder, and, if that’s not enough, their songs have been recorded by bluegrass legends no less than Del McCoury.

Gabe Lee // King Margo
2025-09-06 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.
Equal parts classic songwriter and modern-day storyteller, Gabe Lee has built his own bridge between country, folk and rock. Storytelling has been an anchor of Lee’s music since the very beginning. Raised by Taiwanese parents in Nashville, TN, he left home during his teenage years and headed to Indiana, where he obtained college degrees in literature and journalism. Lee launched his career as a genre-bending musician after returning to Tennessee, quickly progressing from dive bar gigs to high-profile opening slots (including shows with Jason Isbell, Los Lobos, Molly Tuttle, and other artists who, like him, blurred the lines between roots-rock, country, and other forms of American folk music) to his own headlining shows. Throughout it all, he drew upon the narrative skills he’d sharpened as a student. If albums like Honky-Tonk Hell and The Hometown Kid often unfolded like autobiographical entries from his road journal, then Drink the River shows an even broader range of his storytelling abilities. Lee isn’t just writing songs about himself; he’s writing songs about all of us. And maybe, in doing so, he can bring us a little closer together.
King Margo is a magnetic alt-country/Americana act based in Nashville, TN. Their album “Waters Rise” is filled with what Saving Country Music proclaims as “interesting and curious textures throughout, unique and unexpected approaches to songs, and inspired songwriting graced by soaring performances.” The heart of the group is duo Lucciana Costa and Rachel Coats, though they often bring their friends along for a full band experience. King Margo is a road-tested band through and through, and they are known for putting on a high-energy show complimented by thoughtful songwriting.

Shemekia Copeland
2025-09-07 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.
Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. The Chicago Tribune says, “Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. There’s no mistaking the majesty of her instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.”

On Copeland’s new album, Blame It On Eve, the songs all hit hard, with jaw-dropping performances that instantly take hold and command repeated listening. “There’s serious business on the new album,” Copeland says, “but there are a lot of smiles here too, a lot of joyous moments. It’s my blues for sure but it’s the brighter side. Issues are always important to me, but so is rocking, dancing and just having fun. And that’s something we all can all agree on.”
With Blame It On Eve, Copeland embarks on what she calls “a vacation from all the heaviness.” Blame It On Eve contains plenty of Copeland’s trademark bold and courageous songs, but here Copeland is also looking to unplug from the weight of the world. “My last three records have dealt with breaking news,” she says. “This record is for people like me who want a break from the news.”

Lake Street Dive
2025-09-08 18:30 - 23:00 | Masonic Temple Theatre, 500 Temple St, Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
Lake Street Dive have pushed the possibilities of pop music as a unifying force, not only through their eclectic sound—a boldly original cross-pollination of soul, folk, jazz, classic pop, and more—the five-piece’s all-embracing ethos has also made them a beloved live band known for building a potent connection among every crowd. In the making of their new album Good Together, vocalist Rachael Price, bassist/background vocalist Bridget Kearney, drummer/background vocalist Mike Calabrese, keyboardist/vocalist Akie Bermiss, and guitarist/background vocalist James Cornelison reinforced the deep sense of purpose behind their output, often turning their attention to the many factors driving us apart today (e.g., unchecked technological growth, culturally imposed isolation, the cult of relentless self-optimization). Born from a mindset they refer to as “joyful rebellion,” Good Together arrives as a body of work both gloriously defiant and primed to inspire unbridled dancing and ecstatic singing-along.

The Milk Carton Kids
2025-09-08 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Founded in 2011, The Milk Carton Kids — Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale — swiftly emerged as a major force in the American folk tradition, blending ethereal harmonies and intricate musicianship with a uniquely powerful brand of contemporary songcraft. Their 2013 debut The Ash & Clay marked their national breakthrough, earning them their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album. Another Grammy nomination followed in 2015 for Best American Roots Performance with “The City of Our Lady” from their acclaimed third studio album, Monterey, and their 2018 album All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn’t Do received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. They received their fourth Grammy nomination for 2022’s I Only See The Moon, nominated for “Best Folk Album.”
“Both of us have now lived enough life to understand that maybe one of the purposes we were put on Earth for is to sing together, to write songs together, to make music together,” notes guitarist/vocalist Kenneth Pattengale. “It has truly provided a direction for our lives.” Ryan adds, “It’s like a successful marriage in that there’s always been enough there between us collaboratively in the way that we work together, sing together, play together. It’s a very special thing. And I don’t think we ever took that for granted.”

