The Ark

Ketch Secor (Of Old Crow Medicine Show)
2025-07-30 20:00 - 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.
Ketch Secor is a merry ringmaster, passionate professor, modern Beat, and unassuming virtuoso. The Story the Crow Told Me is his solo debut, tracing the journey from street busker to founding Old Crow Medicine Show, now a Grammy-winning, Opry-member band behind the double-platinum hit “Wagon Wheel.” Produced by Jody Stevens, the album features Marty Stuart, Molly Tuttle, Willie Watson, Jaren Johnston, and an ode to Nashville with help from Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Ketch will be touring in 2025 in support of the album on his The Story The Crow Told Me Tour.

Buffalo Rose
2025-07-31 20:00 - 23:00
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.
Buffalo Rose is a charismatic six-piece modern folk/Americana band from Pittsburgh, PA. They take the singer-songwriter tradition to a new level by crafting original songs which are emotive, meticulously arranged, and inspired by a world of idiosyncratic influences that never let a dull or predictable moment creep in.
Buffalo Rose’s lineup of Lucy Clabby (vocals), Margot Jezerc (vocals), Bryce Rabideau (mandolin), Malcolm Inglis (dobro), Jason Rafalak (upright bass), and Shane McLaughlin (guitar, vocals) pushes itself and each other far beyond their perceived limits and blends their diverse and atypical approach to songwriting with the desire to see how unique a song can get and still feel like home. They use powerful vocal harmonies, strong playing, and an original vision to operate at every possible emotional level and put on dynamic live shows that are unforgettable experiences. They go from up and moving to sad and sweet and back again, bringing the entire audience along.
This combination of artistry and enthusiasm makes Buffalo Rose one of the most vital and important groups working today. Rather than play the folk music of the past, the band gleefully combines genres and ideas together to move acoustic music forward to a new, contemporary place without ever losing sight of its roots. Fans of Lake Street Dive, Nickel Creek, and Punch Brothers will find much to like in this crew. Anyone seeking compelling new acoustic music needs to join Buffalo Rose in the future right now.

Ani Mari Goes East Tour opening night
2025-08-01 20:00 - 23:00
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Alt-Americana singer-songwriter Ani Mari’s debut solo album, girlfriend (produced by Erik Koskinen and Real-Phonic Records, 2023), explores the ambiguities of coming of age in a beautifully precarious world. Across ten warmly combative tracks, she fights for grace and connection amidst the anxieties, desires, heartbreaks, and joie de vivre of being young in America’s heartland. Tracks like “Whitefish Bay” and “The Prettiest Things” echo the forests and waters of the Upper Peninsula and the bluegrass and folk influences Ani grew up immersed in, while title track “Girlfriend” triangulates her current temperature somewhere between Liz Phair, Waxahachee, and Ratboys. Comparisons, however, always fall short. Compelling, humming, and hungry, Ani’s indie-folk songwriting is 100% her own, and definitely not to be missed.
North Ingalls is a seven-piece indie folk-groove sound. All members of TNIB hail from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and met through the School of Music. The original music of TNIB is a vibrant patchwork of seven unique individual sounds, each coming together to celebrate and reflect their personal experiences. The band has gained a devoted following for its deeply honest and detailed narrative lyrics, brought to life by their emotionally raw vocals and rich, full-bodied sound.

The RFD Boys
2025-08-02 20:00 - 23:00
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. They’re legends of Michigan bluegrass, but they’re more than that too. With an appearance on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited, with songs recorded by the likes of the Country Gentlemen, and with performances alongside bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, the RFD Boys are a part of America’s bluegrass tradition. The RFD Boys are one of southeastern Michigan’s most durable musical ensembles, and their shows capture a deep slice of musical Ann Arbor. Their 50th-anniversary appearance at the Folk Festival was a special moment and introduced many listeners to Dan Roehrig, who joined the band on guitar, mandolin, and bass in mid-2018. Dan grew up listening to Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Tony Rice, and you can hear it in both his singing and guitar playing.
Tickets available at the door; there are no advance tickets for this show.

