Solas is lighting up stages across the globe as they celebrate three decades of pushing boundaries and honoring traditions in Irish music. Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “an Irish traditional band bearing all the marks of greatness,” Solas continues to captivate audiences with their spellbinding musicianship and genre-defying creativity.
There was no master plan. No label strategy. Just a spontaneous jam at Nashville’s Station Inn between a few friends—seasoned players, all women, making a little noise. But something clicked. The room lit up, the crowd roared, and Sister Sadie was born. What started as an accidental band became a force. GRAMMY-nominated. IBMA-decorated. Opry-validated. But for all the accolades, they were often reduced to one line: an all-female bluegrass band. True—but never the point. Sister Sadie has always been about the music.
Liars have been around since the snake first hit it off with Eve. By some accounts, contests celebrating liars have been around since the 15th century, but these accounts may be apocryphal. Today, liars contests are held in countries all around the globe. The Fourth Annual Liar’s Contest at The Ark includes six first-class liars and three judges. The chaos wrangler and MC will once again be the amazing Amir Baghdadchi.
This annual event brings both locally based and nationally known story tellers to The Ark stage. This year’s story tellers are Adam Booth, Jennifer Munro, Barbara Schutzgruber, and Steve Daut.
This annual event brings both locally based and nationally known story tellers to The Ark stage. This year’s story tellers are Jennifer Otto and Adam Booth.
Ypsilanti singer-songwriter, music preservationist and oral historian Matt Jones brings backing band The Reconstruction to The Ark for the first time in over a decade to release his new album, The Good Life.
Virginia-based folk-rock band The Steel Wheels have spent almost twenty years writing, recording, and touring, all the while constantly honing their evolving brand of American roots music. Additionally they are the founders and hosts of the Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a beloved staple of the Shenandoah Valley.
On her third album with Oh Boy Records, and her fifth since beginning her career a decade ago, Emily Scott Robinson once again unveils her mastery as a performer and storyteller. With her 2026 release Appalachia — recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios with Grammy-nominated producer Josh Kaufman — Robinson opens herself up to experimentation and sings in her crystal-clear voice about resilience, love, grief and hope.
Grant Flick is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and collaborative artist currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While his main instrument is violin he typically inhabits spaces where it is not uncommon to find him playing nyckelharpa, tenor guitar, mandolin, or just about any other fifth-tuned stringed instrument. He lives fluidally between idioms/genres with a focus on original instrumental music primarily influenced by American improvisational idioms (bluegrass, jazz, new acoustic music, etc.), the music of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, and chamber music both new and old.
Special Guest: DuPont Phillips
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesSpencer LaJoye is a coast-to-coast singer/songwriter and vocal loop artist with Midwest roots, a classically-trained violinist with an inner theater kid’s love of group choreography, and a student of Americana music with a theology degree hanging in their studio. They’ve been writing and touring their own autobiographical folk/pop music for over a decade, but their viral 2021 anthem “Plowshare Prayer” secured them a permanent place in hearts and households across the world, as well as a peculiar career as a veracious songsmith with an unshakeable pastoral presence
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. The RFD Boys are one of southeastern Michigan's most durable musical ensembles, and their shows capture a deep slice of musical Ann Arbor. Tickets available at the door. There are no advance tickets for this show.
Amelia Day is a musical jack-of-all-trades. Standing at the intersection of folk, rock, and pop, Day blends heartfelt storytelling, raw delivery, and unforgettable melodies into music that feels both fresh and familiar — like rediscovering an old favorite. A self-described writer before anything else, her perceptive lyricism extends far beyond her 23 years, with lines reminiscent of songwriting greats like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon.