October 24, 2016
Get Ready To Find Your Folk!
   
The annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival, a fundraiser for The Ark, returns to Hill Auditorium for two dynamic and different nights of folk and roots music on Friday, January 27, and Saturday, January 28, 2017 beginning at 6:30 p.m. each night. The Folk Festival will celebrate its 39th year with a selection of the world's finest traditional and contemporary performers.  Each night includes a blend of well-known and up-and-coming artists, providing you with an opportunity to hear artists you know and love while discovering great new talent.  
 
Topping the lineup for the Festival this year are Kacey Musgraves and Jenny Lewis on Friday night and Margo Price and Kiefer Sutherland on Saturday night.  Also featured on the bill on Saturday will be longtime Ark favorites  Over The Rhine. See the full lineup below! 
 
Check out the information below to see how to Find Your Folk at the 40th Ann Arbor Folk Festival and follow The Ark and the Festival for music, video, artist info and updates at www.findyourfolk.org.
 
All funds raised through the Festival benefit The Ark, Ann Arbor's non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music. More info at www.theark.org.

 
Friday, January 27
Kacey Musgraves
Jenny Lewis
Nahko and Medicine for the People
Valerie June
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Zach Heckendorf
Susan Werner, MC

Saturday, January 28
TBA
Margo Price
Kiefer Sutherland
Over The Rhine
We Banjo 3
Davina & The Vagabonds
Corn Potato String Band
Susan Werner, MC

*Program subject to change. 

-  Current Ark members at the Friend ($20) level and above can purchase $50 tickets (one night) or $90 series tickets (both nights) for the festival by mail only through The Ark office, postmarked on the member sale dates: Tuesday, November 1 through Monday, November 14.  An order form was mailed to all eligible Ark members today. No advance member sales through the web or other locations.  If you are not a current Ark member and would like to become one, you can do so online and we will e-mail you an order form. 
 
OR Gold, Platinum and Benefactor Circles tickets available to anyone by mail or phone starting at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, November 1 until they're sold out.
 
-  Phone:  734-761-1800 (Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday)

-  Ticket prices: 
       Gold Circle:  $100 (one night) and $180 series (both nights)
Platinum Circle: $200 (one night) and $360 series (both nights)         
Benefactor Circle: Enjoy additional premium Folk Festival benefits! Call The Ark business office for more information.

-  Service fees: $5 per order

-  Payment by check, Visa or MasterCard  - Remaining tickets will go on sale to the public on Thursday,December 1 at 9 a.m. through the Michigan Union Ticket Office and 10 a.m. through theark.org, Tickets will also be available in person at The Ark's box office starting Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Thank you so much for supporting The Ark! 
Kacey Musgraves
 
     
When Texas-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves released her debut album, "Same Trailer Different Park," her fearless and often feminist songs marked a breath of fresh air for country music. The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, making Kacey just the seventh solo female in the 22-year Nielsen SoundScan era to open at No. 1 with a rookie release. Kacey won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song ("Merry Go 'Round") and Best Country Album (Same Trailer Different Park), the ACM Award for Album of the Year (Same Trailer Different Park), and the 2014 CMA Award for Song of the Year ("Follow Your Arrow"). She has performed on "CMT Crossroads" (with Katy Perry), the "Today Show," "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and numerous music awards shows including the 56th Grammy awards. Kacey suffered no sophomore slump with her second album, the ironically titled "Pageant Material," which likewise entered the charts at No. 1. It's been a while since a country artist has named John Prine as her favorite songwriter, but he's the one Kacey has picked, and it shows. For this headlining appearance at the Friday night Ann Arbor Folk Festival show, Kacey Musgraves will perform a solo acoustic set.

