The Ark

Murray Hill - Showbiz! The Tour
2026-10-31 20:00 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) | The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
From the Margins to the Marquee—One Night Only!
Celebrating the release of his debut memoir Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man, comedian Murray Hill hits the road with a one-of-a-kind show that is part cabaret, part stand-up, and part behind-the-curtain tell-all. The self-proclaimed “hardest working middle-aged man in show business” brings his signature mix of razor-sharp wit, rampant ad-libbing, and heartfelt storytelling to the stage for a night of big laughs and hard-won wisdom from an outsider who made it his way. This show marks Murray’s debut comedy show in Ann Arbor!
Backed by his swinging live band THE BALONEY SANDWICHES, Murray Hill turns every show into a full-throttle cabaret concert comedy spectacle. With retro flair and a wink of mischief, he works the room seamlessly between storytelling, crowd work, and musical moments. It’s loose, unpredictable, and alive, where anything can happen and usually does.
With humor, heart, and zero filter, Murray proves that making it on your own terms is the greatest show of all. Showbiz!
MURRAY’S VIP PACKAGE:
Includes a meet-and-greet, a photo with him, hardcopy book of Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man with a personalized book signing, and a Showbiz! bookmark.
ABOUT MURRAY’S MEMOIR:
In his powerful debut memoir Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man (Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books), beloved comedian Murray Hill opens up for the first time about how a painful past led to an unwavering commitment to spread joy—one rimshot at a time.
Murray on his book: “Let’s just say the world could use a little more heart and a lot more honesty right now. I’ve always believed in chosen family, resilience, and a well-timed punchline—this book is all three. It’s not just about where I’ve been, it’s about how we keep going.”

Teddy Thompson
2026-11-03 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.
Beloved London-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Teddy Thompson has returned with the exquisitely crafted Never Be The Same, his first collection of original material since 2020. Across ten tracks, Thompson refines his craft via an exploration of music’s enduring preoccupations — love, longing, and the uneasy passage of time.
This album wasn’t built upon a grand narrative. There was no self-imposed exile, no forced reinvention. Instead, it is centered around an exhortation that is threaded through the songs like a refrain: “Never Be The Same,” its title only revealing itself to Thompson after he’d completed the recording.
“It’s a phrase that, unconsciously, I used twice. And when I saw it on the page, I realized, this is the message of this album,” says Thompson. “Don’t ever be the same. Change. Grow! Even when the sentiment is, woe is me, I’ll never recover after that love or loss. The message is still, change. Don’t get too comfortable. Everything is temporary, so evolve or perish!”
This pull and tension between comfort and change runs quietly throughout Never Be The Same, Thompson’s 11th album, which was produced by renowned Grammy Award–winning musician/producer David Mansfield. At the core is Thompson’s longstanding commitment to songwriting as a form, inspired by early influences like Chuck Berry, Hank Williams, and Crowded House, as well as the towering figures of the craft — Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, and, certainly, his parents, British folk icons Richard and Linda Thompson.
Ultimately, Never Be The Same is an album about steady evolution, a suite of deeply considered, carefully constructed songs rooted in lived experience. If there is a message, it’s that change is not only inevitable but essential — even when you’d rather stay exactly where you are.

John Cowan Trio
2026-11-05 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.
When John Cowan and Luke Bulla perform together, their shows reflect 25 years of shared history, musical trust, and genuine friendship. Blending New Grass Revival (and more) favorites with old and new originals, they pair masterful picking, rich harmony, and stories that are heartfelt, funny, and hard-earned. Cowan calls Bulla “one of the most beautiful gifts” of his long musical life, while Bulla, inspired by Cowan since his youth, considers sharing the stage a “dream come true” and a source of “immense gratitude and honor.” Together, they deliver music rooted in gratitude, joy, and deep mutual respect. This evening they perform as a trio with Sam Leslie.

