Ann Arbor Folk Festival in Virtual Space – This Year’s Takeaway | Culture & Leisure

“For a little while it’s going to be fine,” Marianne James, director of The Ark, said at the start of the 44th Ann Arbor Folk Festival on Friday night, Jan. 29.

“All it takes is a little live music.”

His lyrics came true over two nights and over 10 hours of music on Friday and Saturday, January 30 – with a third, a “Michigan Tribute to John Hiatt” on tape on Sunday, January 31. The festival obviously couldn’t take place in its usual home at Auditorium Hill at the University of Michigan, so it sailed into the virtual space, with all 25 acts performing in lounges, home studios, backyards. -course – and even live from The Ark’s stage, where the Accidentals and the RFD Boys opened the respective evenings.

This allowed for an invigorating, sprawling and, in festival tradition, diverse, long-to-fault history but with uniformly strong and heartfelt performances for festival alumni and Ark favorites. Like so many virtual Plan B’s in the pandemic era, it had an even more pronounced intimacy than the cozy confines of Hill, that of artists inviting audiences into THEIR worlds to play music there. Almost all of the performances were created especially for the festival and most shared similar themes – a desire to be able to come together again and what a wonderful place the Ark is to play.

Kiefer Sutherland, whose acting career can portray his musical pursuits as a hobby (listen to it and you know it doesn’t, though), noted in a particularly sweet memory that after performed in bars and rock clubs for an indifferent audience, his first Ark show was “the first time I felt comfortable telling a story.”

The festival’s presence, even online, brought a little sense of normalcy to the last weekend of January. Broadcast until February 7 at noonchorus.com/the-ark/, here are some takeaways from the two busy nights …

Traverse City Accidentals started things off, appropriately, with their “Michigan and Again” from The Ark scene, while playing their upcoming EP “Time Out”. The trio were joined by a pair of string players from Michigan, Erin Zindle of the Ragbirds and Last Jordan Hamilton of the Gasp Collective, while Kim Richey drove from Nashville to meet the Accidentals for the first time in person to interpret their collaboration. writing “Wildfire” and “All Shall Be Well”.

Equally eventful was the RFD Boys’ Saturday shoot from L’Arche as the 52-year-old bluegrass quartet paid tribute to Prine (“Paradise”) and Tony Rice (“Old Home Place” ), Bill Monroe (“Blue Night” “), the Carter Family (” Bury Me Beneath the Willow “), Tom Petty (” I Won’t Back Down “and band co-founder and fiddler Richard Van Akkeren Dieterle.

Prine, who was the headliner of the first Ann Arbor Folk Festival, was actually on the minds of other artists – even before Sunday’s tribute. A dedication was dedicated to him at the end of the two-night streamcasts, while War and Treaty sang an a cappella “Knockin ‘on Your Screen Door” on Friday. On Saturday, host Jeff Daniels and Vance Gilbert both acknowledged Prine’s influence during their segments.

Daniels has been a pleasant host throughout, delivering richly filmed performances of songs from his new album Alive and Well Enough – including a particularly moving “Al Kaline” – and brief artist presentations. And unlike the live hosts at Hill, Daniels never had to stretch while the next act’s gear was being put in place.

As the settings changed, Colin Hay’s palm-tree backyard in Topanga Canyon in California was the most scenic – it didn’t hurt that singer Men’s companion dog, either. at Work made his presence known throughout the shoot, as Hay, his wife Cecilia Noel. and guitarist San Miguel Perez has worked through his solo material and Men At Work favorites such as “Overkill” and “Down Under”.

Carolina Chocolate Drops veteran Dom Flemons, meanwhile, performed from the porch of a log cabin-style house in Chicago, with leaky road traffic sounds in his performances and succinct but graceful song introductions. .

Old Crow Medicine Show alumnus Willie Watson performed his set in a garage / workshop where he also makes clothes, switching between instruments that seemed almost randomly arranged in the room.

Sutherland and Rocco DeLuca set their mood at an empty club, with the famous photo of Johnny Cash showing his middle finger to a photographer in the background.

Closer Friday, Raul Malo of the Mavericks – his voice as beautiful as ever during a set of Spanish and English songs – had the most interesting layout in the home studio, loaded with vintage instruments and little stuff, including dolls from the Addams family.

The typically effusive Vance Gilbert made himself ‘at home’, speaking of The Ark’s dedication to him (“I’m not a big draw, but they keep having me. They’re either stupid or they’ve got me. like… ”) and berated Daniels for“ being so good at everything you do! ” He also pulled the chords down by dedicating “Old White Men” by name to his fellow model airplane enthusiasts living “within a 40 mile radius” of Ann Arbor.

The festival has become known for spotlighting upcoming artists – if not for fully establishing new stars. This year’s likely breakouts include: provocative singer-songwriter (and left-handed guitarist) Crys Matthews, who was joined by Heather Mae; Matt Anderson, the rugged, bluesy New Brunswick singer-songwriter; Sierra Ferrell from West Virginia, whose trio accentuated their gypsy-flavored folk with cheeky, artisanal choreography; and Gina Chavez, the Latin Grammy nominee whose fierce all-around Austin festival may not have been particularly Ark-centric but certainly provided a good calling card.

The 44th Ann Arbor Folk Festival runs until February 7 via noochorus.com/the-ark. Tickets start at $ 25. “A Michigan Tribute to John Prine” premieres at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 31, also streaming through February 7. Tickets cost $ 10.