Socks in the Frying Pan
2025-09-09 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.
Socks in the Frying Pan, a multi-award-winning trio from Ennis, County Clare, Ireland—the mecca of Irish traditional music—was formed in 2014. Forged together by a fire of pure joy and passion for their art, the band comprises Aodan Coyne on guitar and lead vocals, Shane Hayes on accordion, and younger brother Fiachra Hayes on fiddle.
Their ‘Socks Sound’ combines virtuosic musicianship with a burning passion for the music and tradition, pitch-perfect harmonies, and a big splash of quick wit and banter. Their electrifying performances and on-stage charm have established them as the kingpins on the Irish Traditional Music scene today.

Katie Pruitt
2025-09-10 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.
Katie Pruitt is living proof of music’s power to transform the way we experience the world. Soon after the arrival of her acclaimed debut Expectations—a 2020 LP on which she documented her journey in growing up queer in the Christian South—the Georgia-bred singer / songwriter / guitarist heard from countless listeners that her songs had impacted their lives on an elemental level. With her sophomore album Mantras, the Nashville-based musician now looks inward to explore such matters as gender identity, self-compassion or the lack thereof, and the struggle for peace in times of chaos and uncertainty—ultimately arriving at a body of work that speaks to the strength in undoing harmful self-beliefs and fully living your truth.
Mainly produced by Collin Pastore and Jake Finch (both known for their work with boygenius and Lucy Dacus), Mantras delves deeper into the empathetic storytelling and incisive self-examination that defined Expectations—an album that earned Pruitt a nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year from the Americana Music Association, in addition to drawing praise from major outlets like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. This time around, Pruitt sets her lived-in lyricism to a folk-leaning sound informed by her love for the more experimental edges of indie-rock, stacking her songs with plenty of propulsive grooves and overdriven guitars.
Looking over the tracklist to Mantras, Pruitt notes that a certain narrative thread emerged without her intention. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but the throughline for this record ended up being my own personal journey of letting go and learning how to love myself again—it begins with tension, frustration, and fear and resolves to a place of acceptance, surrender, and stillness,” she says. “I hope when people hear the record they feel what I felt after writing it, which was a sense of trusting myself and trusting that—no matter how bad things look—there’s always hope where there’s fear. I know that so much of the time we feel alone in our pain, so hopefully these songs help everyone to see that they can work through those big life changes and end up loving themselves a lot more.”

Molly Tuttle
2025-09-11 19:30 - 23:00 | Masonic Jack White Theatre, 500 Temple Street, Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
On the heels of two Grammy-winning albums in succession, with her band Golden Highway—2022’s Crooked Tree and 2023’s City of Gold—plus a nomination for Best New Artist, Molly Tuttle returns with a solo album that’s her most dazzling to date: So Long Little Miss Sunshine.
Recorded in Nashville with producer Jay Joyce (Orville Peck, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant), the fifth full album from the California-born, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and virtuoso guitarist features twelve new songs—eleven originals and one highly unexpected cover of Icona Pop and Charli xcx’s “I Love It.”
Tuttle’s career, which began at age fifteen, has charted a course between honoring bluegrass and stretching its boundaries. On this album—a hybrid of pop, country, rock, and flat-picking, plus one murder ballad—she goes to a whole new place. Her stunning guitar work is more up-front on this album than ever before. (One of the most decorated female guitarist alive, Tuttle was the first woman to win the prestigious International Bluegrass Music Award’s Guitar Player of the Year in 2017, at age twenty-four, and won again the following year, with nominations nearly every year since; she has also won Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year award.)
This event takes place at the Masonic Jack White Theatre, formerly the Masonic Cathedral Theatre.

