49th Ann Arbor Folk Festival - Opening Night

Name: 49th Ann Arbor Folk Festival - Opening Night
Start: 2026-01-30T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Hill Auditorium

Schedule

Fri, 30 Jan, 2026 at 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Hill Auditorium | Ann Arbor, MI

Get ready to Find Your Folk! One of the region’s most anticipated musical events, the Ann Arbor Folk Festival is also the largest annual fundraising effort for The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and acoustic music. Presented by Bank of Ann Arbor, the festival is renowned for its overall excellence and the quality of talent it showcases year after year. Featuring a blend of renowned and up-and-coming performers, the program provides audience members with the opportunity to hear artists they know and love while discovering great new talent.
The festival delivers the full spectrum of “Ark music,” presenting a taste of what’s happening on the leading edge of acoustic music while delving into the very heart of folk and roots traditions.
This year’s opening event is a departure from past Folk Fest formats and allows The Ark to showcase the renowned Michigan band, Greensky Bluegrass, in a full concert experience.
Known for their dazzling live performances and relentless touring schedule, Kalamazoo’s Greensky Bluegrass -- Anders Beck [dobro], Michael Arlen Bont [banjo], Dave Bruzza [guitar], Mike Devol [upright bass], and Paul Hoffman [Mandolin] -- are connected through a deep bond, just as they are seasoned road warriors, they’re a band of brothers who have seen each other through decades of ups and downs, personal and collective highlights, and the moments when life turns it all upside down. These are real people having real experiences. As with traditional bluegrass, they write about their own contemporary day-to-day happenings, emotions, and experiences in the modern world.
Legendary American guitarist Junior Brown joins the opening night event as special guest to Greensky Bluegrass.
With his unique voice, more unique song writing, and even more unique double necked “Guit-Steel” guitar, there has absolutely never been anyone like Junior Brown. He’s an American Original. He’s a one-man musical hot fusion machine! People call him a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Ernest Tubb. But there's a lot more to say about Junior Brown. There's the fact that he's just about the best surf guitarist around, for example. Or that he's a wonderful composer of traditional country songs, the kind in which each outrageous pun leads you deeper into an emotional blind alley. An Ark favorite for over 2 decades, before taking a breather from touring the last few years, Junior Brown and his powerhouse band know how to bring the party – and we couldn’t be more delighted to have them join us for the Friday night show!