Tag: Classic Folk

Wed
30
July 30 @ 8:00 pm

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

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.

$35
Sat
27
September 27 @ 8:00 pm

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

Folksinger Willi Carlisle holds tight the conviction that love is bigger than hate, and no-one is expendable. Carlisle’s music has always been a dance between absurdity, spectacle, and philosophy. On his fourth studio album, Winged Victory, Carlisle returns with his signature blend of traditionally-rooted folk music and kaleidoscope of oddball characters to confer with his core tenets in more overt and provocative ways.

$29.00
Wed
13
August 13 @ 8:00 pm

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

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.

$29.00
Thu
15
May 15 @ 8:00 pm

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

The annual Pete Seeger Birthday Concert returns to The Ark with an all-star celebration honoring the life and work of singer, songwriter, activist, and national conscience, Pete Seeger, who passed in 2014. The evening will be filled with storytelling and singalongs in the true uplifting Seeger audience participation tradition. The lineup will feature special guest Reggie Harris, renowned folk artist and educator, who performed in the 2014 tribute to Pete and Toshi Seeger at the Lincoln Center, along with a lineup of well-known Michigan artists including Matt Watroba, Billy King, Annie & Rod Capps, San, Laz & Emily Slomovits, Judy Banker, Dani Darling, Mustard’s Retreat, and more (TBA). All proceeds from the event go to support The Ark.

$24.00
Fri
28
March 28 @ 7:30 pm

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

Mustard’s Retreat has always sung the songs they enjoyed and cared about, regardless of the trends of the music industry and pop culture. Their performances are always joyful and uplifting, as well as intelligent, thought provoking and insightful. They’ve recently begun referring to their career and touring as “Defiantly Hopeful.” Tonight the trio comes together to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary!

$20
Sun
30
March 30 @ 7:30 pm

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

The modern renaissance of folk music began when John Gorka won the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk award in 1984, and it grew to maturity when he released his debut album, “I Know,” three years later. Here was a singer-songwriter with a striking baritone voice that made you feel like you’d been hearing it all your life.

$25
Wed
23
April 23 @ 8:00 pm

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

It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the mic. There is poet Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic Cheryl, a trend defier and savagely funny social critic. The result is a series of delightful contrasts, for really Cheryl Wheeler is a woman of many musical personalities—heart-wrenching romantic balladeer, marvelous observational humorist, poet of ordinary New England scenes and people, committed activist, irascible grump.

Fri
29
November 29, 2024 @ 8:00 pm

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

Matt Watroba, longtime radio host and a Detroit Music Awards winner as Best Overall Folk Performer, is the kind of guy who makes friends easily: not only is he on a first-name basis with most of the major folk musicians in North America after several decades of sharing stages with them, but he also has the kind of rapport with audiences that makes them feel as if they’re sitting among friends in a living room. Matt is turning his annual day-after-Thanksgiving show into a grand community singing gathering! He’ll be joined by a couple dozen or more musical friends from our Michigan music community to be his choir and he’ll lead all of us in song after uplifting song! Proceeds will benefit the Women’s Center of Southeast Michigan.

$20
Thu
13
February 13 @ 8:00 pm

With Special Guest: Terra Spencer

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

The elevator at The Ark is out of service while technicians make repairs. Attendees for this show will need to be able to walk up and down the stairs to the second floor of The Ark where the show takes place. David Francey is a Scottish-born Canadian carpenter-turned-songwriter. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland to parents who were factory workers, he moved to Canada when he was twelve. For decades, he worked across Canada in rail yards, construction sites, and in the Yukon bush, all the while writing poetry, setting it to melodies in his head and singing it to himself as he worked. A truly authentic folk singer, Francey is a documentarian of the working person who never imagined earning a living from his music.

$20
Tue
1
October 1, 2024 @ 8:00 pm

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

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and folk icon Tom Paxton is back, and he’s teaming up with the Grammy-winning Nashville singer/songwriter duo The DonJuans—Don Henry & Jon Vezner. Within days of writing and playing together, the trio knew they were onto something, and they soon took it on the road. This will be Tom’s last area performance as he’s retiring from the road in spring 2025.

$30