My Folky Valentine 2023!!

My Folky Valentine 2023!!

We are so excited to share The Ark stage with these two lovely duos. Jenny & Robin Bienemann hail from Chicagoland. By turns hilarious and heartfelt, this cutting-edge acoustic duo melds original and traditional music with an elegant hint of jazz.  Robin’s wild guitar stylings harken back to the earliest forms of jazz, blues and country guitar. Jenny’s voice and guitar playing evokes comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Ricki Lee Jones. Both write songs that are celebrations of modern life in all of its wonderful, strange and hilarious beauty, garnering airplay on National Public Radio, Dr. Demento, and The Midnight Special.

Ruth and Max Bloomquist celebrate 45 years of performing their style of Acoustic Americana, with roots in Folk, Bluegrass, and traditional Country music. Ruth is well known for her songwriting as well as her striking alto voice. She was a winner of Merlefest’s Chris Austin Song Writing competition in 2003 with her gospel number, By The River. The pair’s 2010 CD release, Turn Back a Page reached No. 5 on the Folk DJ Airplay Chart with 4 songs in the top 100 for that year. A Youtube video featuring Michigan Girl, a track from that CD, has been viewed over 395,000 times. The pair has toured in southern France nearly every year since 2008. A live CD was released in 2012 and a Christmas EP in 2015. The couple released their sixth full length CD, On A Canvas Painted Blue, in October 2017. 

As always, we’ll swap songs, collaborate and have a great time!

Annie’s CD Release Concert

Annie’s CD Release Concert

Riding the wave of excitement generated by a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign, Chelsea-based singer/songwriter/performer Annie Capps celebrates the release of her ninth recording and first solo album, “How Can I Say This”. The album features 12 original songs written by Annie representing what she calls “a love letter to my younger self” exploring topics of self-discovery, shame, learning, forgiveness, grief, and strength. Proudly featuring a supporting cast of over 40 women musicians spanning the U.S. and into Canada, “How Can I Say This” was recorded, produced, and performed by an impressive batch of A-listers, whose exceptional talents contributed to the sonically lush, emotionally charged arrangements. You can see that complete list and read more about the project at https://howcanisaythis.net In solidarity with the way it was created, for this concert, Annie has assembled an all-women band – some of whom performed on the album and others who are adding their own spin to the songs just for this show! The all-star band features Fay Burns on guitar, Suzie Vinnick on bass, Cheryl Prashker on drums/percussion, Judy Insley on Mandolin, Sara Gibson on cello, and a slew of background singers including Annie Bacon, Robin Lee Berry, Jennifer Buehrer, Kitty Donohoe, Jan Krist, Sharon Tse and more to be announced.

It’s time …

It’s time …

It’s official. I’ve launched my first ever Kickstarter campaign to help fund the album I’ve been laboring over for the past 8 months. Can’t begin to thank my beautiful husband for his support through it all and all my pals and the incredible musicians, not to mention the amazing engineer, Maggie Heeron at La Luna Recording and Sound. Not gonna babble too much here, but you can click through to the “How Can I Say This” area of our website for lots more info or just click the image to go right to the Kickstarter.  Thanks in advance!!

My Folky Valentine

My Folky Valentine

Our annual lovefest returns to The Ark in person this year with us and 3 darling duos who we adore! They are Dave Boutette & Kristi Davis, Dave Keeney & Sophia Hanifi, and Matt & Kim Watroba. As always, we’ll be swapping songs and collaborating on a couple of group numbers. It’s a joyful evening (way less stressful than a football game with a former Detroit Lion).
For those who are still unsure about gathering in public – we totally get it and respect that – this show will be live-streamed simultaneously so you can watch from the safety of your own home.
Visit the Ark’s website at theark.org for ticket info and details. https://theark.org/event/my-folky-valentine-220213/