The Accidentals

2011–2012: Beginnings and Tangled Red and Blue

Larson and Buist met as young musicians in 2011 at their public high school in Traverse City, Michigan. Larson, then 15, was a freshman cello player, and Buist, then 16, was a sophomore who played violin, and they teamed up for a class orchestra project. In 2012, they auditioned for and won a spot in the first-ever singer-songwriter major at the renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts high school, where they had formally created The Accidentals.

In an interview with Post Independent, Larson described the formation of the band:

We didn't really start interacting with each other until I was 15 and Savannah was 16. Our orchestra instructor asked for volunteers to play an event. Savannah and I were the only two people who raised our hands.

Larson had visited Buist's house to discuss their impending project, during which time Larson had played a song on Buist's guitar that she hadn't played for anyone prior to their meeting. From that moment on, they were in a band.

Of the band's name origins, the band have stated in radio interviews that they had decided on "The Accidentals" because of the accidental note in music, which is denoted by a pitch that is not a member of the scale or mode that is specified by the most recently applied key signature, and the coincidental qualities behind its relation to their meeting each other by chance.

On May 21, 2012, the Accidentals had released their self-produced debut full-length album, Tangled Red and Blue. The album features 13 tracks ranging across a spectrum of contemporary folk sounds and was met with strong local reception upon its release. Their eclectic use of instruments, such as the kazoo on "The Band-Aid Song", and the tackling of potent themes such as sexism, female stereotypes, and feminism on "Enlightened Sexism" and "Jargon", had garnered Larson and Buist their first taste of local acclaim.

On "Enlightened Sexism", the band had released the following statement:

We try to write unique songs that people can relate too or get something from. We tend to have catchy, happy melodies that tell a deeper story or relay a message. It's like when you are joking with somebody, but you really mean it. For example, one of our songs, Enlightened Sexism, was inspired by a book analyzing sexism in modern pop culture. It is about resisting stereotypes and media pressure to look a certain way. The message is simple. Beautiful doesn't come in a bottle, nor does self worth. We are all diverse and that is beautiful. We should learn to accept and appreciate one another for our differences.

Prior to their meeting, Larson and Buist were budding singer-songwriters and instrumentalists. Larson had developed a music video for a demo of her original song "The Temptation of St. Anthony" as her senior year stop-motion animation project. The song is based on the Salvador Dalí painting of the same name, and is currently available to be viewed on her Facebook fan page. Similarly, many of Buist's pre-Accidentals works can be heard on her SoundCloud page.

On their official website, it had been noted that, between 2012 and 2013, the Accidentals had performed more than 500 live shows while Larson and Buist had maintained a 3.9+ GPA.

2013–2015: Bittersweet & National Reception

On April 9, 2013, the Accidentals had opened a Kickstarter campaign in an attempt to fund their sophomore album, Bittersweet, offering signed versions of the album, behind-the-scenes footage, backstage meet-and-greets, and an exclusive song entitled "Family Tree" for backers of various pledge levels. Less than one month later, on May 6, 2013, the Accidentals had successfully funded the album.

Released on June 17, 2013, Bittersweet was co-produced by Buist, Larson, and a slew of producers from across Michigan, Nashville, Tennessee, and Bloomington, Indiana. Most notably, war-themed closing track "Blessed" was produced and mixed by Zero Boys' Paul Mahern, who had previously worked with the likes of Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, in Bloomington.

Increased production values and stronger songwriting developments had brought the band a broader acclaim than their previous, fully self-produced work in Bittersweet, garnering the attention of multiple publications. Yahoo! Voices journalist Jonathan Frahm was among the first to note the band as genre-benders, stating that "They're the best folk/jazz/bluegrass/classical/alternative band out there today," and "one of the most ground-breaking musical experiences one might just have in a lifetime." Examiner.com writer Blair Hornbeck cited Bittersweet as "a remarkable realization of two artists ready to take the next step to stardom in the indie music realm."

During this period of time, the Accidentals had collaborated with multiple local artists on the development of their own releases, including engineering, production, and performance credits on Olivia Mainville's Full Steam Ahead and string section and harmony credits on the Way Down Wanderers' single, "Dead Birds". They had also contributed music to independent films One Simple Question and Please Wait To Be Seated in 2013 and 2015, respectively, also having contributed five songs from Tangled Red and Blue to Right Brain Brewery documentary Hops. Songs "The Silence" and "Golden Lantern" were used in local commercials for Shanty Creek Resorts and Makers Market, respectively.

Throughout 2013 and 2014, the duo had also kept busy gaining renown by opening for artists such as Brandi Carlile, Andrew Bird, Dar Williams, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sixto Rodriguez (Sugar Man), The Duhks, Aunt Martha, Rosco Bandana, and Lauren Mann.

Music videos for "Lemons in Chamomile" and "City of Cardboard" from off of Bittersweet have been released on the band's official YouTube page. Their most viewed music video during this time was an acoustic rendition of Buist's folk-pop song "Epitaphs".

Taking advantage of the steam garnering behind their latest effort, the band pushed single "The Silence" onto ReverbNation following a slew of shows across Michigan and the east coast between 2013 and 2014, eventually garnering the attention of Marshall Crenshaw and Stewart Lerman in 2015, with whom they are currently in contract with to produce their next four albums. In 2014, the band had hired Novi, Michigan-hailing new wave multi-instrumentalist and Treeskin artist Michael Dause as their full-time percussionist and drummer.

In early 2015, the Accidentals took to Indiegogo to fund their first-ever national tour: the "MAKING IT HAPPEN!" U.S. Tour, which had been successfully funded on March 20, 2015. The band had toured through cities such as Chicago, Illinois, Cave Creek, Arizona, San Diego, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, with notable tour dates at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2015 and with the Traverse City Orchestra in March and April, respectively.

