In the darkness of Hill Auditorium, a hush fell over a crowd of more than 2,000 folk music listeners from all over Michigan Saturday night. Stepping forward into the spotlight, host Ketch Secor tuned his guitar, the twangs echoing through the auditorium. With a “howdy,” Secor opened the second night of the 48th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival, hosted by The Ark.
Every year, The Ark, a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting a wide range of musical artists hosts the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, a series of performances from a variety of old and new artists who perform a range of folk music.
This year’s two-day festival featured prominent folk singers and song-writers including Afro Dominicano, Adeem the Artist, Jobi Riccio, Josh Ritter and Waxahatchee on Friday. On Saturday night, The Ark welcomed Willi Carlisle, Joy Clark, Bruce Cockburn, The Milk Carton Kids and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA senior and attendee Katherine Harpenau said she enjoyed the creative format of the performances, with each artist telling their story in between songs.
“I liked getting to know the personalities of each presenter and songwriter, and they all had different motivations for writing, which is really interesting to see,” Harpenau said. “That’s what I’ve enjoyed the most.”
Festival volunteer Jill Flora said in an interview with The Daily that discovering new music and building a community with other music enthusiasts is her favorite part about working with The Ark.
“(I like) listening to the music and finding new music that you wouldn’t necessarily buy a ticket for, but you go and discover new things,” Flora said. “The other volunteers, it’s a collection of people that also love music of all age groups.”
In between songs, Kenneth Pattengale, half of The Milk Carton Kids duo, shared his appreciation for The Ark, specifically Program Director Anya Siglin, for continuing to bring people together to share and enjoy live music.
“We’ve done a lot of reminiscing about our career at the top of the year here, and I found myself continuing to say again and again that people like Anya are actually community builders, and they’re patrons of the arts,” Pattengale said. “Someone has to do that job in our society, and we’re so grateful for those who do.”
Clark, one of the festival’s featured artists, spoke with The Daily after her performance about what folk music means to her. Born in New Orleans, Clark’s music draws upon her childhood experiences and memories with family members.
“I think folk means people, and people tell stories,” Clark said. “People share their point of view on life. To me, folk is everything. It’s where people tell their stories. That’s folk to me. My music is pretty self affirming, it’s joy-centered. It can be introspective. It’s very deeply personal, but it’s also universal. I take pride in that.”
Clark said that the most enjoyable part of her performance was the opportunity to share her music with others to bring them together.
“To me, it’s always the people,” Clark said. “I think feeling the energy of the audience is my favorite part of all of this. I perform to connect. It’s not so much about me being on the stage and doing all this stuff. I’m good at what I do. It’s about connecting with people. This is a hard time right now. This is a time where music gives comfort to people.”
Daily Staff Reporters Delilah Dakis and Claudia Minetti can be reached at delilahd@umich.edu and cminetti@umich.edu.
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