Margo Price
 
  
"Hands of Time," the opener on Margo Price's "Midwest Farmer's Daughter" album, is an invitation, a mission statement, and a starkly poetic summary of the 32-year old singer's life, all in one knockout, self-penned punch: "When I rolled out of town on the unpaved road, I was fifty-seven dollars from bein' broke ..." Margo's songwriting recalls hardships and heartaches-the loss of her family's farm, the death of her child, problems with men and the bottle. Her voice has that alluring mix of vulnerability and resilience that was once the province of Loretta and Dolly. After recording the album with her band at Sun Studio and shopping it to a number of Nashville labels, Margo reached another critical career moment when a friend brought up Jack White's Third Man Records and told her, "You're on Jack's radar, he wants to hear the record." Margo says, "He told me he thought my voice was a breath of fresh air, and that he loved the record." After "Midwest Farmer's Daughter appeared on Third Man, the Nashville Scene named it the best country album of 2016, and Margo has become the Americana Music Association's Emerging Artist of the Year.
Jenny Lewis
 
   
In the music of singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, classic country twang meets indie pop. Known in the 2000s decade as the lead singer of the band Rilo Kiley, who opened for Coldplay on their 2005 U.S. tour, Jenny has struck out on her own with three solo albums on which she has put the vocal styles of Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton in a modern context. Invited by Conor Oberst to record for the Team Love label, Jenny released "Rabbit Fur Coat," which featured background vocals by Oberst and Kentucky's Watson Twins. Her sophomore effort, "Acid Tongue," boasted contributions by a set of indie all-stars headed by Elvis Costello and She & Him. Jenny's third album, "The Voyager," did not appear until 2014 and reflected on a long period of personal stress that included the death of her estranged father and the final breakup of Rilo Kiley. The winner of a Best Temperature Raiser nod in Esquire magazine's Esky awards, Jenny Lewis is much more than a pretty face: she's an artist who has interpreted country sounds anew and has connected the indie and roots worlds.
Kiefer Sutherland
 
  
You know the name. You know the face, even if you've never switched on a television set. But do you know the music? Kiefer Sutherland has been a professional actor for over 30 years, starring in movies like "Stand By Me," "The Lost Boys," "Young Guns." "Flatliners," "A Few Good Men," "A Time to Kill," "Dark City," "Melancholia," and the TV series "24" and now "Designated Survivor".  But, unknown to many, he has taken on other vocations with the same kind of dedication and commitment. The first one, beginning around 1992, was that of a cattle rancher and competitive cowboy (roper) in the USTRC team roping circuit. And in 2002 Kiefer, with his music partner and best friend Jude Cole, began a small record label called Ironworks. In early 2015 Kiefer played Cole two songs he had written and wanted to record as demos for other artists. Cole responded positively, and two songs became four and four grew into six, and finally into Kiefer Sutherland's debut album: "Down in a Hole." Kiefer says: "It's the closest thing I've ever had to a journal or diary. All of these songs are pulled from my own personal experiences. ... I am experiencing great joy now being able to play these songs to a live audience, which was something I hadn't counted on."


Susan Werner
      
National Public Radio has called Chicago's Susan Werner the "empress of the unexpected." Susan is a triple threat with her luxuriously smooth and strong voice (she's a former opera singer), riveting lyrics, and haunting melodies. "When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner's only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon," raves No Depression. Susan can do it all! She's a virtuoso on both piano and guitar, and her recordings have ranged from hardcore folk to Broadway music, humorous songs, a skeptical yet sympathetic take on gospel, songs of farming, and even classical arrangements of classic rock. Susan has a way of reinventing herself for each new project, but there's a core of humor sophistication, and musical craft that endures. Her latest is "Eight Unnecessary Songs", which she describes as "little tunes on topics ranging from cosmetic surgery to the extraordinary properties of cheap beer to global warming. At turns facile, petty and uncharitable; these songs offer a kind of comfort to those of us falling wayyy short of Mother Teresa out here." Susan Werner, a longtime friend of The Ark and one of our favorite festival hosts, returns to take up the MC for both the Friday and Saturday evening concerts of the 2017 Ann Arbor Folk Festival.



The Ark is a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment of the human spirit through the presentation, preservation and encouragement of folk, roots and ethnic music and related arts.  The Ark provides a safe and welcoming atmosphere for all people to listen to, learn about, perform and share music.