Allison Lupton Band
2025-08-03 19:30 - 23:00
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Allison Lupton hails from the heart of rural Ontario, Canada where her love for music took root in church choirs and local sessions. From playing for community dances to soloing with orchestras, Allison has found her voice as a singer-songwriter and flutist after more than a quarter century performing in Canada and abroad. Along the way Allison has received accolades from international press as well as her peers at home winning Folk Music Ontario’s “Songs From The Heart” and multiple Canadian Folk Music Award nominations including “Traditional Singer of the Year”.
Allison is now touring her album “Words of Love” joined by Canadian and US Grand National fiddle champion Shane Cook and CFMA Solo Instrumental Artist of the Year and Canadian Grand Master Step Dance champion Kyle Waymouth. Live shows confirm the depth of talent in a glorious mix of beautiful story songs, electrifying fiddle tunes and dazzling step dance united by the trio’s warm and frequently humorous stage presence. Woven through performances are Allison’s original songs which fit so perfectly into the treasury of folk music that they could easily be mistaken for traditional numbers.
Allison and her trio carry audiences away to another time then dance them home again.

Davy Knowles
2025-08-04 20:00 - 23:00
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Whether playing mandolin, national steel, or screaming electric guitar, Davy Knowles has an unmistakable style. Since bursting onto the scene with his band Back Door Slam’s critically acclaimed album “Roll Away” in 2007, Davy’s star has only risen. His sophomore release “Coming Up For Air” was produced by the legendary Peter Frampton, with subsequent tours seeing him supporting and sharing the stage with acts such as Jeff Beck, The Who, Brian Setzer, and George Thorogood.
Knowles has several top-5 Billboard Blues charting albums under his belt, high profile TV appearances (Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS Good Morning America among others), and has been praised with high accolades from heroes and press alike.
Whether spending an evening onstage armed with just an acoustic guitar, or wielding his well worn and trusty Telecaster while fronting his blues/rock trio – and at any point in between the two – Davy Knowles is a versatile and formidable songwriter and musician.

Boxing Banjo
2025-08-05 20:00 - 23:00
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Hailing from the picturesque west coast of Ireland, Boxing Banjo have quickly become one of the most respected Irish music acts. Comprising four of the most accomplished Irish musicians, brothers Darragh and Mícheál Healy along with Joseph McNulty and Cillian King have amassed in excess of 20 Irish Championship titles on various instruments in traditional Irish music and singing along with 4 World bodhrán titles.
Having made their debut in the USA in 2019, they have acquired a legion of devoted followers who have been spellbound by their energy, charisma and musicianship. Described by the Irish Echo as “complete naturals on stage”, their live shows exude a feel-good factor which persuades the inner dancer and vocalist in every audience member.

Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Almost Acoustic Duo
2025-08-06 20:00 - 23:00
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When Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore made the album Downey To Lubbock together in 2018, they wrote the title track as a sort of mission statement. “I know someday this old highway’s gonna come to an end,” Alvin sings near the song’s conclusion. Gilmore answers: “But I know when it does you’re going to be my friend.”
Six years later, they’re serving notice that the old highway hasn’t ended yet. “We’re still standing, no matter what you might hear,” they sing on “We’re Still Here,” the final track to their latest album TexiCali, which continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).
The geographic theme reflects Alvin’s repeated journeys to record in Central Texas with Gilmore and the Austin-based backing band that has toured with the duo for the past few years. As Alvin puts it in the liner notes, those road trips informed the music they made on TexiCali:
From one part of the borderland to another, through concrete swaths of traffic, tract homes and shopping malls, across vast rocky deserts of Joshua trees, saguaros and ocotillo, speeding by forgotten battlefields, remote mining towns, corrido barrooms, cinder block churches and abandoned houses filled with abandoned dreams, past Mission San Xavier del Bac, Cochise’s Stronghold and Apache Pass, into the shimmering lights of El Paso/Juarez before the seemingly eternal emptiness of West Texas, traveling those 1,400 miles somewhere between Nothingness and Everything.

