The Raven Gallery & Acoustic Cafe

Grand opening with Josh White Jr., Chuck Mitchell, Ron Coden, Dean Rutledge, Charlie Lattimer, Phil Marcus Esser and Barbara Bredius
Dinner show 7:30 tonight (seating at 6 p.m.), $35
10 tonight, $15; Midnight, $10
145 N. Center, Northville
1-810-349-9420 for reservations

It was the groovy place to be in the '60s and '70s.

Clad in their finest garb, teens from across metro Detroit flocked to the Raven Gallery in Southfield. There, they could listen to good folk music for just a couple of bucks. It was where then-unknown performers like Joni Mitchell and Josh White Jr. got their start.

But those were the days when folk was king.

Then came the 1980s -- a decade of hard-rockin', electronically generated sounds. Gone were the days of a guy, a stool and his guitar. And in 1980, the Raven flew the coop.

Now, folk music is coming back. And so has the Raven Gallery, which celebrates its grand opening tonight at a new venue in Northville. Now, the kids of those kids can chill to the same groovy tunes their parents listened to.

The Raven isn't the only acoustic music venue capitalizing on folk's rising popularity.

The Ark -- an Ann Arbor folk music staple for more than 30 years -- set up shop last week at a club in the city's downtown that seats almost twice as many as its old location.

Back to the basics

Sure, folk is not as big as it was in the '60s and '70s. And it may never be. But it's creeping back onto the American music scene.

It's coming through the radio with the success of performers such as Tracy Chapman and Jewel. It runs rampant on the Internet, giving local artists a chance to reach a national audience. It's selling big at chain stores such as Best Buy and Blockbuster and at smaller stores such as Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor.

It's even part of the popular sitcom "Friends," in which folkie Phoebe regularly strums her guitar to the tune "Smelly Cat."

"Folk is not a four-letter word anymore," says David Tamulevich, vice president of Flemming-Tamulevich and Associates, an Ann Arbor-based agency that represents many well-known folk acts. "People are looking for artists that tell their stories, not stuff that's techno and overblown."

Listeners are again looking for honesty and simplicity in their music, says Royal Oak resident Cheryl Ashley, who's been a folk fan for nearly two decades.

"It's from the heart," Ahsley says. "It's something that a single person can stand up there and enchant you for an evening. And it's so gentle your ears never hurt."

Working together

So can a city like Detroit -- known more for its Motown sound, rock 'n' roll attitude and the birth of techno -- sustain the competition the new Raven and the new-look Ark will bring? Especially considering other clubs -- particulary the 7th House in Pontiac -- feature folk acts, too?

The answer depends on whom you ask.

Some say the Raven, which is expected to book smaller, local acts, will complement long-timer the Ark, which attracts national names.

But don't tell that to Dave Siglin, the Ark's director- manager.

"If there's a pie and you split it two ways, everybody only gets half a pie," says Siglin, who was wary of even being included in an article with the Raven. "It's a rock 'n' roll area. We have to cajole and pull and convince people to come out. Everything is hard to sell."

Raven Gallery owner Tom Rice is a bit more optimistic.

"I want to work with him, not against him," Rice says. "We should be complementing each other. I just don't see a problem. I'm an open-minded person. I can work with him."

Although there's bound to be some rivalry in scheduling acts, the Detroit scene can support both the Raven and the Ark, booker Tamulevich says.

"Detroit is consistently one of the top markets for (folk) album sales," he says. "There are more people coming to the music all the time. There's certainly competition. As in anything, you just have to work together. That's one of the reasons folk music has survived and grown so much."

Different worlds

The two clubs will present the same type of music, but they are radically different.

The Raven sits in a 19th-Century Methodist church complete with candy-colored, stained-glass windows and a vaulted, wood- beamed ceiling. It will serve grand buffets of Midwestern peasant food such as shepherd's pie and slabs of roast tenderloin. The entertainment, offered in a small, intimate setting, will include small-time local acts and open-microphone nights for young performers.

The building also is home to the Northville Academy of Music and Arts, a music school that teaches about 700 students a week. There's also the Gitfiddler, a retail shop selling guitars and other string instruments; The Raven Gallery, a showcase for local visual artists; and the Raven Restaurant, which will serve some of the same foods offered at the concert buffets.

"It's my folk mecca," Rice says. "We wanted to tie all this together with a place where you can buy an instrument, learn how to play it and hear someone else play it real well."

It's a different world at the Ark.

Buzzing saws sprayed dust onto the sidewalk of Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor earlier this month as contractors worked to finish building the club before its grand opening Sept. 12.

With nearly 500 seats, it holds about five times more people than the Raven. As always, the Ark will continue to book national folk artists like Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams.

"The Raven is going to be a smaller dinner club," says Detroit folksinger-songwriter Jan Krist, who has performed at both venues. "The Ark is going to be a pretty large venue. They'll be able to share the scene because a lot of people like to go see a show in an intimate setting. But you're not going to get someone like Richard Thompson, John Gorka or Dar Williams to come to a little club like that."

Despite the larger size, Siglin hopes the new Ark still will provide an intimate setting for folk music.

"It's not going to be a mausoleum," he says. "I want to keep the atmosphere relaxed, very friendly, very warm. I want it to be a safe place for people to go."

The Detroit sound

The opening of new venues opens some doors for young folksingers like Penny Ruggirello.

The 25-year-old artist from Sterling Heights has been singing original songs for about a year at Detroit-area coffeehouses and bookstores. In that time, she has increased her performances and seen her pay climb from $20 or $30 a night to more than $100.

She hopes to one day make performing her full-time job.

And with the way album sales are going at Detroit-area stores, she just may have that chance.

Sales of folk albums have doubled over the last several years at Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor, owner Steve Bergman says.

"It's doing better than ever," Bergman says. "Its influences are pervasive."

A wealth of up-and-coming Detroit artists like Ruggirello gives the city's folk scene a distinctive flair, says Dave Folks, a Royal Oak folksinger who's been performing for 25 years and runs the Michigan Artists Music Alliance coffeehouse each month at the Birmingham Unitarian Church.

"There's a Detroit identity," Folks says. "There's a Detroit sound. We have a regional voice. It's not as intellectual as the East Coast folkies. It's more lyrics and music from the heart. There's a different melodic feel to things. It's definitely a unique voice that's emerging."