The Mavericks & Friends
2026-11-06 19:00 - 23:00 | Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, United States
For three decades, The Mavericks carved out their Grammy-winning sound — a multicultural version of American roots music, blending stateside influences like country and rock & roll with the border-crossing textures of Cuban grooves, Tex-Mex twang, and Latin swagger — under the direction of Raul Malo. Raul wasn’t just the band’s frontman; he was its larger-than-life patriarch, with a booming baritone hailed by Rolling Stone as “operatic, spiritual, casually elegant, and wholly captivating.” With help from musicians like Paul Deakin, Robert Reynolds, Eddie Perez, and Jerry Dale McFadden, Malo turned The Mavericks into modern-day legends on their own terms, enjoying mainstream success during the 1990s (when songs like “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down” became staples on country radio) before reinventing themselves as genre-bending independents during the 2010s and beyond.
“Raul was one of those fine-wine singers,” says Deakin, who co-founded the band in 1989 in Miami, Florida. “His voice was ridiculously powerful when we first started, and it just got better with age.”
A battle with cancer forced Raul off the road in 2025, but his musical influence remained. During his final hours on earth, he watched from afar as his bandmates played the Ryman Auditorium, honoring the man and his melodies with help from guest singers, family members, and a sold-out crowd. This was more than a concert; it was a celebration of the legacy the Mavericks had built together, highlighting the staying power of lifelong friendships and great songs. “Raul used to tell me that every time we released new music, it didn’t belong to us anymore; it belonged to the fans,” remembers Perez, whose guitar playing became an integral part of The Mavericks’ sound during their 21st century reunion. “To me, the band has always transcended the people in it. It’s more about the feeling, the vibe, and the high-energy entertainment we give people. We want to continue giving that spirit to our fans.”
Great songs endure, even when their original vocalists are no longer here to sing them. There’s no replacing a once-in-a-generation talent like Raul Malo, but there is a way to honor the music he left behind. That’s why The Mavericks are returning to the road, performing classics like “Come Unto Me,” “Back In Your Arms Again,” and “As Long As There’s Loving Tonight” for the fans who helped make those songs legendary. Presented as “The Mavericks & Friends,” these all-star shows will feature a decade-spanning version of the band, along with guest singers like Emily West and James Otto.
“It’s not just a continuation of The Mavericks; it’s a moving musical art piece, from one show to the next,” Perez explains. “James and Emily can sing these songs with passion, spirit, and energy, because they love this music as much as we do. We might have different guests join us throughout the tour. People who love these songs just as much as we do. Maybe we’ll have a soul singer one night. Maybe we’ll get somebody from the rockabilly scene. Each show in each city will be different, and that’s part of the adventure.”
That adventure has brought different eras of the band together. After a 10 year absence, bass player Robert Reynolds is back in the lineup — a move that not only restores the group’s original rhythm section, but helps bridge the gap between past and present, too. “In this incarnation of The Mavericks, we can celebrate across a wide arc of the band’s music,” Reynolds says. “We can honor Raul by looking at all the songs he wrote, including the early ones. It all becomes relevant again — and for the fans, this is a chance to see a full retrospective that cuts across the entire catalog.”
“Raul would always write our setlist, and it would be different every night,” remembers Jerry Dale McFadden, the band’s keyboardist since 1994. “We have a lot of material to choose from. We released 8 records during the past 13 years alone, and that means our shows can all be a little different. They always have been.”
The world looks different than it did in 1989, when The Mavericks launched their career in the punk bars and rock clubs of Miami. Decades have passed and trends have shifted, but The Mavericks have endured. Now, they’ve found a new path forward as The Mavericks & Friends, honoring their beloved Raul Malo while building upon the legacy he helped create.

Adam Ezra Group
2026-11-07 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.
We don’t see many artists building the kind of momentum Adam Ezra Group is generating right now.
What has grown over more than two decades of relentless grassroots touring has become something far bigger than a typical touring band: a fiercely independent, fan-powered community that continues to expand one show at a time. Rooms across the country are selling out when Adam Ezra Group comes to town, with longtime fans regularly traveling across state lines to catch multiple shows, drawn by the band’s deep sense of community and the promise that no two nights are ever the same.
The band never performs from a fixed setlist, instead shaping each night around the energy in the room. Songs, stories, and moments unfold in real time—part concert, part revival, and part reminder of what live music can still be at its best.
Blending folk/Americana soul, rock ’n’ roll energy, and deeply human songwriting, Adam Ezra Group has built one of the most authentic underground followings in live music today while quickly becoming recognized on a national level. As SPIN recently put it, they are “an independent underground folk band blowing up without selling out,” a rise that has happened entirely outside the traditional industry system, powered by word of mouth, community activism, and a genuine connection between band and audience that often turns first-time listeners into lifelong fans.
Catch them now while they’re still playing the kinds of rooms where you can give Adam a hug on your way out.