Doolin'
2025-08-07 20:00 - 23:00
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After three years of breakout touring at some of the biggest roots festivals in the United States and Canada, and another three years locked out of the live performance world they have so ambitiously cultivated, Doolin’, France’s premiere practitioners of Irish and Celtic music, return to touring with their latest album entitled CIRCUS BOY.
Recorded in part in the US (Chicago, Kansas City and Pittsburgh) during their 2019 tour, the album was completed at the legendary Studio Ferber in Paris, France, under the direction of two legendary producers, Olivier Lude and Patrice Renson, both of whom have collaborated with some of the biggest names in French music. While their 2016 album drew its inspiration from the fusion of traditional Irish music, French chanson, and American roots music, CIRCUS BOY is resolutely more adventurous, as evidenced by their original compositions as well as by the added punch and sonic elements that were brought to the project by producers Lude and Renson.
Wilfried Besse’s vocals are supported as usual by the driving rhythm section of Josselin Fournel (percussion), Sébastien Saunié (bass) and Nicolas Besse (guitars), and the trad-Irish influence remains evidenced through the whistles of Jacob Fournel, the bodhran of his brother, Josselin, and the nimble accordion playing of Nicolas’ brother, Wilfried. But CIRCUS BOY represents a more powerful and bigger musical vision for the band, made possible by the introduction of piano, drums, and brass as new sonic elements. That said, the Irish music tradition is not complete without the presence of a fiddle or two, and on CIRCUS BOY Doolin’ includes three of the best European fiddlers of the genre: Niahm Gallagher, Niall Murphy, and Guilhem Cavaillé, himself a founding member of the band.

The Mark Lavengood Band and Prine Time - A Tribute to John Prine
2025-08-08 20:00 - 23:00
Mark Lavengood is a distinguished multi-instrumentalist, performer, and producer whose work in the Bluegrass, Americana & Roots Music genres has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal following. Previous collaborators (on stage or in studio) also include Lindsay Lou, Billy Strings, Seth Bernard, Anders Osborne, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm, Johnny Irion, Melody Walker, Infamous Stringdusters, May Erlewine, Kitchen Dwellers, Armchair Boogie, the Hillbenders, and many more.
Known for his soulful interpretation of Prine’s classics and his engaging stage presence, Lavengood and his talented band will honor the remarkable legacy of one of America’s most beloved troubadours. Prine Time is dedicated to capturing the essence of John Prine’s music, performing a selection of his most cherished songs that resonate with audiences both old and new. With standout hits and deep cuts alike, fans can expect an evening filled with laughter, poignancy, and the timeless storytelling that Prine embodied.

Mike Marshall & Darol Anger
2025-08-09 20:00 - 23:00
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Fiddler/violinist Darol Anger and multi-instrumental virtuoso Mike Marshall are pioneers of the New Acoustic Music movement, which is still bringing folk, jazz, bluegrass, and world music influences together in an instrumental acoustic setting. Together as members of the original David Grisman Quintet, The Montreux Band, Psychograss, and their Duo – and individually as members of The Turtle Island String Quartet, Edgar Meyer’s Short Trip Home group, The Republic of Strings, and others – it is fair to say they have influenced more than three generations of musicians, setting up the playing field for groups such as Punch Brothers, Aoife O’Donovan, Hawktail, Sierra Hull, and generations of jam bands such as The Infamous Stringdusters and Greensky Bluegrass.
Darol and Mike have created their own way of speaking – through their instruments. When discussing the Duo’s live performances, people often use phrases like “synergy,” “magical space,” “sounds like 5 people playing,” or “space travelers.” Their connection and shared repertoire goes very deep, developed over 45 years of music-making in a huge variety of music styles and settings.

