Special Guest: Alex Wong
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesSongwriter Vienna Teng re-emerges this fall with her mashup song pair We’ve Got You - her first new music in over a decade - but her fans have been here the whole time. They’ve packed concert venues even in years between releases, crowdfunded an ambitious music video in hours, and joined by the hundreds when she launched her “music x climate action” Patreon in 2022.
The man who taught Joni Mitchell her first guitar techniques, who also taught George Harrison of the Beatles his first lessons on Sitar, the man who wrote the music to Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch” and has played with many of the finest musicians in the world including Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. He’s produced 27 albums and is known around the world for his refusal to bow down to commercialism in the music industry.
Special Guest: Wild Horses
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesWhen it comes to his latest album, In the Shadow of the Mountain, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Cole Chaney is pretty candid and blunt about who he is and what kind of music he wants to make — the result of which, this stunning offering from an artist wise beyond his age. “I’m not concerned with being labeled as ‘country,’ whatever that means. And I’m kind of fed up with the scene, it’s not what I’m into right now,” Chaney says. Pointing to his lifelong admiration for 1990s rock as a vital influence on the sonic landscape of the album, Chaney aimed to find a melodic balance between that raw and real rock sound and the bluegrass and folk music of his native Kentucky.
Special Guest: Cousin Curtiss
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesLindsay Lou is a siren songbird who made her way into the world of music with groups like The Flatbellys and The Sweet Water Warblers. Adopted by the jamgrass scene, frequently sitting in with bands like Greensky Bluegrass and writing and performing with Billy Strings, she has toured all the world with her sweet and powerful sound.
Carrie Newcomer weaves her life and her art together, with music, community activism, and personal concerns all playing a role. She's one of those people who exudes a spirituality that's all her own, and she has to be seen in concert to be truly appreciated. Says novelist Barbara Kingsolver: "She's a poet, storyteller, snake-charmer, good neighbor, friend and lover, minister of the wide-eyed gospel of hope and grace." And you can forget all that and just luxuriate in her incredibly rich alto voice! Carrie has traveled to India and performed as a U.S. cultural ambassador, and local religion journalist David Crumm, writing on the ReadTheSpirit website, named her to his list of "10 Spiritual Sages to Watch."
Carbon Leaf’s fifteenth studio album, Time is the Playground, is both a call to action and an embrace of the moment. Marrying nostalgic storytelling to nuanced, folk-infused indie rock, the Richmond, Virginia band embroiders heartfelt melody and harmony with acoustic and electric instrumentation to create a 12-song rumination on time, love and personal growth that’s equal parts urgent epiphany and contented exhalation.
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 family band. By 30, he was a rock n’ roll lead guitarist burning up stadiums in Europe. At 44, he became one of five people ever named a Certified Guitar Player by his idol, music icon Chet Atkins. Today, he plays hundreds of sold-out shows every year from Nashville to Sydney to London.
Hailing from Kennett, Missouri, David Nail is well-respected up and down Music Row. Some might even call him a “tour de force” as his songs pull no punches in evoking the demons with which he has wrestled through much of his life. The GRAMMY-nominated multi-platinum singer/songwriter’s early releases, I’m About To Come Alive, The Sound Of A Million Dreams, I’m A Fire and Fighter, ignited his reputation as an innovator and creative risk-taker yet left Nail feeling restless. This led to the departure of the only record company home he’d ever known, MCA Nashville, where he’d formed friendships that endure even now.
Among the most prolific artists on the Americana scene today, Seth Walker is a multi-dimensional talent who combines a gift for melody and lyric alongside a rich, Gospel-drenched, Southern-inflected voice with a true blue knack for getting around on the guitar. With his 12th studio album Why The Worry, Walker further builds upon this reputation.
Beyond his prolific accomplishments as a beloved Nuevo Flamenco guitarist over the past 25 years, Jesse Cook has honed his skills as a composer, producer, arranger, performer and, more recently, filmmaker and content creator. By the numbers, Jesse Cook has ten platinum and gold studio albums with combined sales exceeding two million copies, 700 million streams online, five concert DVDs and live discs, five PBS specials, a library of over 300 YouTube videos, a JUNO Award win and 11 nominations, three Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, a Gemini Award, and an Acoustic Guitar Magazine Player’s Choice Silver Award to his credit.
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.
Special Guest: Clover County
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesMadi Diaz is an artist who cuts to the emotional core of her own experiences with startling precision. Her last two albums, 2021’s History of a Feeling and 2024’s two-time Grammy-nominated Weird Faith, set off a breakthrough for the professional songwriter. These records won over critics, audiences, and other collaborators with well-crafted songs and a compelling arc: first there’s the difficult breakup, then a mourning period and slowly, a sense of reinvention; when love comes around again, Weird Faith seemed to say, it’s worth fighting through the fear and uncertainty. Fatal Optimist, the Nashville singer-songwriter’s forthcoming LP, could be considered the final chapter in this heartache trilogy, and also its rawest entry. This time Diaz is asking audiences to lean closer in to hear what she has to say.