The Ann Arbor community took a journey back in time at The Ark’s 48th annual folk festival kick-off Friday night. The Ark, a nonprofit music club in downtown Ann Arbor, celebrated its 60th anniversary with a nostalgic twist, featuring performers exclusively playing hits from 1965, the year of its founding.
The Ark provided an intimate experience for an audience of about 400, ranging from club veterans who have supported The Ark for decades to college students experiencing folk music for the first time.
Barb Chaffer-Authier, marketing director of The Ark, told The Michigan Daily in an interview the goal of The Ark is to provide both the audience and artist with a unique experience.
“You feel like you’re sitting in someone’s living room,” Chaffer-Authier said. “As an artist, you get to really connect with the audience and they get to connect with you.”
The kick-off featured 15 performers and, while all of the songs paid homage to 1965, each artist brought their own spin to the folk genre, including LSA junior Natalie Timmerman, who performs under the stage name Rabbitology. Her performance took a less traditional approach to folk music, using looping technology to create layered sounds on stage.
In an interview with The Daily, Timmerman spoke about her musical process and how she utilized U-M resources and technology to create her own musical style.
“I don’t call it a genre,” Timmerman said. “I think we’ve settled on alternative folk, but I don’t really know. I recorded all of that in the (Shapiro Undergraduate Library) in the recording room. … You get like, two days to record stuff and then program it into a little launchpad and then just hope that you don’t press the wrong button live.”
Timmerman also praised the experience of performing at The Ark, citing both the physical space and the employees.
“There’s nothing quite like The Ark sound-wise,” Timmerman said. “Brilliant sound mixing, especially when you have something dense, like my music, it’s great to have people who know what they’re doing.”
Kylee Phillips, local artist and part of the musical duo DuPont Phillips, said The Ark’s commitment to fostering the growth of individual artists makes it so special
“It’s curated by people who really know and love this community and it’s a place where an audience is ready to go for the ride with you as a musician,” Philips said.
The Ark’s has long been a part of the Ann Arbor community. Established by four local churches, it was founded with the purpose of creating a space for the community to connect and providing a creative outlet for music and the arts. Though the churches didn’t use the space to preach, the biblically inspired name The Ark symbolized their hope to bring people together “two by two.”
While The Ark is no longer affiliated with the churches, its mission endured. The musical hangout spot became a nonprofit home for folk music and a place where music and community intersect — a core aspect Chaffer-Authier spoke of.“The theme of our 60th anniversary is community,” Chaffer-Authier said. “One of the things we say with folk fest is ‘find your folk.’ You’re not only finding folk music but you go to a concert and you’re there with like-minded individuals. You’re inspired — that community feel is a really big part of it.”
Daily Staff Reporter Salma Abdelale can be reached at salmaabe@umich.edu
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