Hiss Golden Messenger
2026-11-11 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.
Hiss Golden Messenger is the long-running musical project led by North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and producer M.C. Taylor. The project has evolved over the last decade into one of the most respected and celebrated in contemporary Americana, blending folk, country, soul and gospel influences with deeply introspective, poetic, and conscious songwriting.
Across multiple critically acclaimed, Grammy nominated albums, Hiss Golden Messenger has become known for its warmth and emotional clarity, as well as Taylor’s ability to connect the personal and poetic with the political without losing intimacy or musical grace.
The forthcoming I’m People continues this trajectory, offering a reflective collection of songs that speaks to resilience, community, radical hopefulness, and the quiet human moments that animate and illuminate the everyday. It is among Taylor’s greatest and most profound work.
Hiss Golden Messenger sits naturally alongside artists and releases that value craft, storytelling, and authenticity, and aligns well with audiences attuned to indie, folk, Americana, roots, and contemporary country music.
VIP Package includes:
One (1) general admission ticket to see Hiss Golden Messenger live
Hear MC Taylor play some songs featured in current setlists
Q&A: Ask MC some questions (Got questions about gear? Songwriting? Ask away!)
Take a group photo
Tour poster signed by MC
Commemorative VIP laminate
Hiss merch shopping before doors open to the public
Early entry into the venue

Riders in the Sky
2026-11-13 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.
40 years. It seemed to go by in a blur, pounding the road, seeing the world, raising babies and sending them to college, mowing lawns, romances, marriages, high school drama, endless airports, the nights at the Hollywood Bowl, the night at the Red Barn in Louisville dodging various barroom projectiles, frozen diesel lines, blast furnace desert heat, hours of practice, late nights and early mornings, and lots and lots and lots of laughter.
40 years ago. No laptops, no cellular phones, no Google, no downloads, no Skype, no Tweets, no Apple, no Microsoft, no texting, no electric cars, no Uber. A different world. But there were three young men with drive and wit who wanted to keep a special music alive. They believed in preserving the heritage of Western Music and presenting it to a new generation. They believed in entertaining, and they did so… entertaining themselves as well as the audience! And they believed in creating original Western Music to continue the tradition, not just seal it in amber as a museum piece. What they did not realize at the time was that they would be doing the same thing 40 years later.
40 years ago, Ranger Doug, Too Slim and the late Windy Bill Collins played that first date on the bitter cold evening of November 11th, 1977 at Herr Harry’s Frank N’ Stein Rathskeller in Nashville, and small listening room dates followed. By August of the following year demand was building, and while Windy Bill left, Woody Paul joined, and the true professional beginnings of the band began at the Kentucky State Fair, where the trio played 10 days for $2500- and bought their own rooms and meals out of that!
A first wave followed, including appearances on Austin City Limits; recording contracts with Rounder, then MCA, then Columbia; guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry leading to membership in 1982; and a three-year run on The Nashville Network with a TV show called “Tumbleweed Theater,” which yet in turn led to a seven-year run on public radio with “Riders Radio Theater. People Magazine, interested in the Riders phenomenon, ran a story which happily caught the eye of a Hollywood producer.
And so the second wave broke, sending the boys to Hollywood to star in “Riders In The Sky” on CBS for a year on Saturday mornings, introducing them to yet another generation. More recordings, endless show dates, and television appearances followed for a decade before the fine folks at Pixar called and asked the quartet – by this time they had been joined by Joey the Cowpolka King – to sing a tune called “Woody’s Roundup” in the movie “Toy Story 2.” Thus, the third wave began, highlighted by a number of projects for Disney, including two albums, both of which won GRAMMY Awards!
The creation of satellite radio has recently given them a new platform, as they continue to produce episodes of the award winning “Classic Cowboy Corral” on Sirius/XM.
Still more road dates and recordings (several on their own Riders Radio Records label) and other film and television projects have filled the days and weeks and years, and since the quartet has slowed up very little, the numbers begin to add up: an astonishing 7,200+ appearances, 35 years on the Grand Ole Opry, 40 records albums (well, now CDs,) and tours of all 50 states and all over the world. Honors accumulated as well. In addition to the two Grammy Awards, Riders received numerous awards from the Western Music Association, including the highest: membership in the Western Music Hall of Fame; numerous Wrangler awards from the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum; awards from the Academy of Western Artists; enshrinement in the Walkway of Western Stars, and more. What began as a celebration of classic Western Music and an evening of hilarity has become a career, and that career has become a legend, one which, 40 years on, shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down much.
Ranger Doug, Too Slim, Woody Paul and Joey the Cowpolka King… 40 years on, “The Cowboy Way.”

