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. 