The Langan Band
2025-09-11 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, The Langan Band has had to cancel this date. Refunds have been issued from original point of purchase.
For over 15 years now, the three members of The Langan Band have been carving out their own lawlessly virtuosic path of sound; rampaging through the boundaries of conventional genre and cavorting into the territories of wild abandon, purest intimacy, and unconditional musical elation.
The trio were initially brought together by a deep respect of traditional song and music, yet they discovered a mutual love of the evisceration and regeneration of these pieces into provocative and fascinating new compositions, as was recognised by the band winning the prestigious Danny Kyle Award at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival at the start of their journey together. This sound and process went on to inform the band’s now mostly original repertoire, and has resulted in a musical experience quite unlike any other.
Ayrshire-born John Langan is found centre-stage, seated on an explosive foot percussion rig of his own devising and fronting the trio with intricate fiery guitar rhythms and witheringly sweet and scathing vocals. To his right stands Alastair Caplin, a classically trained violinist equally discerning in both the London Prog-Folk/Jazz scenes he occupied for years and also the blistering traditional reels and jigs of his native Outer Hebrides. Stage left is the domain of Angus-born Dave Tunstall and his double bass; from here emanates a seductive concoction of eerily-bowed soundscapes, heart-stopping bass lines, and in conjunction with Caplin’s blurred bowing a truly monumental wall of orchestral noise. The sound of the group reaches its zenith when all of these instruments are joined by the three voices singing together in razor-tight harmony to create an absolute cacophony of joy.
Whilst it is possible to see the evidence of influences the band have drawn on and enjoyed (Trad. Scots music, Eastern European Gypsy, Bluegrass and American Old-Time to name a few), the true nature of the sound from The Langan Band is best described as un-pigeon-holeable, yet utterly irresistible.
In 2024 the band broke onto the North American market with 5 tours of USA & Canada. Through huge mainstage performances at festivals such as Telluride Bluegrass and radio play such as the prestigious Mountain Stage Radio, they are building a loyal and wild new fanbase across the Atlantic.

The Wildwoods
2025-09-12 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.
From the heart of Lincoln, Nebraska, The Wildwoods have grown into a folk/Americana trio rooted in rich harmonies and heartfelt storytelling. Formed by husband-and-wife duo Noah (guitar) and Chloe Gose (violin), and joined by longtime friend and bassist Andrew Vaggalis, the band crafts songs that feel both intimate and expansive—tales of home, hope, and the open road.
Their newest release, Dear Meadowlark (2025), is a love letter to the land that raised them. Inspired by seasons of touring, homesickness, and rediscovery, the album weaves chamber-folk arrangements with poetic lyricism, highlighting their signature harmonies and acoustic instrumentation. It follows a growing discography that includes Sweet Nostalgia (2017), Birdie & Goose (2017), Across a Midwest Sky (2019), and Foxfield Saint John (2023).
Influenced by artists like Watchhouse, Nickel Creek, and Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, The Wildwoods blend folk, bluegrass, and indie sensibilities into something uniquely their own. Their music is lush with nature imagery, layered harmonies, and an emotional sincerity that captures the quiet beauty of their Midwestern roots.
Whether weaving tales from their rural upbringing or capturing fleeting moments from life on tour, The Wildwoods create a sound that feels like home…wherever you are.

The Claudettes
2025-09-13 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.
Six albums into their lauded career, the Claudettes (of Chicago) continue to put a fascinating new spin on American roots music. Blues and R&B are laced with punk spirit and film-noir moods to create the band’s singular “garage cabaret” sound. The Claudettes have earned worldwide acclaim with their recordings and concerts that are equal parts heart, musicianship and theatrical flair. Force-of-nature vocalist Rachel Williams (who dominates the stage like a glam-rock rebirth of Annie Lennox and renowned pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana join the positively heroic rhythm section of Zach Verdoorn (bass, guitar, vocals) and Michael Caskey (drums). Outside the Claudettes, Iguana has toured with Junior Wells and Otis Rush, played on many Grammy-nominated albums and recorded with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Derek Trucks, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Johnny Winter and more. Johnny is also composer of the score for the Emmy-winning smash FX/Hulu series “The Bear.”

Stephen Postema "Running Around Town: An Ann Arbor Memoir"
2025-09-14 14:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Stephen Postema reads from his collection of essays and observations of his young life as an energetic boy growing up in an anything-but-simple time: the mercurial decades of the 60s and 70s in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Please note the box office will not be open for ticket sales for this event.

Joe Henry & Mike Reid
2025-09-15 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Life & Time is the product of a burgeoning collaboration between songwriting luminaries Joe Henry & Mike Reid. Together, they’ll perform selections from their collaborative album, and also feature each as solo artists on selections from their separate catalogues, all with a shared backing band of Levon Henry on woodwinds and Ross Gallagher on bass/vocals.
Soundcheck Meet and Greet VIP package includes

One (1) Reserved Ticket
Soundcheck Viewing
Meet and Greet w/ Joe Henry and Mike Reid
Photo Op w/ Joe Henry and Mike Reid
Signing of Up to Three (3) Items
Signed Set List

Abigail Lapell
2025-09-17 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.
Toronto songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Abigail Lapell returns with Anniversary, an evocative collection of original love songs. Produced with Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker, the album was recorded at 200-year-old St Mark’s Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Dekker helped shape the sessions’ spooky, resonant sound and also lent his voice to a couple of spellbinding duets.
Lapell’s deft lyrics jostle with love song tropes, grappling with love’s finitude and the irony of how codependency and longing are revered in popular music. A ghost story is woven through the album: waltzing in the dusty barroom country of “Blue Blaze,” buried in the superstitious lyrical streak of “Rattlesnake” and audible in a wheezing organ as it shuts down at the end of “Footsteps.” Still, Anniversary emerges as an earnest celebration of commitment. Earworms like “Anniversary Song” and “Someone Like You” showcase intricately layered harmonies, while closer “Stars” affirms that there’s no place the speaker would rather be than with the one she loves.