Joshua Radin
2026-11-15 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.
Joshua Radin emerged in 2004 as an empathetic, engaging, and often enthralling troubadour. Over the years, he’s tallied north of 1 billion streams, moved 1 million-plus albums worldwide, and scored a gold certification for the single “I’d Rather Be With You.” His music has appeared in over 200 films, television series, and commercials. In addition to multiple showstopping appearances on Ellen (who also enlisted him to perform at her wedding) and Today Show, and performances on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, and Conan, he contributed “Brand New Day” to a commercial in support of the troops at the request of First Ladies Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. He’s played to sold out crowds around the globe and shared the stage with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Sheryl Crow, Tori Amos and more. Not to mention, he’s a staunch philanthropist who supports Little Kids Rock and North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), among others. Thus far his catalog consists of nine full-length offerings highlighted by fan favorites such as We Were Here, Simple Times, Underwater, Wax Wings, and Here, Right Now.
Following the release of his 2021 acclaimed album The Ghost and The Wall, Joshua left his material existence in the rearview, grabbed a backpack, packed his guitar, picked up a pen and a pad, hit the road in search of new stories to tell. Those stories comprise though the world will tell me so, volumes one & two which were released early 2023. During 2025, he turned the page on the next chapter of his career and life with his tenth full-length LP and first independent album since 2017, One Day Home. Immersing himself in the process mind, body, and soul, he pored over these 13 tracks, perfecting each moment and co-producing six tracks with Wally Gagel. This time around, he prepared the music for a double-LP release with one half original studio versions of the tracklisting and the other piano vocal versions. Musically, he taps into two sides of his sonic palette, leaning into soul and singer-songwriter stylings while tracing the journey of a romantic relationship.
VIP package includes one general admission ticket and admission to an intimate pre-show event with Joshua Radin, includes:

play a few songs
participate in a small Q&A session
Meet & Greet + Photo Op – Signed Tour Poster
Crowd Free opportunity to buy merch with 10% discounted merch prices.

Steven Page
2026-11-21 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.
Over the last thirty-five years, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Steven Page has established himself as one of the most recognizable and enduring voices in music. The release of his latest album, Excelsior, shows that he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
As a co-founder, vocalist and songwriter for Barenaked Ladies, Steven sang and wrote classics like “Brian Wilson,” “If I Had A Million Dollars,” “What A Good Boy,” “It’s All Been Done” and many more. With the band, he sold over 15 Million albums and scored multiple Junos, Billboard Music Awards, SOCAN awards, Gemini Awards and two Grammy nominations. After leaving the band in 2009, Steven embarked on a solo career that has produced five solo albums, including 2022’s Excelsior, and has seen him tour worldwide, from folk festivals to cabarets and theatres, all the way to packed arenas on a string of dates opening for rock legends The Who.
Steven performs in many configurations, but, since 2016, has been playing most often with his pals in The Steven Page Trio, Craig Northey of Vancouver legends Odds on guitar, and Kevin Fox on cello. With SP3, Steven has performed arrangements of some of his best-loved songs from his long career with symphony orchestras including the Vancouver and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras.
Steven is a frequent collaborator with Toronto’s eclectic Art of Time Ensemble, is a member of power-pop quartet, The Trans-Canada Highwaymen, has a Stratford commissioned musical in the works, and continues to work in film, television and other media. The Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards asked Steven to write a song as a surprise tribute to his friend, Ryan Reynolds, and the result was “Canada Loves You Back,” a song as poignant, humorous and Canadian as the actor it honors.