It was during the "MAKING IT HAPPEN!" tour that the band was popularly received as one of SXSW's 7 breakout acts, according to Billboard, which had headed a new era of acclaim for the band leading into 2016. During the tour, the Accidentals had also performed alongside Ben Sollee at Chicago's City Winery and The Wailers at Grand Rapids venue the Orbit Room. They had also had their first headlining show at renowned folk music venue The Ark on June 7, 2015, following the tour, as well as at Electric Forest and Blissfest's respective 2015 iterations.

On August 25, 2015, Marshall Crenshaw joined the Accidentals for their first-ever live joint performance during the final Tuesday Evening Music Club show of the summer at Meijer Gardens. Post-show, Crenshaw praised a "precocious" Accidentals for their engaging live technique, saying in a statement to Local Spins, "They're killer. They go out there with the instinct of a killer. It was really something."

2016–present: Parking Lot EP & Odyssey

The band announced that they have opted to continue independently releasing their music after their contract with Crenshaw and Lerman had become renegotiable. The band has since released two new singles, "Parking Lot" and "Michigan and Again" for a name your price option via their official Bandcamp page. Each release was accompanied by a music video, with the "Michigan and Again" video becoming their most popular to date, with over a quarter million views on Facebook and YouTube within 10 days of its release and reaching No. 2 on Reddit's Indie Folk chart. The Accidentals later spoke with NPR on its Weekend Edition, during which time Buist had detailed the developmental process of "Michigan and Again" having begun after a recommendation from a friend of the band to write a song about their home state.

During this time, the band had their song "Bittersweet" featured on the second season of Netflix series Bloodline, on Episode 2.06.

The Accidentals independently released the Parking Lot EP on NoiseTrade for free download on June 1, 2016 and currently have plans to release a third full-length album in 2017. The EP includes the titular "Parking Lot", as well as a remixed version of the song featuring rapper Rick Chyme that they call "FRAP", or "folk-rap". Reviews for the EP were generally positive, often citing the band's "genre-bending" evolution since Bittersweet. John Sinkevics of Michigan-based music publication Local Spins called it "another entertaining step forward on a magical indie-folk journey", whereas Jonathan Frahm said on behalf of For Folk's Sake, "We're catching them at a compelling—and even inspirational—transitional portion of their careers."

The band also published an official music video for the song "Sixth Street" to YouTube, which is featured on the EP, on the same day as its release.

They were named one of the Huffington Post's Sweet 16 of 2016 by entertainment and sports journalist Michael Blalas on December 21, 2016. Blalas stated of the band, "Ah, the beauty of youthful exuberance. It's a wonderful thing, to be sure, but when you have brains, musical talent, enthusiasm and the ability to connect with a growing fan base through the monster method of social media and viral videos, there's no telling how far you can go," and that "The Accidentals certainly didn't happen by accident."

On January 9, 2017, the band announced that they were signed to Sony Masterworks via a feature in Local Spins, and they said they are looking forward to releasing the album internationally sometime during the spring of the same year. According to the band, the album will feature multiple guest performers, including Jack White bassist Dominic John Davis, Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists, Keller Williams, Kaki King, Lily & Madeleine, and Carbon Leaf. Buist described Masterworks as "a family that gets us and our music, and wants to support that authentically", while Larson added, "We feel like we can be truly who we are and they appreciate the honesty." Masterworks is primarily a classical and jazz label, having previously signed such names as Yo-Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins, and Yanni, though it has recently expanded its reach with its signing of indie folk duo Tall Heights and acknowledgement of bluegrass on The Goat Rodeo Sessions.

Sony Masterworks announced the title of the band's upcoming third album, Odyssey, on March 10, 2017 and announced that it would be released sometime during the summer of that same year. The Accidentals released their lead single, "KW" (feat. Keller Williams), from off of the impending record on that same day.

Musical style & development

While Tangled Red and Blue could be described as a contemporary folk release, the most consistent musical style attributed to The Accidentals following Bittersweet is "genre-bending". Self-described orchestra dorks, or "orc dorks", the group embraces its complex musical sound and style. "You can't really put us in one genre," according to Buist. Jim Linderman of the Dull Tool and Dim Bulb blog referred to them as "tastefully eccentric," adding: "They pack performing space with a multi-generational mix."

In 2015 the band delved into blues, rock and roll and hip-hop musicality, as can be heard in songs such as "Trouble" and "Parking Lot," as well as in collaborations with artists such as Rick Chyme.

Influences

Growing up in musical families, including professional pianists for fathers and vocalists for mothers, Larson's and Buist's influences bounced between jazz, country, classical, bluegrass, alternative rock and the obscure.

The group's self-described "all over the place" list of influences includes Andrew Bird, Stephan Grapelli, Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, Pixies, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Doris Day, The Beatles, St. Vincent, Django Reinhardt, Sufjan Stevens, Appleseed Collective, and The National.

In a Coffeehouse Conversations session with WYEP-FM, Buist and Larson were asked who their top pick would be out of any artist that they could possibly ever collaborate with. During this session, Buist had chosen Ben Folds and Larson had chosen Jack White. The duo named more influences during the Coffeehouse Conversation, including Chris Thile and Punch Brothers, Belle & Sebastian, Radiohead, and the White Stripes.

In a "20 Questions" feature with PopMatters, the group cited additional influences as topmost inspirations to their craft, such as Kimya Dawson, Patti Smith, Caroline Shaw, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and Brian May.

Members

Filmography

Awards and nominations