Pure Prairie League
2025-08-10 19:30 - 23:00
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From their beginnings in mid-Sixties Ohio as a group of friends playing cover tunes to the present-day unit featuring the propulsive team of drummer Scott Thompson and bassist Jared Camic, Keyboard Master Randy Harper, Guitar Ace/vocalist Jeff Zona and Pedal Steel/Saxophonist John Heinrich, PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE continues to embellish the rich 50-plus year history of one of Country-Rock’s pioneering forces. As one reviewer recently wrote: “PPL’s sound combines sweet memories with edgy, contemporary muscle. Their vocals are as strong as Kentucky moonshine and the musicianship and performance skills are as sharp as a straight razor”.
Their eponymous first album – featuring the Norman Rockwell/Saturday Evening Post cover that introduced fans to PPL’s trademark cowpoke “Sad Luke” – has been hailed as a “major early influence in the emerging popularity of Country-Rock music”. Their second effort, the multi-platinum “Bustin’ Out” brought us the Craig Fuller-penned classic “Amie”, along with other gems of the genre. With “Two Lane Highway”, nine more albums and countless shows, a legacy has been forged and enriched, highlighting contributions from several noteworthy members, including original co-founder George Ed Powell, Cincinnati’s legendary Goshorn Brothers, Country Hall of Famers Gary Burr and Vince Gill, award-winning writer Jeff Wilson (3 Top-20 singles), top Nashville session vocalist Curtis Wright and a host of other guest appearances from Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, EmmyLou Harris, David Sanborn, Eagle Don Felder, Nicolette Larson, Rosemary Butler, Jenifer Wrinkle, Jeff (Birdman) Kirk, Mat Britain and many more.
Now in their sixth decade, Pure Prairie League continues to lead the way for the new generation of Country/Rockers such as Keith Urban, Nickel Creek, Wilco, Counting Crows and so many others that cite PPL as a major influence.
Now, with the release of their new album “Back On Track” PPL brings it all back home with a dozen new songs that complete the circle begun in 1970 and continues to this day.

The Ark's Open Stage
2025-08-12 20:00 - 23:00, 2025-08-18 20:00 - 23:00
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.

Trout Fishing in America
2025-08-13 20:00 - 23:00
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Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet formed Trout Fishing in America in 1979 as a means of survival. They traveled to California as a part of the Texas-based five-piece band St. Elmo’s Fire with hopes of being discovered and signed by a major record label. When no such opportunity arose, and the promising tour dissolved, Keith and Ezra peeled off from their bandmates to fend for themselves. Busking on the streets of Santa Cruz with an acoustic guitar and an upright bass, the pair quickly learned that engaging listeners instantly was the only path towards dollars and coins in the open guitar case. When entry in a music contest required them to have a name for their act, they chose Trout Fishing in America as an homage to Keith’s love of writer Richard Brautigan and Ezra’s love of fishing.
For a band comprised only of a guitar, a bass, and two vocalists, Keith and Ezra could sonically fill whatever space they played. No one could explain what kind of music Trout played but would also tell you that theirs was not a show to miss.
Keith and Ezra have always been road dogs, driving tens of thousands of miles throughout the United States every year. In March 2020, years of touring came to a halt. After a month apart, they reunited at the Trout House Studio and did what they do best: they wrote songs together. The result is Trout’s 25th album, “Safe House”.
It is not unusual for three or four generations of a family to show up at a Trout performance and this is a point of pride for both Keith and Ezra. It may still be impossible to tell you what kind of music Trout plays, but after attending a show, you’ll know exactly what you’ve witnessed: two guys who still love what they do and are excited to share it with you.

Bassel & The Supernaturals
2025-08-14 20:00 - 23:00
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Bassel & The Supernaturals tells the story of Bassel Almadani’s experience as a first generation Syrian-American using soulful melodies, funk inspired rhythms, and captivating lyrics regarding love, loss, otherness, and the war in Syria. They made their national television debut in May 2024 as part of a new PBS docuseries starring Dule Hill entitled The Express Way, regarding the transformative power of the arts.

Bassel & The Supernaturals evoke joy and thoughtfulness in diverse audiences throughout hundreds of cities across North America. In addition to performing in major festivals, performance halls, concert series, and clubs, the group works closely with organizations on events and residencies that build awareness and empathy for Syrian refugees and immigrants. Deeply inspired by Otis Redding, Bassel uses the stage as a vehicle to unite his listeners and share the story of his cultural duality. A substantial portion of their proceeds benefit the Karam Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on building a better future for Syria.
They continue to tour the country, spreading a message of hope through their music wherever they travel.

Tray Wellington Band
2025-08-15 20:00 - 23:00
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Banjo player Tray Wellington’s approach to the quintessential American instrument is all about looking forward. An International Bluegrass Music Association Award winner, Wellington is critically acclaimed not only for his technical prowess, but also for leveraging his unique point of view to craft a one-of-a-kind voice on the instrument. It’s a feat that’s all too rare in these roots genres that seem to value emulation and regurgitation over all else. Instead, Wellington has time and time again reasserted that his playing style, and all of the many varied and disparate parts that combine within it, is wholly his own – and it’s unconcerned with tradition.

