Updated November 21, 2024 at 12:00 p.m.
A band with roots in Traverse City, Michigan comes to Lansing this weekend.
Sav Madigan and Katie Larson formed The Accidentals in northern Michigan in 2012, releasing their first couple of albums when they were high schoolers.
Now based in the Nashville music scene, their work in the band is paired with extensive session playing and touring with other acts. Madigan has been on violin with Lainie Wilson, and Larson has hit the road playing cello with Brett Young.
Their latest album, Cover Art, features covers of songs by female artists like Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow.
Madigan especially likes their version of Hammond Song, originally done by the sister act The Roches. The Accidentals are joined by Kim Richey on the track. They have performed the song with Richey while touring together.
Madigan remembers the first time she heard Hammond Song.
“Sitting in the parking lot of the filling station in Traverse City, and I was going to go in to get the pizza, but I just had to sit and listen to the rest of the song play out, so I’ve loved that song for a long time," she said.
"When Kim mentioned doing it as the encore for the shows we did with her, we were super down. And we loved it so much that we wanted to capture it and put it out there in perpetuity as one of the covers.”
For Larson, her favorite from the album is Green and Gold by Lianne La Havas. A long-time fan of La Havas, Larson says Green and Gold has been included in The Accidentals set lists for years.
“It’s just such a fun, groovy song to sing harmonies on, and she’s so talented at guitar,” Larson said.
“This song is just so beautiful! It’s about her Greek and Jamaican heritage, and we just wanted as many people as possible to love that song as much as we did.”
The Cover Art album came from a project started by The Accidentals in 2020. For their YouTube channel, they learned a song every week, and then recorded it in one live take. With new drummer Katelyn Corll, who also grew up in Michigan, they chose some of those songs and released the album this past spring.
Not on the album but close to the group’s heart is a song recorded in 2016 about how much they enjoy spending time in their home state when they can.
At first, the idea was that Michigan and Again would be used to raise money for their first trip to perform at the South by Southwest music festival in Texas.
Madigan says the song’s popularity beyond the mitten state was unexpected.
“No matter where we’ve gone in the world and in the United States, people have asked to hear it, because there’s always a Michigander somewhere, or somebody who relates to that feeling of leaving home, and coming back home only for a moment because you know you’re just going to have to pack up and leave again, but carrying that little piece of home with you, Madigan said.
"I think that’s what the song is really about.”
The concert this weekend was rescheduled from a date in July, and tickets already purchased for that date will be honored. It will be the band’s last booked performance of the year. Look for a mix of older songs, some of their covers, and maybe a sneak peek at their next album.
Opening for The Accidentals will be The Rebel Eves, and Jess Merritt and The Understorey. Doors open for the all-ages show Saturday at 7 p.m. at Grewal Hall in Lansing.
