Chris Smither

Sat
14
September 14 @ 8:00 pm

Chris Smither

With Special Guest: Cloudbelly

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Chris Smither grew up in New Orleans where he first started playing music as a child. The son of a Tulane University professor, he was taught the rudiments of instrumentation by his uncle on his mother’s ukulele. “I’d loved acoustic music – specifically the blues – ever since I first heard Lightnin’ Hopkins’ Blues In My Bottle album.” Chris says, “I couldn’t believe the sound Hopkins got. At first I thought it was two guys playing guitar. My style, to a degree, came out of trying to imitate that sound I heard.” His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets, and humanist philosophers.

$35
Tue
2
July 2 @ 8:00 pm

Marcia Ball

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

“Fifty years have passed in a flash,” says Texas-born, Louisiana-raised pianist, songwriter and vocalist Marcia Ball of her long and storied career. Ball, the 2018 Texas State Musician Of The Year, has won worldwide fame and countless fans for her ability to ignite a full-scale roadhouse rhythm and blues party every time she takes the stage. Her rollicking Texas boogies, swampy New Orleans ballads and groove-laden Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music lovers all over the world.

$30
Fri
18
October 18 @ 8:00 pm

Ana Popovic

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Ana Popovic, the award-winning, hard-touring, guitar slinger, blends smoking electric funk and slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and a tight blues groove with soulful, feminine vocals. Add to the mix her incredible stage presence, which makes her an irresistible force in the world of contemporary blues music.

$35
Mon
6
May 6 @ 8:00 pm

Eric Gales

Opener: Phillip-Michael Scales

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Eric Gales is a blues firebrand. Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing and songwriting.

$35
Sat
17
August 17 @ 8:00 pm

George Bedard

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Guitarist and bandleader George Bedard has been a seminal figure on the Michigan roots rock scene. This year for his annual “History of American Music” series, George will present a tribute to T-Bone Walker, the great electric blues guitarist and singer.

$30
Fri
5
April 5 @ 8:00 pm

Jackie Greene

Opener: Cousin Curtiss

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Americana and roots singer-songwriter Jackie Greene is a jack-of-all-trades and an artist who can croon over soulful piano ballads as much as he can shred a bluesy guitar solo. Since the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album ‘Gone Wanderin’,’ Greene has built an enduring audience through a relentless touring schedule with the likes of BB King, Mark Knopfler, Susan Tedeschi, and Taj Mahal. He played lead guitar with The Black Crowes on their Layin’ Down With #13 World Tour, recorded and toured with Trigger Hippy – his supergroup with Joan Osborne – and in the last four years performed over 300 shows of his own, all while continuing to record and release his solo work.

$30
Sat
20
April 20 @ 7:30 pm

Mr. B’s 27th Annual Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

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! Along with Mr. B himself, this year’s show features Lluis Coloma, Brendon Davis, and Elder Robert Moore.

$30
Mon
1
April 1 @ 8:00 pm

Matt Andersen

With Special Guest: Old Man Luedecke

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

When Matt Andersen steps on stage, he brings a lifetime of music to every note he plays. His latest album, “The Big Bottle of Joy,” is all about hard-won celebration; a dozen songs infused with raw blues-rock, rollicking Americana, thoughtful folk, and ecstatic gospel. Andersen’s stage presence is informed by decades of cutting his teeth in dusty clubs, dim-lit bars, and grand theaters all over the world, delivering soulful performances that run the gamut from intimate to wall-shaking.

$25
Sun
10
March 10 @ 7:30 pm

Charlie Parr

Opener: Two Runner

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing—including Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie—imbue Parr’s music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past.

$25
Mon
5
February 5 @ 8:00 pm

Eric Johanson

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

n the midst of creating his new album, “The Deep and the Dirty,” singer-guitarist Eric Johanson learned that his previous album cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard blues chart. It was his fourth time reaching the Top 10. And for a Louisiana native who’d grown up idolizing bluesmen like Freddie King and Robert Johnson, it felt pretty good. Even so, genre success didn’t discourage Johanson from reaching beyond the blues for the new album’s eclectic, electrifying songs.

$20