George Bedard
2025-08-16 20:00 - 23:00
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George Bedard will continue his History of American Music series at The Ark on August 16th. This year’s first set will begin a new tradition of exploring many different genres from a particular year – in this case 1959. The second set will be a tribute to the great slide guitarist and blues singer Elmore James.
“Midwest musicians all know the legendary guitarist George Bedard. He is the man. Where else am I going to hear authentic rockabilly, much less pure blues these days as his latest album provides? Bedard’s music has been in my head for decades and I love it. George is a national treasure”. (Michael Erlewine, Founder of the All-Music Guide)
“Variety and craft have always been the hallmarks of Bedard’s style. While his music is rooted in what might now be called traditional rock and roll, he’s a product of the Chicago blues players whom he heard in the clubs and at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival. His artistry extends to many streams of twentieth-century music: country, pop, and a remarkable amount of jazz in which he artfully reduces ensemble arrangements to the dimensions of a small rock band. He’s a guitar polymath”. (James M. Manheim, The Ann Arbor Observer)
A founding member of the Silvertones, in 1984 he formed the first version of the Kingpins. Their debut CD won CD Reviews “Best Blues CD of the Year” award. He has closed the Ann Arbor Summer Festival for more than 25 years and headlined festivals and clubs from St. Louis to Barcelona. In 2014 he and the Kingpins toured Honduras as part of the U. S. State Department’s Arts Envoy program.
Bedard has backed such luminaries as Johnnie Johnson, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, Big Joe Turner, Earl King, Eddie Taylor, Koko Taylor, Johnny Adams, and Kim Wilson. As the house guitarist on the Cincinnati Blues Festival’s Arches stage, he has accompanied dozens of blues, jazz, and boogie pianists from all over the world.

Dan Navarro
2025-08-17 19:30 - 23:00
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With a career spanning decades and a dozen albums with Lowen & Navarro, Dan Navarro is currently on tour in support of his album, “Horizon Line.”
Dan Navarro’s long and eclectic resume includes “songwriter,” “recording artist,” “singer”, “voice actor”, “producer”, “road warrior” and “arts advocate” in its extensive range of credits. His former acoustic duo, Lowen & Navarro, released 13 albums from 1990-2008, enjoyed widespread Triple A radio airplay and performed 1,500 shows before Eric Lowen’s retirement in 2008 and passing from ALS in 2012. Dan set out solo in 2006.
In March 2024, he debuted as a co-producer of Jesse Lynn Madera’s acclaimed album, “Speed of Sound”, including the touching co-written duet “Last Call”, now making waves at Americana, Folk and Triple A radio.
As a songwriter, Dan has written or co-written heartfelt songs for Pat Benatar (the Grammy® nominated “We Belong”), The Bangles, Japanese girl group Wink (the #1 hit “One Night in Heaven”), Dutch superstar Marco Borsato (the Top Ten “Je Hoeft Niet Naar Huis Vannacht”), Dave Edmunds, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, and Austin outlaw country legend Rusty Weir. His songs have appeared in the films Deadpool 2, Pitch Perfect 2 and Talladega Nights, TV series This Is Us, Mare of Easttown, Halt and Catch Fire, American Idol, The Voice, American Dad and The Office.
Dan Navarro’s music probes life at its most resonant. In his rich baritone, he sings songs of heart and insight, steeped in experience, soulful tales from a long road well-traveled.
Attendance to this show is free for Ark Members at the Solo ($50) level and above!

