Earthwork Music is a collective steward of community, collaboration, and creativity. Earthwork Music members will be banding together for a special tour across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula performing their songs and telling their stories.
On hiatus since 2019, “For Pete’s Sake”, an all-star, in-the-round celebration of the songs and life of Pete Seeger, returns to The Ark! This year’s revival of the longtime Ark tradition features Michigan music favorites San, Laz, & Emily Slomovits; host of “No Roots – No Fruit” podcast and popular community singer, Matt Watroba; folk-roots singer-songwriter and beloved troubadour, Chris Buhalis; Hollerfest prime mover and prolific singer-songwriter/performer, Billy King; Michigan folk royalty, Annie & Rod Capps; legendary writer of classics like “Angelo’s” and “What Would Brando Do" and a do-not-miss performer, Dick Siegel; and songwriter, performer, and active proponent of our southeast Michigan music scene, Judy Banker – coming together to celebrate Pete’s birthday by sharing stories and, in the true Seeger style, lots of singalongs. All proceeds from this event go to support The Ark.
Carrie Newcomer weaves her life and her art together, with music, community activism, and personal concerns all playing a role. She's one of those people who exudes a spirituality that's all her own, and she has to be seen in concert to be truly appreciated. Says novelist Barbara Kingsolver: "She's a poet, storyteller, snake-charmer, good neighbor, friend and lover, minister of the wide-eyed gospel of hope and grace."
Jill Jack's magical connection to her audience is the result of her generous artistry. By combining her gifts as a conceptual visionary with a warm gathering of musical influences, Jill touches that secret heart of ours with her melodies and lyrics. In her hometown of Detroit, Jill needs no further explanation.
This show has been rescheduled from an earlier date. Tickets purchased for the original date will be honored for tonight's show. If unable to attend on this new date, ticket holders have until February 15th to request a refund.
The Mammals are folksingers Ruth Ungar, Mike Merenda, and a cohort of compelling collaborators who form a touring quintet on the fiddle, banjo, guitar, organ, bass, and drums. Over the past 20 years they have quietly composed a canon of original songs (“Some of the best songwriting of their generation” - LA Times) that both reflect our culture and offer a vision of how the world might yet be. “These days we sing about what we’re for over what we’re against,” says singer/songwriter, Mike Merenda, and what they're for is "nothing short of sublime” according to (Americana UK).
Opener: Phillip-Michael Scales
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesEric 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.
Opener: Wasted Major
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesLos Straitjackets are the leading practitioners of the lost art of the guitar instrumental. Using the music of the Ventures, The Shadows, and with Link Wray and Dick Dale as a jumping off point, the band has taken their unique, high energy brand of original rock & roll around the world. Clad in their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, the ‘Jackets’ have delivered their trademark guitar licks across 30 years, 16 albums, thousands of concerts and dozens of films and TV shows.
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.
Opener: Chris DuPont
The Ark 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesA master lyricist and satirical storyteller, John Hiatt delivers songs filled with tales of redemption, relationships and surrendering on his own terms. His lyrics and melodies have graced more than 20 studio albums, have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and scores of others, and have earned him a place in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BMI Troubadour award, and a lifetime achievement in songwriting designation from the Americana Music Association.
Special Guest: Adam Baldwin
Royal Oak Music Theatre 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, MI, United StatesThere are few artists capable of appealing to music fans of all stripes, and Alan Doyle is one of them. From the moment he burst onto the scene in the early 1990s
with his band Great Big Sea, Canadians fell in love with the pride of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, whose boundless charisma and sense of humor was eclipsed only by his magnetic stage presence.
Deidre McCalla’s songwriting reveals an unyieldingly honest perspective expressed with a lyric touch that relentlessly celebrates the power and diversity of the human spirit. Chicago-based singer and activist Joe Jencks (you may remember him from the fine trio act Brother Sun, which he co-founded) has performed with such artists as Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, Joe Glazer, and Charlie King. A Joe Jencks concert, says the Seattle Folklore Society's Brad Warren, is "an occasion for singing, a contagious rising up of voices, an act of joy and defiance."
As childhood friends growing up in Denver, Colorado, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing were always exploring the outdoors. Whether it was rafting down their neighborhood creek or discovering hiking trails through the Rocky Mountains, Joe and Justin were born adventurers. Now, as the GRAMMY® Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers, they have put this passion for the outdoors at the heart of their Americana Folk music.