In concert

Folk with some country flavor

Daisy May and Seth Bernard

Tonight at 7:30 p.m.

$15

At The Ark

Two of Michigan's most talented singer-songwriters will perform at The Ark this Friday. Daisy May (May Erlewine), Seth Bernard and friends will grace Ann Arbor with their heartfelt harmonies and country-flavored folk. The duo last performed in the area in January when they took the stage at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Since then May released her new solo album Mother Moon.

Known for her soulful voice, May has been singing her way across the Midwest since she was a teenager. In recent months, her charming smile and gentle stage presence graces audiences all over the state. Her captivating voice and delicate melodies have left unforgettable impressions.

Joining May is Seth Bernard, whose lead guitar and vocal harmonies are indelible attributes of the full, fleshed out sound on May's newest album. In addition, Bernard is one of the prominent figures who initiated the Earthwork Music Collective, which has now evolved into the Earthwork Music record label. With 15 artists and a slew of activist projects across the state, Earthwork Music is one of the most influential independent record labels in Michigan.

Opening for May and Bernard are the newest additions to the Earthwork collective, Laura Bates and Brandon Foote, who sound like they were plucked directly from a tattered black-and-white photo of a backwoods farmhouse. Their old-time gospel/folk is driven by Foote's mandolin and vocals and Bates's soprano voice, guitar and piano. Though Bates and Foote are new to the Michigan music scene, their classic approach to traditional music communicates an understanding and ardor for a distant era that even the most distinguished folk musicians can't convey.

Outfitted with stringed instruments, both groups ensure that The Ark will be brimming with endearing waltzes and joyful voices tonight.

Anna Ash

TV

Another voice for the dead

"Raines"

Fridays at 9 p.m.

NBC

If dead people could talk to you, what would they say? It's a tough question, and plenty of recent TV series - "Medium" and "The Ghost Whisperer," to name just a couple - have provided possible answers. But the problem with people talking to the dead is that, well, the two parties just don't have a whole lot in common.

NBC's new drama "Raines" takes an fascinating (though hardly unprecedented) take on this dilemma. The incomparable Jeff Goldblum ("Igby Goes Down") stars as Michael Raines, a Los Angeles police detective who was recently injured in a shootout. Returning to his job after a period of recuperation, Raines finds he has a new weapon in his crime-fighting arsenal - he can talk to the victims whose murders he's trying to solve.

Sort of. Those who appear to him are actually just figments of his imagination, meaning that while they can converse and interact with him, they only know what he already knows. Like any detective, Raines plays out scenarios in his mind, but to him those scenarios become increasingly real.

The murder victim he pegs as a hooker suddenly becomes one. When he figures out that she had a southern accent, her imaginary reincarnation develops one, too. If getting to know the victim is the key to solving any murder, then Raines ought to be the best: The victim is literally alive for him, ready to play out his theories.

As convoluted as this explanation may seem, the show is actually easy to follow. The audience is asked simply to accept that this man has a very active imagination. When that man is the guy who outlasted T-rexes in not one, but two "Jurassic Park" movies, it's easy to buy into it. Slippery and aloof as always, Goldblum brings a dose of candor to his disturbed character that leaves nothing in "Raines" seeming out of the ordinary - don't we all have deep conversations with ourselves every now and then?

Rating: 3 out of 5

Imran Syed