Brian Vander Ark
Brian Vander Ark is coming to The Ark on April 19th. He’s the former lead singer of The Verve Pipe, which had the hit song “The Freshman” awhile back. While I liked that song all right, I thought it was a bit overplayed, so I never really paid much attention to the band. However, when my favorite radio station here played Brian’s single, “Survival,” last year, I wanted more. I finally got the chance to hear more last summer at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival where he played for free. Unfortunately, it had been a rainy afternoon, so there was almost no crowd, but I went anyway. It was great. I loved all his songs, and bought his CD. Since then, he’s played in Ann Arbor a couple of times, and Logan and I went to go see him at his last show at The Ark, and again at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival this past January. We just bought his newest album, and are really looking forward to his next concert.
Besides having great music, he seems like a really nice, laid-back guy, too. He allowed flash photography at his last concert at the Ark (so I’m definitely bringing my camera this time), and during the summers he’s taken to doing Lawn Chairs and Living Room tours, which I think is awesome. Anyway. He’s worth checking out, and if he comes on tour near you, I think you should go. You can go here to download a free copy of his song, “Lily White Way,” which I think is quite good, myself.