Robbie Fulks makes alternative country with a tough, uncompromising edge. He mixes country twang and rock crunch in songs that have a hard edge and a wicked sense of humor. While some might try to copy old-style country music, Robbie Fulks not only knows it and loves it, but also brings its spirit, its humor, and sometimes its one-of-a-kind strangeness to his own work. "Fulks' heroes have been done wrong by women, the law, and life itself, but they keep on going," says the Cincinnati Post. The same might be said of Robbie himself, who's been blazing his own path for more than 15 years now. His recent work has had a serious, almost philosophical tinge, and he comes to The Ark with a much-awaited new album, "Upland Stories."