The Accidentals’ Katie Larson & Savannah Buist On Perseverance, Genre-Bending & Signing To Sony
Based in Traverse City, Michigan in 2012, The Accidentals formed when multi-instrumentalists (and vocalists) Savannah Buist and Katie Larson were in high school. That same year, The Accidentals released its debut album Tangled Red And Blue. One year later, Buist and Larson successfully funded the second Accidentals album via Kickstarter. Percussionist Michael Dause joined the duo in 2014 during a period when The Accidentals opened for the likes of Brandi Carlile, Andrew Bird, Dar Williams, Sixto Rodriguez, The Duhks, Rosco Bandana, Lauren Mann, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
August 2017 brought the release of Odyssey, the first Accidentals effort for the Sony Masterworks label. Rave reviews were quickly received from NPR, PopMatters, and All Music Guide. To learn more about Odyssey, I spoke with both Buist and Larson for Hype. More on The Accidentals — whose tour launched on March 2nd in Evanston, Illinois — can be found online at www.moreaccidentals.com.
There are undeniable influences of folk, jazz, bluegrass and classical music in your sound, yet you’re a rock band. How would you describe The Accidentals to someone who hasn’t yet heard the band?
Katie Larson: A press outlet described us as “genre-bending” once and it really stuck with us. We are never one thing. That would be boring. We draw from our orchestral roots, and our family influences of jazz and folk, but we listen to punk, rock, and indie music, and we are constantly being inspired in real time. It really is the hardest thing to describe as a whole because each song has its own story. We aren’t trying to be any one genre. If you like The Decembrists, Brandi Carlile, Neko Case, First Aid Kit, The Beatles, Queen, Vulfpeck, Jack White, or Django Reinhardt, you will probably find a song you can relate to on one of our albums.
The Accidentals started in high school, but did you have a band before The Accidentals?
Savannah Buist: As a kid, I played fiddle in my family’s folk band. Katie and I both grew up in musical families. I didn’t think I was a singer or a songwriter though. When I met Katie, she encouraged me to write songs and gave me the confidence to learn multiple instruments, I think I encouraged her to “forget what you know and just play what you hear” — improv…
The Accidentals used Kickstarter and Indiegogo early on. At what point did you realize that being independent was a good thing, and that you did not need the traditional music industry to have a career?
Katie Larson: To us, being independent means staying true to yourself and maintaining creative control of your art. It is possible to be truly collaborative with an entity that has the ability to help you develop a wider reach and support your goals. DIY has its blessings and challenges. When bands can work in true collaboration with teams that support their vision it’s ideal.
From the beginning, we’ve been taught that no matter what path you take — in or out of the industry — it’s going to require an investment of your own time, money, and energy to get to where you want to be. We have always been willing to work for it. The band motto is “ask for what you need.”
How did the opportunity to work with Sony Masterworks come about? Had you done showcases for labels?
Savannah Buist: At 18, Katie and I were offered scholarships to a few music colleges at the same time that we were offered a production deal in New York City. That came about by putting our music online. Reverbnation was the vehicle that connected our music to people who offered to help us. It was a really hard decision but we took the deal. When the production deal became renegotiable in 2016, we opted out of it. At that point we were already on Sony’s radar. We decided to self-produce an EP called Parking Lot.
Our song “Michigan And Again” went viral and we reconnected with Sony Masterworks. They offered us the opportunity to work with them on a full-length album. We really were able to have creative control over the production, engineering, and songs on the album, and as a result, we released Odyssey in 2018 in a collaborative and supportive way.
Odyssey is your latest album. How long did you spend making it?
Katie Larson: We spent a few weeks deciding what songs should be on the album. We had been writing and playing songs for three years without recording them so we had a lot to choose from. When it came time to record we holed up in the basement of Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, North Carolina and did all the basic tracks in 2.5 weeks. Sav and I played all the instruments except piano/organ and Michael on drums/vocals. Jenny Conlee flew in and stayed a couple days overdubbing piano/organ with us. It was a chaotic time. We recorded through Halloween, the World Series, the 2016 Election, in between two really tough tours. It was therapeutic to lay down the music.
We recorded overdubs in Nashville at House Of Blues and Journey’s studio for two more weeks, then we spent four months in the mixing process trying to get a mix that we could all agree on. We started in October and finished in March. Sometimes our sound is counter-intuitive and in the end it took five mix engineers and three mastering engineers to get a final we could all live with.
Do you have a favorite song on the album?
Savannah Buist: Our writing tends to be an individual — and sometimes a really personal — process. We have a lot of mutual respect for each other as artists because we write very differently. As a result, we tend to choose each other’s songs as personal favorites. For instance, Katie’s song “Memorial Day” is probably my favorite. I like the amorphous structure of it, the dynamic way the song creates emotion, and we really had fun arranging and stacking the strings on it.
Have you already begun working on a followup to Odyssey?
Katie Larson: We just cut 12 new demos for Sony Masterworks and are in the discussion phase of choosing a producer we really want to collaborate with. We are always writing. Touring is great inspiration for song material and we tour constantly. When we get home it just all gets processed on paper. We’ve been adding some of the new songs to our live show and hashing them out live. We hope to record them soon!
When not busy with The Accidentals, how do you like to spend your free time?
Savannah Buist: We all have a lot of interests and passions. I’m a huge wolf nerd, so when we’re on the road I’m always dragging the rest of the band to wolf conservations and habitats. I enjoy archery, and I’m working on a sci-fi novel as well. Katie is really passionate about sustainable agriculture, and I’ve seen her come home from tour and work on a goat farm or make cheese, soaps, and kombucha. She also has an Instagram food blog called Katie.Eats.Food. Every once in a while, the band will get together and we’ll watch movies or play Settlers Of Catan.
What was the last concert you went to for fun?
Katie Larson: Last week we were home with a few days off, so Sav and I went out to see our favorite “newgrass”/gypsy jazz band, The Appleseed Collective. We are horrible dancers, but we sat in the back and ate deep-fried cheese curds until midnight, so it was definitely our definition of fun. We are looking forward to Folk Alliance and SXSW, when we aren’t playing we are watching/supporting.
Finally, any last words for the kids?
Savannah Buist: “Ask for what you need.” As introverts, the music industry can sometimes be a little intimidating. It involves talking to people, initiating conversations, and being collaborative. When we were 15 and 16 and just starting out, we really had to step outside our comfort zones. Asking almost always paid off!
Set goals — if you don’t know what you want, you will always feel like you are in limbo. Set short term and long term goals and surround yourself with people who support those efforts. #odysseyboldly. We each have our own fears or insecurities but we are learning to move forward in spite of the fear. Learn to be present and enjoy the journey. Be thankful.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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