This annual event brings both locally based and nationally known story tellers to The Ark stage. This year’s story tellers are Adam Booth, Jennifer Munro, Barbara Schutzgruber, and Steve Daut.
This annual event brings both locally based and nationally known story tellers to The Ark stage. This year’s story tellers are Jennifer Otto and Adam Booth.
Ypsilanti singer-songwriter, music preservationist and oral historian Matt Jones brings backing band The Reconstruction to The Ark for the first time in over a decade to release his new album, The Good Life.
Virginia-based folk-rock band The Steel Wheels have spent almost twenty years writing, recording, and touring, all the while constantly honing their evolving brand of American roots music. Additionally they are the founders and hosts of the Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a beloved staple of the Shenandoah Valley.
On her third album with Oh Boy Records, and her fifth since beginning her career a decade ago, Emily Scott Robinson once again unveils her mastery as a performer and storyteller. With her 2026 release Appalachia — recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios with Grammy-nominated producer Josh Kaufman — Robinson opens herself up to experimentation and sings in her crystal-clear voice about resilience, love, grief and hope.
Grant Flick is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and collaborative artist currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While his main instrument is violin he typically inhabits spaces where it is not uncommon to find him playing nyckelharpa, tenor guitar, mandolin, or just about any other fifth-tuned stringed instrument. He lives fluidally between idioms/genres with a focus on original instrumental music primarily influenced by American improvisational idioms (bluegrass, jazz, new acoustic music, etc.), the music of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, and chamber music both new and old.
Special Guest: DuPont Phillips
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesSpencer LaJoye is a coast-to-coast singer/songwriter and vocal loop artist with Midwest roots, a classically-trained violinist with an inner theater kid’s love of group choreography, and a student of Americana music with a theology degree hanging in their studio. They’ve been writing and touring their own autobiographical folk/pop music for over a decade, but their viral 2021 anthem “Plowshare Prayer” secured them a permanent place in hearts and households across the world, as well as a peculiar career as a veracious songsmith with an unshakeable pastoral presence
Special Guest: Elizabeth Moen
Royal Oak Music Theatre 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, United StatesDubbed "masters of soulful folk" by Paste, The Wood Brothers formed after brothers Chris and Oliver Wood pursued separate musical careers for 15 years. Chris already had legions of devoted fans for his incomparable work as one-third of Medeski Martin & Wood, while Oliver’s band King Johnson built a loyal following in the South. With drummer Jano Rix added as a permanent third member, The Wood Brothers have evolved into one of roots music’s most revered acts, playing sold out shows across North America, garnering a Grammy Award nomination and releasing nine studio albums, including their new release, Puff of Smoke.
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. The RFD Boys are one of southeastern Michigan's most durable musical ensembles, and their shows capture a deep slice of musical Ann Arbor. Tickets available at the door. There are no advance tickets for this show.
Opener: Ani Mari
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesAmelia Day is a musical jack-of-all-trades. Standing at the intersection of folk, rock, and pop, Day blends heartfelt storytelling, raw delivery, and unforgettable melodies into music that feels both fresh and familiar — like rediscovering an old favorite. A self-described writer before anything else, her perceptive lyricism extends far beyond her 23 years, with lines reminiscent of songwriting greats like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon.
Special Guest: Lauren Blackford
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesA native of Michigan, Rochelle Clark’s music has been described as raw, honest, and beautifully vulnerable. She writes and sings about real life, joy, struggle and human tragedy - you can’t help but feel for the characters in her songs. Leaning heavily on personal experience, she connects on an intimate level that resonates with her audience.
Masters of Hawaiian Music features three of the most popular musicians from Maui’s renowned “Slack Key Show”, all from celebrated Hawaiian cultural lineages. 4-time Grammy winner, slack key guitar master George Kahumoku Jr, National Heritage Fellow Led Kaapana, whose picking style in slack key guitar is unrivaled, and award-winner Sonny Lim, on lap steel (invented in Hawai‘i), slack key guitar and vocals. Together they share Hawai‘i’s unique guitar styles and songs that trace their roots to the paniolos (Hawaiian cowboys), along with captivating stories of Hawai‘i and their lives in music.