Lapell has garnered three Canadian Folk Music Awards, hit number one on Canadian folk radio and reached a staggering 40 million + streams on Spotify.

Luke Winslow-King
2025-09-18 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.
Originally from Cadillac, Michigan, Luke Winslow-King is a career guitarist, singer, producer, songwriter, and a craftsman of sound; blending delta blues, roots, rock, and folk into a rich, soulful tapestry. His music is a journey through the heart of America, characterized by masterful guitar work, captivating lyrics, and a voice that resonates with authenticity. After having spent more than 15 years in New Orleans, Luke has gone on and honed his craft on stages across the world, captivating audiences with his dynamic performances and forming a real and personal connection with his listeners.
Whether it’s an intimate venue or a large festival stage, Luke’s live shows are known for their powerful energy and emotional depth, leaving audiences enthralled and eager for more. His set lists are mostly original compositions, but also include timeless classics, each delivered with a level of artistry that is both rare and refreshing.
Recorded in Tuscany, Italy and Memphis, TN; Luke Winslow-King’s ninth full-length album Flash-A-Magic was released on September 6, 2024. It features: Rev. Charles Hodges (Al Green), Roberto Luti (Playing For Change), and Fat Possum recording artists, The Sensational Barnes Brothers. The album was mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Collin DuPuis, and released/distributed by Bloodshot Records/Exceleration Music

Ann Arbor Django Reinhardt Festival
2025-09-19 20:00 - 23:00 | MI
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.
Join Djangophonique and special guest Harmonious Wail for the third annual Ann Arbor Django Reinhardt festival as we celebrate the legacy of his music as it evolves.
Djangophonique is an award winning band led by guitar player Andrew Brown. With over a decade of national touring experience, Brown is no stranger to the stage and delivers every performance with personality and enigmatic charm. A true disciple of the style, Brown has spent countless hours immersing himself in the language of Django Reinhardt’s jazz manouche, and he’s joined on stage by bandmates that match his skill and passion for the material. The core group includes Tyler Rindo on clarinet, Nick Martin on rhythm guitar, and Jorian Olk-Szost on upright bass. In 2023, Djangophonique began collaborating with vocalist Katie Smith, whose playful charm and soulful delivery channel the mystery and appeal of an unplaceable era of aching and entrancing nostalgia. Djangophonique, having already achieved the tricky feat of bringing an instrumental style of music to large stages and events, is excited to reach even broader audiences, bridge generational gaps, and find greater musical heights and depths with the addition of Katie’s effortlessly light yet deeply expressive voice. The result is a sound that’s unmistakable to fans of the music, and alluring to the uninitiated—a sound that can bring the lively energy of a parisian dance hall to the quietest listening room or captivate a buzzing festival audience with a shimmering ballad. With respect for the tradition and a fearless creativity that bends the conventions of the style, Djangophonique is keeping the Hot Club revival alive and well.
Harmonious Wail hosts the wildly crazy and successful Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest held twice a year in Madison, Wisconsin, and is super pleased, geeked and excited to be part of the Ann Arbor Django Reinhardt Festival and to share the stage with Djangophonique! Harmonious Wail is; Maggie Delaney-Potthoff – vocalist extraordinaire and cardboard box virtuoso, Sims Delaney-Potthoff – award-winning mandolinist and tenor guitarist from the Jethro Burns school of Django on the mandolin, Scott Hlavenka – gypsy jazz guitar wizard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Tom Knific – internationally famous and in demand bassist.

