Line-up

Venue

The Ark

316 S. Main St., 48104, Ann Arbor, MI, US

www.theark.org/

Capacity: 400

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Additional details

Doors open: 20:00

Concert in your area for Folk & Blues, Country, and Indie & Alt.

Find out more about Country.

Joe Pug biography

Joe Pug is a singer and songwriter hailing from Greenbelt, Maryland, United States who was born on April 20, 1984. Since his debut in 2007 he has released three studio albums along with two E.P’s, and has become one of the most beloved cult songwriters of his generation.

Joseph Pugliese was performing music from a very young age, but unlike many musicians of his and of future generations, he was not planning to start a career in music before he could legally drive. In fact, Pug was initially more interested in becoming in the theatre, acting in plays and improv comedy nights while in high school before studying to be a playwright at the University of North Carolina. However, playing and listening to music was still a huge part of his life, staying with him the whole time he was at college, and the night before his senior year fall classes were due to start he had the most monumental change of mind of his life. He dropped out of college and on the same night, he began a two-day road trip from his campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Chicago, Illinois, where he took a day job as a carpenter, and began writing and performing songs anywhere he was allowed to.

Pug spent the next couple of months writing and performing all over Chicago, and eventually made a friend who worked in a local recording studio. Once Pug had enough material, his friend started sneaking him into the studio when other musicians had cancelled their slots, and by 2009, he’d amassed enough material to release his debut E.P “Nation Of Heat”. Unconventionally, Pug made a habit of sending a two track sampler of songs from “Nation Of Heat” free of charge to anyone who asked, so long as whoever he would send it to would pass it along to a friend of theirs. This strategy worked, and eventually Pug sold over 20’000 copies of his debut E.P without any label backing whatsoever. Thanks to this word-of-mouth success, the 23 year old Pug was hand-picked to open for Steve Earle on a huge summer tour, and once the tour was done, Pug signed his first record deal with Lightning Rod Records.

Pug’s first full length album “Messenger” was released in 2010, and was an immediate critical hit. Ever since then, Pug has released a further two studio albums, and continued to be hailed as a natural successor to the likes of Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. For being one of the most fascinating, captivating songwriters of his generation, Joe Pug comes highly recommended.

Live reviews

Multi-instrumentalists always grab me in a performance, and when I first came across Joe Pug and found out that he was in fact playing the harmonica and guitar simultaneously on his original tracks, I was compelled to listen to more of his music. The raw and honest subject matter and melodies of his music are wonderfully touching and relatable to most listeners, and this was an aspect of his music that really appealed to me.
Seeing him live was fantastic, he came out on stage with his guitar over his shoulder and humbly introduced himself as he took his seat on the stool that was positioned centre stage. His confidence and stage presence that was evident when he introduces himself and his material goes back to his days in performance collage, writing plays, before he took the risky path dropping out to pursue his music career.
He opened the show with his EP Nation of Heat, the first material that he ever released back in 2009, and it was great to hear him journey through his work, and hear the progression of his material over the years. He gave an incredibly performance that held the audience in silence, as well as having everyone sing along. It was a fantastic show.

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yazhow

Willie Watson is calling himself a folk singer these days. I'm calling him a song catcher. Digging up old tunes and giving them a new life. He also does some familiar tunes from his repertoire of OCMS. Honestly though...he's moved on and once you've heard his 'new' music, so will his fans that have loved him from the OCMS days. You get full on Willie Watson! Singing his ballads, sing-a-longs, playing guitar with harmonica and MORE BANJO! It's stripped down...just his instrument of choice and that sweet voice. There's not a a lot of chit chat between songs, which could be seen as a positive or negative, depending on your perspective. Willie just keeps pouring it on! He puts 110% into his music and shows, both in quality and quantity. So, GO! Knowing that you will be getting what feels like an intimate performance even amongst the crowd. The most recent Willie Watson performance that I saw, was at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. I've seen Willie Watson perform solo seven times since his release of his debut album, Folk Singer Volume 1 and once with Dave Rawlings Machine at the Ryman. He has added something new at each show and I have always left thinking THAT was his best show. Willie has lots of dates as a solo act and still some dates with DRM. If you can get to ANY of these shows, I highly recommend that you do!

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