It’s going to be a busy few weeks for the local band Lake Folk. Not only are the Ypsilanti-based quintet the opening act for the Parkington Sisters at The Ark, they are also getting ready for a CD release party at Savoy.

The Ark show, part of the club’s Take a Chance Tuesday free series, is Tuesday night. The Savoy gig, with local favorites Chris Bathgate and Misty Lyn opening, is Saturday, Oct. 2.

“We’re kind of now breaking onto the Michigan folk scene,” said Lake Folk’s Eric Anderson.

Lake Folk formed in 2009, and shortly thereafter began working the indie folk/roots noir sound that drives “Feel Like I’m Home,” their debut release, which was recorded by Ann Arbor musician/engineer Jim Roll.

Although based in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, members come from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Besides Anderson (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Lake Folk’s other personnel are Erin Shellman (vocals, upright bass), Danielle Gartner (cello, vocals, mandolin), Bryan Mayer (guitar) and John Nipper (percussion). Anderson does most of the songwriting.

“People all moved (to Ann Arbor) to either start school or start jobs, and got to know each other,” said Anderson. “I moved up here for a job (he’s a research scientist in the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment) and I knew Erin and Danielle from college in Cleveland — we went to school at Case Western Reserve. We met Bryan once he moved up here, and started to put together a band, more like friendly jamming, I guess, to test the water and see how it went.”

Although the band started as a foursome, an ad on Craigslist earlier this year yielded drummer/multi-instrumentalist John Nipper, who moved up to Ypsilanti from Tennessee about a year ago looking to stretch out in the music scene.

“We got lucky, very lucky, to find him ... just in time for the record, and he's really helped to develop our sound,” Anderson said of Nipper.

“We got in the studio in the late spring or early summer and slammed out a CD pretty quick, I think it took maybe two months, recording and mixing and everything,” Anderson said of the new disc, which contains all originals (except one cover, the classic jazz weeper “Gloomy Sunday,” often associated with Billie Holiday).

Anderson cited Tom Waits as a musical influence, along with Gillian Welch, The Duhks and The Sparrow Quartet.

“We always like the sound of instruments (playing) together not in their traditional contexts,” Anderson explained. “We’ve been trying to figure out what sound we want to get out of our group. This folk-roots music direction is definitely the direction we’re going in. We’ve been playing with the term ‘roots-noir.’ Folk songs can sometimes be kind of sad or depressing, we’re not trying to step into that at all, we’re just a little bit darker, kind of in the way Tom Waits might be a little darker, but not depressing.” Listen to Lake Folk "Means to an End" (MP3).

Besides handling the recording duties, Roll, who operates Backseat Productions locally, also contributed fiddle to one tune. Other guest musicians included Ian Gorman from the Kalamazoo-based band Red Sea Pedestrians (dobro, accordion and concertina) and Jamie Warren (trombone, trumpet).

Roll and Warren are expected to perform with Lake Folk at the CD release show.

Anderson said he sought out Roll when it came time to record because of his reputation with other musicians and the kinds of bands he has worked with. “It just seems there’s been a whole Michigan community that’s gone through him. … There seemed like a natural connection,” Anderson said.

This year, Lake Folk played at 2 major music events, Hollerfest and Farmfest, and hopes to expand that number next year.

Anderson said Lake Folk’s members bring a wide range of backgrounds to the group’s sound.

“Erin and John are both jazz trained musicians, John on drums and Erin on upright bass, and Danielle is a classically-trained French horn player. Erin brought ‘Gloomy Sunday’ to our attention … the version that we do is just Erin on vocals and Danielle playing the cello, it’s a pretty pared down song that gives a different dimension to the album. Of course it’s a kind of a haunting tune with a nice sound to it.”

As far as the name is concerned, Anderson said Lake Folk reflects the origins of four of the group’s five members. “We’re mostly from near the Great Lakes … a lot of songs I have written are drawn from my life in this area. If we looked for a commonality, it seemed to be where we are now and where we come from. The lakes just popped out with the double meaning — the music genre and also people of the lake area.”

Anderson said he is excited about playing with the Massachusetts-based Parkington Sisters (Lydia, Rose, Nora, Sarah and Ariel Parkington). “They’re a group that is going to be famous a year from now,” he predicted.

Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com