“Mike + Ruthy are carrying the torch for simple, heartfelt acoustic music with a direct line back to the Carter Family via Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and even the Byrds.” — Maverick Magazine, UK
The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will present Mike + Ruthy on Friday, March 27, 2015 at 8:00 PM in Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $25 advance, $28 at the door and $22 for museum members plus fees. Tickets may be purchased on line at www.dennosmuseum.org, or by calling the Museum Box office at 231-995-1553; also at 1-800-836-0717 or www.MyNorthTickets.com.
2015 marks Ruth Ungar & Mike Merenda’s 16th year of musical collaboration. From their humble start whacking ukuleles at the Sidewalk Café’s “anti-hoot” open-mic on New York City’s Avenue A to singing down fascism with Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie at Carnegie Hall with string-band revivalists, The Mammals, Mike + Ruthy show no sign of coming up for air anytime soon.
After thousands of concerts across tens-of-thousands of miles, Mike + Ruthy’s have emerged as one of acoustic America’s most revered musical duos. As story-tellers, as singers, as poets and as parents (they tour with their two small children), Mike + Ruthy are heralds of an American cultural awakening that values honesty and togetherness, prefers grit to glitz, and revels in the old-fashioned telling of a story. Described as “rich, vintage Americana” by Time Out NY, Mike + Ruthy’s 2012 Woody Guthrie collaboration “My New York City” has been touted as one of the most gorgeous pieces ever to have come out of the archive.
Like many indie-folk musicians today, both Michael and Ruth perform and record in multiple modes, both within and beyond the boundaries of their core pairing. Indeed, the merging of his proto-rock radio grounding and her firm tradition has blossomed into a longstanding journey that ranges from soft blues to raucous trad-folk to grungy folk-rock sets that frame them as exemplars of their age to critics and peers alike. An evening spent with Mike + Ruthy promises to thrill your senses, raise your spirits, and delve deep into your soul.
The 2014-2015 performance season at the Dennos Museum Center is made possible with support from Arts Midwest, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert T and Ruth Haidt Trust, and the Osterlin Performance Endowment with media support from WNMC 90.7, WCMU Public Broadcasting, Northern Express and TV 29&8 – 7&4. Housing for our performers is provided by the Cambria Suites and Country Inn and Suites.
The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday’s until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
Listen to Mike + Ruthy at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KScwsUB3gc