Asleep at the Wheel
2025-08-20 20:00 - 23:00
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For over fifty years, Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson has been traversing the globe as an ambassador of Western swing music and introducing its irresistible sound to generation after generation. More than 100 musicians have passed through the Wheel, but Benson remains the front man and the keeper of the vision, in the process racking up more than 30 albums, ten Grammy awards and literally millions of miles on the road.
“I’m the reason it’s still together, but the reason it’s popular is because we’ve had the greatest singers and players,” Benson explains. “When someone joins the band, I say, ‘Learn everything that’s ever been done, then put your own stamp on it.’ I love to hear how they interpret what we do. I’m just a singer and a songwriter, and a pretty good guitar player, but my best talent is convincing people to jump on board and play this music.”
Asleep at the Wheel has collaborated on records with genre-spanning friends, including Willie Nelson on 2009’s Grammy Nominated Willie and the Wheel and other critically acclaimed artists, including Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, George Strait, the Avett Brothers, Amos Lee, Old Crow Medicine Show and Lyle Lovett on Still the King, their 2015 critically acclaimed and Grammy winning tribute to Bob Wills. On their latest release, Half A Hundred Years, Asleep At The Wheel continued their contributions to the American music landscape when three original members of Asleep at the Wheel—Chris O’Connell, Leroy Preston, and Lucky Oceans—returned after 40 years to lend their voices and musicianship to a number of tracks on the album along with Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson.
Asleep at the Wheel represents an important cornerstone of American roots music, even though some of its members and audiences represent a new generation. That far-reaching appeal remains a testament to Benson’s initial vision.
“It took me 60 years, but I’m doing what I’m meant to do—singing and playing and writing better than I ever have. A bandleader is just someone who gathers people around them to play the best music they can play. I just try and make the best decisions possible and kick some ass every night onstage.”

Annie and Rod Capps Quartet // Sons of the Never Wrong
2025-08-21 20:00 - 23:00
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Sons of the Never Wrong is a turbo-charged Altfolk trio from Chicago that delivers witty, whimsical songs with their signature soaring vocal harmonies and gorgeous arrangements. In case you are wondering, they’re two gals and a fella: Bruce Roper, Sue Demel, & Deborah Lader. Their odd ball humor and spontaneous stories ignite their live shows and have earned them a cult-like international following for over 30 years.

Annie and Rod Capps have established themselves as well-respected songwriters, musicians and performers, with three albums topping the Folk Radio charts and as 2-time Kerrville New Folk Finalists. The Capps’ sound meets at the intersection of Americana & Folk drawing on rock, jazz, blues and bluegrass influences. What comes out is a hybrid sound all their own. Genuine and playful; effortless and endearing; this duo, along with bandmates, Jason Dennie and Ozzie Andrews, has been sharing their music with happy audiences in quality music venues, house concerts, coffeehouses and festivals throughout their home state of Michigan and beyond.

Vance Gilbert
2025-08-22 20:00 - 23:00
Vance Gilbert’s performance on August 22 is being postponed while Vance recovers from cancer treatment. We look forward to having him back to The Ark when his voice returns. Tickets have been refunded from point of purchase.
Vance was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. Starting out hoping to be an R&B and jazz singer once at college, there he discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter thing. Word spread like wildfire about Gilbert’s stage-owning singing and playing, and Shawn Colvin invited him to be special guest on her 1992 Fat City tour where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god..” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Most recently he’s been the opener of choice for Mad About You/Stranger Things star Paul Reiser’s stand-up shows (50 +) for the last 7 years, along with his own busy acoustic music touring and coaching schedule.
Vance’s most recent album, “The Mother Of Trouble”, features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient and Bonnie Raitt Grammy hit song co-writer Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana-Roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh.

VOICES feat Ki5 with Aviva Match & Where She Creep
2025-08-22 20:00 - 23:00
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Voices is a series of artist-cultivated concerts at The Ark conceived and created by Ann Arbor musician Kyler Wilkins, AKA vocal looping artist Ki5. The series seeks to expand the representation of Michigan BIPOC artists and audiences at The Ark. Each show, intentional time will be taken to get to know each artist in the form of brief interviews and musical breaks to have them speak about their journey as musicians and performers with the hope that people in the audience are more connected to and inspired by those voices.

Mr. B's 28th Annual Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration
2025-08-23 19:30 - 23:00
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.
This show has been rescheduled from an earlier date. Tickets purchased for the original date will be valid for tonight’s show.
Once a year, Mark “Mr. B” Braun, Ann Arbor’s own wizard of blues and boogie piano music, comes together with other top piano players from around southeastern Michigan and beyond. Call it a piano summit, or perhaps a meeting of the minds! Audiences in southeastern Michigan tend to think of Mr. B as a local hero, but in fact he’s well known among fans and practitioners of blues and jazz piano music all over the country and around the world. This year’s celebration features Al Hill, Rick Roe, and a surprise special guest!
Note early start time!

The Po' Ramblin' Boys
2025-08-24 19:30 - 23:00
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
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
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
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
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
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.
