Brad Phillips is a homegrown musician from Michigan and is no stranger to the stage at The Ark. Currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance in the Improvisation program, Brad has spent his entire life and career in the Mitten, where he grew up playing bluegrass, newgrass, old0time, Celtic, jazz, pop, and singer-songwriter music. He can often be seen appearing with Emmy Award-winning actor-musician-songwriter Jeff Daniels, for whom Brad served as producer for the recent release "Days Like These." Brad is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, and has worked as a sideman with prominent Michigan artists including Stevie Wonder, Iggy Pop, Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe, Michigan's own Joshua Davis from NBC's "The Voice," Seth Bernard, May Erlewine, and many others. He has also toured nationally and internationally for 10 years with acclaimed progressive Celtic band Millish, and also occasionally appears with one of the top Celtic rock bands in the country, The Elders. Brad’s unique ability to span a wide range of genres on violin, mandolin, and guitar, as well as refined composing and arranging skills makes him one of Michigan’s most sought-after acoustic musicians and a prime example of a 21st-century independent musician.