Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective and BLUESHOUSE!

Thu
30
November 30, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective and BLUESHOUSE!

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

Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective is an open community of musicians playing at all levels and abilities. Ukes? Well, it’s more like 30 different instruments. Plasticity? Yes! The Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective believes that by sharing music and learning how to play a new instrument, you can: “Drop a brain bomb. Fire up the synapses. Rewire some neural pathways.” And BLUESHOUSE!, led by veteran English bluesman Mike Brooks, has enlivened countless stages and street parties around southeast Michigan over the last decade. Join us for a combination that will stretch your brain!

$20
Sun
13
Low Ticket Alert
August 13, 2023 @ 7:30 pm

Samantha Fish Ft. Jesse Dayton

Opener: Eric Johanson

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

The first-ever collaborative album from Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, “Death Wish Blues” is a body of work born from a shared passion for pushing the limits of blues music. As one of the most dynamic forces in the blues world today, Samantha Fish has made her name as a multi-award-winning festival headliner who captivates crowds with her explosive yet elegant guitar work, delivering an unbridled form of blues-rock that defies all genre boundaries. Jesse Dayton, meanwhile, boasts an extraordinary background that includes recording with the likes of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, touring as a guitarist for seminal punk band X, working with Rob Zombie on the soundtracks for his iconic horror films, and releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums. Produced by the legendary Jon Spencer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Death Wish Blues” ultimately melds their eclectic sensibilities into a batch of songs both emotionally potent and wildly combustible.

$40
Wed
23
August 23, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Danielle Nicole

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

Danielle Nicole Schnebelen began singing publicly with her parents’ bands as a youth, and music took hold of her full time in her early 20s. “My father really loved the blues,” Danielle says. “He’d go to all the true blues guys that were around in KC, specifically Little Hatch. He’d played for Abb Locke (saxophonist for Muddy Waters) and we’d get brought along sometimes. The pure, raw emotion relayed through the blues was what really drew me to it. Its history is the foundation of American Music and is THE one that must be respected and not buried as myth or legend.” Danielle plays the bass as well as singing; she was the first woman ever nominated as bass instrumentalist at the Blues Music Awards, and she went on to win the award four times. With veteran bluesmen Brandon Miller (guitar) and Go-Go Ray (percussion) backing her up, Danielle Nicole brings a show drenched in heavy blues.

$20
Fri
23
June 23, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Laith Al-Saadi

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

Laith Al-Saadi began singing at age four and began playing guitar at 13. At 15 he formed his first blues band, Blue Vinyl. In short order they opened for blues greats like Buddy Guy (to whose work his playing has been compared), Luther Allison, Son Seals, and Taj Mahal and toured the Netherlands. At the University of Michigan, Laith was a member of the Johnny Trudell Orchestra and freelanced with Detroit greats like Thornetta Davis, Jocelyn B, The Reefermen. Laith is a real road warrior who generally can be found playing at least five nights a week around Michigan and beyond, and Michigan’s secret got out when he made the finals of television’s “The Voice.” If you haven’t checked out this monster Michigan talent yet, you really should!

$30
Sun
17
September 17, 2023 @ 7:30 pm

Chris Smither

With Special Guest: Paul Cebar

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

It’s as if the blues met modern poetry and got infused with Zen calm. Chris Smither takes the blues in a direction all his own, offering stoic, existential ruminations sung in a weathered blues moan and set to quietly virtuosic guitar.

Paul Cebar cut his teeth musically in the coffeehouse folk scene of the mid-’70s in Milwaukee. Taking cues from the dance bands of western Louisiana (and his native Midwest,), the streets (and 45’s) of New Orleans, touring African and Caribbean combos and the soul, funk & blues of his youth coupled with early, teeth-cutting experience in the verbal hotbeds of the coffeehouse scene, Cebar is a masterful synthesist of rhythmic culture

$35
Sat
8
April 8, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Jackie Greene

Opener: Lilly Winwood

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 (like he did as the lead guitarist for The Black Crowes in 2013). A road warrior and musician’s musician, Greene’s new EP ‘The Modern Lives – Vol 2’ (out October 2018 on Blue Rose Music) finds him at a new chapter in his life: his first months of fatherhood, time off his relentless touring circuit, and a cross-country move from Brooklyn to his birthplace of Northern California.

This new collection of six original songs is a thematic extension of ‘The Modern Lives – Vol 1’ EP (released in 2017 on Blue Rose Music), imbued with a Brooklyn basement DIY feel and ethos. He is a student of American music, transfixed upon its progression through time, as well as how regional sounds fit in a contemporary context. Whereas ‘Vol 1’ saw Greene experiment with the Delta blues as a canvas for his examinations of modern society, ‘Vol 2’ sees Greene embrace the sounds of the bluegrass and folk tapes of his youth.

$30
Sat
22
April 22, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Mr. B’s Blues & 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! 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. In the past, Mr. B’s Piano Celebration concerts have brought great sets by otherwise hard-to-find performers from New Orleans, New York, and Europe, and they’re by no means confined to boogie and blues.

$30
Sun
5
February 5, 2023 @ 7:30 pm

Laith Al-Saadi

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

An intimate solo performance
Laith Al-Saadi began singing at age four and began playing guitar at 13. At 15 he formed his first blues band, Blue Vinyl. In short order they opened for blues greats like Buddy Guy (to whose work his playing has been compared), Luther Allison, Son Seals, and Taj Mahal and toured the Netherlands. At the University of Michigan, Laith was a member of the Johnny Trudell Orchestra and freelanced with Detroit greats like Thornetta Davis, Jocelyn B, The Reefermen. Laith is a real road warrior who generally can be found playing at least five nights a week around Michigan and beyond, and Michigan’s secret got out when he made the finals of television’s “The Voice.” If you haven’t checked out this monster Michigan talent yet, you really should! Tonight Laith performs a rare solo show.

$30
Thu
9
March 9, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Vanessa Collier

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

Vanessa Collier is a captivating and multitalented blues vocalist, saxophonist, and songwriter, hailing from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music, where she earned dual degrees in Performance and Music Production & Engineering. Vanessa demonstrates her skills as a master musician and songwriter, blending her blues background with elements of funk, rock, and soul. Vanessa’s mighty vocals, gritty saxophone solos, and incredible high-energy stage presence create a powerful show not to be missed!

$20
Wed
12
April 12, 2023 @ 8:00 pm

Marcia Ball & Tinsley Ellis

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

Tinsley Ellis and Marcia Ball are excited to present an intimate evening of their music and memories called Acoustic Songs and Stories. They will each play a set of their own songs. Tinsley, an elder statesman of the Blues world, will perform many of his most popular songs from his twenty albums, plus some delta blues and classics on his National Steel and Martin acoustic guitars. Marcia, a five-time Grammy nominee, will play the piano and sing her often raucous and sometimes touching original songs full of the characters and places that shaped her.

$30