T

wo folk composing and
recording artists — Dan
Bern and Randy Kaplan
— are glad to have their live
appearances resuming with one
scheduled together at The Ark
in Ann Arbor, where Bern has
entertained about a dozen times
over many years.
New songs and crowd favorites
will be featured Tuesday evening,
Oct. 5, as Kaplan opens for Bern,
and they later combine talents.
“Randy and I were living in
Los Angeles in the early ’90s
when there was a thriving music
scene of singers, songwriters and
musicians who were close and
supportive,” says Bern, who will
be playing guitar, piano and other
instruments. “We got on really
well right away and stayed good
pals through a lot of different
locations and moves.”
Bern has many new songs to
consider as possible program
selections. They were developed
over pandemic confinement,
when he did streaming
performances from his New
Mexico home joined by 12-year-
old daughter Lulu, a next-
generation composer-performer.
“I released six albums (on
Bandcamp) in the last year,” Bern
says. “Some of them I had sitting
around, waiting for something
to be done with them. I also was
writing a lot of stuff all along,
and Quarantine Me was the first
album to come out.”
If Bern chooses to present a
song from that album, he’ll have
many choices with themes all
too familiar to his audience, such
as “Social Distancing,” “Wash
Your Hands” and “Hunkered in
the Bunker,” also the title of his
streaming series.
On a sporting note, Bern
developed albums about tennis
and baseball and might introduce
those tracks. Besides being a fan,
Bern has been a tennis player as
well as an artist and author.
“One old song I perform

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

38 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021





Composer-
musician Dan
Bern will perform
at The Ark Oct. 5.

COURTESY DAN BERN

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dan Bern brings local
friend, Randy Kaplan, as
opener at The Ark.

Back
Road
on
the

Details
Dan Bern and Randy
Kaplan will appear at 8
p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, at
The Ark, 316 S. Main,
Ann Arbor. $20. (734)
761-1818. theark.org.
Proof of full vaccination
and masks are required.