The festival returns as a two-day event in January with an impressive lineup that includes Michigan Rattlers, Devon Gilfillian, Bailen, Darren Kiely, Steve Poltz and more. The details at Local Spins.
Returning to Ann Arbor Folk Fest: Emmylou Harris has played the event four times previously. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
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Returning as a two-day festival for the first time since the COVID pandemic, the Ann Arbor Folk Festival announced today that the legendary Emmylou Harris will join Old Crow Medicine Show, Jeff Daniels and Michigan Rattlers at Hill Auditorium in January.
The impressive lineup for the Jan. 26-27 festival will also feature sets by Devon Gilfillian, Steve Poltz, Bailen, Darren Kiely, Sons of MyStro, Lizzie No and The Sea The Sea.
Daniels, a singer-songwriter as well as an award-winning actor, will serve as the emcee for both days of the festival on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.
“The lineup showcases a mix of veterans, legends, new favorites and emerging artists, and is designed to present the broad range of music that The Ark presents year-round at our venue,” said Barb Chaffer Authier, The Ark’s marketing director.
Playing Saturday: Michigan Rattlers (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“As a mission-based nonprofit organization, dedicated to the enrichment of the human spirit through folk and roots music, it’s important to us to embody that vision and continue to add and promote new voices at the festival. We always want our audiences to discover new favorites at Folk Fest.”
Gold Circle and Platinum tickets ($120 and $250) go on sale Oct. 23 by calling 734-761-1800. Public sale tickets ($47.50, $70, $120 and $250) go on sale Nov. 3, online at mutotix.umich.edu/overview/4418 or by calling 734-763-8587. The festival serves as a fundraiser for The Ark in Ann Arbor.
As influential and as revered as any Nashville artist over the past half-century, Emmylou Harris has been the crystalline voice of country and Americana music as well as a renowned activist. Starting with her collaborations with Graham Parsons in the 1970s, she’s gone on to win numerous awards and released 28 studio albums, including 1995’s Grammy Award-winning “Wrecking Ball.”
“We’re very happy to be able to welcome Emmylou Harris back for what will be her fifth time headlining the Ann Arbor Folk Fest,” Chaffer Authier said. “She first appeared topping our bill back in 1999 and she also played in 2004 and 2012 on her own, and in 2008 in an in-the-round configuration with Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller.”
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW TO HEADLINE FRIDAY NIGHT’S LINEUP
Harris leads the Saturday lineup, with northern Michigan’s Michigan Rattlers also on that bill. The band bred in Petoskey features Graham Young, Adam Reed, Christian Wilder and Anthony Audia, has two studio albums under its belt and made its Ann Arbor Folk Fest debut in 2019.
Also playing Saturday will be singer-songwriter Steve Poltz, New York tunesmith Lizzie No and New York folk-pop duo The Sea The Sea.
Old Crow Medicine Show: Returning to the 2023 folk fest. (Photo/Bryan Bolea)
Virginia-bred and Nashville-based Old Crow Medicine Show (“Wagon Wheel”) will lead Friday’s lineup, returning to Hill Auditorium after performing at the festival in 2004 and 2009. The band has become a folk and bluegrass mainstay, touring the globe over the past 25 years and winning two Grammy Awards while also racking up other honors.
Also performing Friday will be Nashville soul singer Devon Gilfillian, indie-pop sibling trio Beilen, Irish folk-pop artist Darren Kiely and Florida violin duo Sons of MyStro.
The Ark also will host a Thursday “folk festival warm-up” on Jan. 18. The “On a Winter’s Night” show will feature singer-songwriters Patty Larkin, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky and Cliff Eberhardt. Tickets are on sale at theark.org.
“Looking at trends across the touring music scene, audiences are eager to be back consuming live music,” Chaffer Authier said of the festival’s full-fledged return in 2024. “We continue to be committed to presenting music that is meaningful and deserves to be heard.”
The festival is presented by The Ark and Bank of Ann Arbor with support from the University of Michigan Center for Campus Involvement.
VIDEO: Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopler, “Red Dirt Girl”
VIDEO: Old Crow Medicine Show, “Miles Away”
VIDEO: Michigan Rattlers, Live from the Treehouse
VIDEO: Devon Gilfillian, “Love You Anyway”
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