The Weight Band feat. former members of The Band & Levon Helm Band
2025-09-20 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.
The Weight Band is led by guitarist and vocalist Jim Weider, a Woodstock, NY native who replaced Robbie Robertson in The Band. Weider later joined Band drummer Levon Helm in the Levon Helm Band. The Weight Band originated in 2013 inside the famed Woodstock barn of Levon Helm. Weider was inspired by Helm to carry on the musical legacy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, “The Band”. On their current album, Shines Like Gold, The Weight Band presents a dynamic set of classic Americana that draws upon roadhouse rock, funky swamp pop, blues, country soul, and folk music.
Performances are composed of The Weight Band’s original songs as well as fan favorites from The Band’s catalog. Their sets also include songs from Grateful Dead. Allman Bros, Bob Dylan, and more!
Joining Weider in The Weight Band are keyboard player and vocalist Brian Mitchell, who helped anchor the Levon Helm Band, bassist Albert Rogers (Jim Weider Band, Jimmy Vivino), drummer Michael Bram (Jason Mraz) and keyboardist Matt Zeiner (Dickey Betts). The veteran quintet shares a deep appreciation and knowledge for this music, which Weider describes as the “Woodstock Sound.” The Weight Band continues to serve as its torchbearer, with Shines Like Gold representing a sublime example of these masterful roots musicians at work.

Dan Rodriguez & Heather Maloney
2025-09-21 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.
Massachusetts-based “writer song-singer” Heather Maloney found music in the midst of three years at a meditation center, honing a sound moored in days of silent reflection and reverence for storytellers like Joni, Rilke, Ken Burns, and the anonymous authors of Zen parables. While she eventually traded the quiet, structured life of a yogi for the kinetic life of a touring musician, the core of her songwriting has remained centered around the same curiosity about our inner world and the desire to articulate it through storytelling.
With over 1,000 international shows and 8 studio albums under her belt, she has released her most personal record to date, “Exploding Star”. Written in the wake of her father’s death, “Exploding Star” is a collection of 12 songs that Maloney originally had no intentions of recording or releasing until some of her closest friends and family convinced her otherwise.
Dan Rodriguez is a whiskey & beer drinking, fishing & hunting loving, motorcycle riding, quality food eating, hippie sympathizing, hobby farm running, people loving, husband & father who lives in Minneapolis and shares a life with his amazing wife and two adorable sons named Oak and Alder. Dan grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI, and moved to Minneapolis to study music. He stayed because he’s one of those crazy people that enjoys the snow and cold weather.
When not in his studio writing and cutting records, or on the road playing shows, Dan is usually playing in the woods with his boys, tending to his backyard chickens, eating fresh veggies from his wife’s huge garden, making syrup from their maple grove, or doing one of his many outdoor hobbies.

Palmyra
2025-09-23 20:00 - 23:00 | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Established in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Palmyra captures the collective spirit of three Virginia natives: Teddy Chipouras, Mānoa Bell, and Sasha Landon.
Palmyra straddles at least two musical worlds. They are, on one hand, a band from the South that plays traditional instruments and indeed once lived in the old-time locus of Floyd, Virginia. Comparisons to and a kinship with The Avett Brothers and even Old Crow Medicine Show are inevitable. On the other hand, Palmyra writes about grief, gender dysphoria and identity, and coming of age in songs that flirt with soul, post-rock, and even emo; the South, too, is the place of My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Cat Power, and now, Palmyra.
The band’s first full length LP, Restless, is out March 2025 on Oh Boy Records. Framed by moments of struggle, solidarity, and hard-won growth, Restless is an unqualified ringer for anyone who loves the space where the roar of indie rock collides with raw folk.
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.
Tonight’s show is FREE (nonperishables accepted for Food Gatherers).

Ron Sexsmith
2025-09-24 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.
Ron Sexsmith is a three time Juno award winning songwriter from Ontario, Canada. He has written and recorded an extensive and acclaimed catalog of studio albums and original songs, beginning with his self titled debut in 1995. Ron is set to release his eighteenth studio album, Hangover Terrace, this August.
In the past few decades as a headlining artist, Ron has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world, such as Massey Hall, Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, as well as The London Palladium.
A child of melody, his music has been described as a hybrid of Canadian folk heroes such as Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen mingled with that of The Kinks, Beatles and other British invasion acts of his formative years.
His songs have been covered by many revered artists such as Rod Stewart, kd Lang, Emmylou Harris, Michael Buble, Feist, Elvis Costello, and Stevie Nicks to name only a few.
In 2017, Ron penned his first novel ‘Deer Life, A Fairy Tale’ published worldwide by Dundurn Press Limited. He has written a ‘yet to be released’ complete musical score to accompany the tale, for his vision to bring the story to the stage as musical theatre or to adapt to film. Ron will be making his theatrical composer debut in 2025 with the internationally renowned Stratford Festival production of ‘As You Like It’ in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. He currently lives in Perth County, Ontario with his wife, his piano, and his vinyl record collection and continues to be inspired to write, record and perform live worldwide.