Joe Jencks & Deidre McCalla
2026-11-22 16:00 - 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.
Deidre McCalla plainly admits what every rocker knows – life begins with an acoustic guitar. Affectionately dubbed the “dreadlocked troubadour” by The Miami Herald, Deidre McCalla and her music embrace and celebrate the power and diversity of life. With five critically-acclaimed albums under her belt Deidre McCalla has captivated audiences from Maui to Maine, college coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall.
Joe Jencks is a 25-year veteran of the international folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and a celebrated vocalist based in Chicago, IL. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit. Joe is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Joe Jencks serves it all up with a lyric baritone voice that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel.
Please note this is an afternoon show!

Bedouine
2026-12-05 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.
As a child, if you’re lucky, summer afternoons stretch out like a yawn, pool waves are as warm and engulfing as a blanket, the safety of your mother’s arms feels endless. On her new album, Neon Summer Skin, Bedouine, the project of Azniv Korkejian, explores this feeling of safety long before one can fully understand the concept. Written with vivid, honest and intimate imagery after visiting her family in Saudi Arabia, it tells the story of family and upbringing, and mourns the end of her childhood. There is a singular resonance and newfound heft in this music previously unheard in Bedouine’s discography.
Bedouine is known for making gentle, lilting folk songs that build fingerpicked guitar melodies into tsunamis of emotion. Her masterful songwriting and timeless melodies have earned her praise from publications like Pitchfork, who said her music “boasts a surreal calm and lived in glow,” and Rolling Stone, who lauded her “humble folk-pop brilliance,” plus an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and tours with the likes of Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty.
As personal as her songs have been, they’ve often built upon universal experiences. The writing on Neon Summer Skin, however, is full of specific memories: a neon swim suit, beads of water dripping down tangled hair, the blood of a lamb, often sacrificed at Syrian weddings, oozing across the pavement. “It was the first time I had the inclination to write a record about one main subject which gave me a clarity and motivation I hadn’t quite had before.”
Bedouine started working on the record after a trip to Saudi Arabia to visit her parents. She correctly assumed it would be her last one there because her family was retiring to Armenia. “For my 20s and much of my 30s, I couldn’t sit still,” she says. “I would pack my car and move to a new place. I was so curious about my own independence that it just didn’t occur to me for the longest time to mourn the past. But after that trip, I came home and was so devastated. I couldn’t place the feeling immediately, but as I started writing, I realized I was processing that I wasn’t ready to stop being somebody’s kid.
She co-produced most of the songs with her longtime collaborator, Gus Seyffert, and wrote with the sweet pop melodies of Todd Rundgren, Karen Carpenter, and Carole King in mind. She also worked on a couple of tracks with producer Jonathan Rado with Michael and Brian D’Addario of the Lemon Twigs. “It was important to me to try to approach some of the production of this record a little differently, just to try something new,” she says. The result is a fuller, more playful sound, at times grand and orchestral, shimmery and surreal, inflected with bits of psychedelia, bossa nova, and jazz.

Blackthorn
2026-12-19 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.
Members of the Michigan Irish American Hall of Fame, Blackthorn offers shows that involve a musical ramble across Ireland. Traditional songs of emigration, ballads, shanties and jigs and reels combine with some of Ireland’s best contemporary songs for a musical experience that is uniquely Irish. Each of the band’s members plays multiple instruments, including flute, accordion, tin whistle, fiddle, banjo, cittern, bodhran, and more. These instruments complement the lead vocal of Belfast native Richard McMullan and the band’s tight blend of four-part harmony. This band has been bringing a rich tapestry of Celtic music to southeast Michigan and beyond for 40 years, and they’re a must-see for those who want to know the deep traditions of Irish music in Michigan.

Kim Richey
2027-04-16 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.
Tickets purchased for Kim’s rescheduled May 2026 show are good for tonight’s performance.
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.
