Ben Sollee is a cellist and vocalist known for his percussive playing style, genre hopping songwriting, wide appeal, and political activism. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, percussion and unusual cello techniques to create a unique mix of folk, bluegrass, jazz and R&B.
Ben will be at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI on September 14th.
William Fitzsimmons will be playing The Ark in Ann Arbor on April 27th, 2011. He will be touring to support his upcoming release, "Gold in the Shadow".
From William's Bio: William Fitzsimmons is equal parts songwriter and psychotherapist, creating captivating music, which uniquely melds depravity, honesty, and autobiography into a counter-intuitive seamless whole. Since 2005, Fitzsimmons has created three full-length albums, each thoroughly themed and embossed with matters of family history, intimate disclosure, and bold confession, yielding rich folk music, ranging from the stark and acoustic to the voluminous and electronic. All the while reflecting William’s commitment to addressing what is always pressing, and yet all too often ignored.
Fitzsimmons' new release, Gold In The Shadow, is a musical reflection of the personal resuscitation and psychological renovation, which took place in the years following his divorce. Based on a specific set of psychopathological disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), he describes the songs as "a real and long coming confrontation with personal demons, past mistakes, and the specter of mental illness that has hovered over me for the great majority of my life." However, whereas nearly the whole of William's previous albums have dealt with the bleak and somber side of inter- and intrapersonal disaster, Gold is a work focused on healing. William continues: "I had reached the point where I was either going to yield to my sicknesses or engage them headlong. In either case, I could no longer continue the way I was."
Gold In The Shadow represents a welcomed musical departure, not from authenticity in writing, but in the field of focus. It is a return to his pre-music therapeutic passions, but with one eye now fixated on actual and optimistic change. It is ripe with personal elements, but also represents his first foray into external perspective taking; examining the lives and psychological struggles of those around him in addition to his own. It is an acknowledgment of the shadow self and the Todestrieb (Freud's "death instinct"); but, even still and more so, an acceptance of hope.
Singer-Songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov will be performing at The Ark in Ann Arbor this Thursday, April 15th.
About Gregory (from his website): “Gregory Alan Isakov makes quietly lush, deeply vibrant music more rooted in the starry night sky—like the one on the cover of his latest LP—than any terrestrial locale.” – Paste Magazine
Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, http://www.gregoryalanisakov.com’s song-craft lends to the deepest lyrical masterpieces. With hints of his influences, Leonard Cohen, Iron and Wine and Kelly Joe Phelps, Gregory Alan Isakov has been described as “strong, subtle, a lyrical genius” and has shared the stage with touring artists such as Calexico, Ani Difranco, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, and Fiona Apple. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe and appeared at numerous music festivals such as South By Southwest, Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. Gregory has toured solo and with his band “The Freight”, and has released a quartet of albums:
“This Empty Northern Hemisphere”(2009) “That Sea, The Gambler” (2007) “Songs for October” (2005) “Rust Colored Stones” (2003)
available at iTunes, Cdbaby, and directly through the website.
Joshua James has booked a date to play The Ark in Ann Arbor on June 28th, 2010.
If you are not familiar with Mr. James, here is a brief "About" taken from his website: Joshua James has been writing and singing songs for only six short years, but the 25-year-old heartland poet has the perspective of a wise, old soul.
On his second album, Build Me This, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Sun is Always Brighter, produced by industry veteran Shannon Edgar, James expands his musical palette to foreboding doom-laden hard rock. Progressing from folkish harmonies, to country twang, world beats and southern home rock while further exploring themes of spiritual searching.
Possessing a whispery and intimate vocal style that works its way into the ear peacefully and directly, Joshua James is pitched midway between seminal influences like Bob Dylan and Neil Young.
“I find solace and beauty in darkness and depression,” admits James, who grew up in his native Lincoln, Nebraska, skateboarding and sneaking listens to music his parents banned, like classic rockers Jim Morrison and The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, “But there are contrasts to everything. You have to combine the sweet and salty, the ugly and beautiful. Music is very therapeutic for me. It’s all about making a connection with humanity, with the audience, in ways that I normally wouldn’t be able to.”
