The Ark: RFD Boys and Parsonsfield highlight July 9-10 weekend

THE RFD BOYS

Saturday, July 9, 2022, 8 pm

Door: $11, $10 mem, stu, sen

The house band of Michigan bluegrass Ann Arbor’s own RFD Boys last had a real retrospective at our 40th-anniversary Folk Festival, and on that occasion it was brought home to everyone there how deeply this group of musicians has been woven into the musical life of Ann Arbor. Recently they celebrated their own 50th anniversary (with a new album, “Still Delivering,” no less!). It’s hard to believe, because each show is fresh and new, but the RFD Boys have been delighting Michigan audiences since 1969 with their fabulous musicianship and sly, exquisitely timed between-song humor. They’re legends of Michigan bluegrass, but they’re more than that. With an appearance on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited, with songs recorded by the likes of the Country Gentlemen, and with performances alongside bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, the RFD Boys are a part of America’s bluegrass tradition. https://www.rfdboys.com/

PARSONSFIELD

Sunday, July 10, 2022, 7:30 pm

Tickets: $20
The “Happy Hour on the Floor” tour!

Parsonsfield is a four-piece alt/folk band from Massachusetts that infuses a rowdy, rock ‘n’roll spirit into its bluegrass and folk influences, blowing away any preconception of what you think banjos and mandolins should sound like. They weren’t always called Parsonsfield—the band started out as Poor Old Shine. The new name was born of the inspired experiences recording two albums in beautiful, rural Parsonsfield, Maine. “We owe a lot to what happened there,” they say. “It pulled us from being a more traditional string band to something that felt much more uniquely ourselves. It made us the band we are today.”