The Accidentals | Sawyer Fredericks
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October 2, 2021 @ 9:30 pm
$25, $45 gold circle
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
Female-fronted, multi-instrumentalist power trio, The Accidentals, (Sav Buist, Katie Larson, and Michael Dause) kicked off 2018 with the release of their debut album, Odyssey, with Sony Masterworks. They followed the album release with two-hundred days of touring nationally, seventeen festivals, sync placement with Turner Classic Movies, FOX sports, and a RAM Trucks BANDvan #tourtough commercial.
The Accidentals followed the Odyssey release with a self-titled LIVE album and toured the UK; all while scoring an indie film, teaching workshops across the country, playing with symphonies, and recording their soon to be released, Vessel album, with bucket-list producers, John Congleton and Tucker Martine.
In the absence of touring this last year, Sav and Katie started cowriting with some of their songwriting heroes over zoom, (Beth Neilsen Chapman, Dar Williams, Kim Richey, Gretchen Peters, Maia Sharp, Mary Gauthier etc) and decided to record the; just released, Time Out EP in their makeshift attic studio.
Billboard says, “The Accidentals display a genre-hopping range of influences and some smart songwriting skills to go with their abundant musical chops.”
PopMatters says, “You can’t define them by comparison to any one band,” comparing them to a mash-up of influences including, “Beatles, Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Led Zeppelin, Ani DiFranco, Neko Case, Brandi Carlile, and more.”
NPR says, “Some of the most compelling writers of our time… they display equal interest in the focused musical forms of indie rock and pop and the expansive potential of orchestral arrangements, jam band open-endedness, and impressionistic singer-songwriter expression.”
Americana singer-songwriter, Sawyer Fredericks, hailing from his family farm in central New York State, cut his teeth at the age of 13, playing local farmers markets, open mics, and iconic New York venues like Caffe Lena, the Towne Crier Cafe, and The Bitter End. With his deep, beyond-his-years original lyrics and melodies, raw, soulful vocals, and powerful live performances, Sawyer seemed an unlikely match for reality tv, but having been scouted by casting directors at 15, he quickly won over broad audiences with his genuine delivery and unique arrangements of classic songs, going on to win season 8 of NBC’s The Voice.
Fresh from that whirlwind, Fredericks went forward with the release of his major label debut, A Good Storm, with Republic Records, an impressive blend of soulful Folk, blues, and rock, entirely written or co-written by Sawyer. Choosing to go independent, for more creative freedom, his 2018 Hide Your Ghost, fully written and produced by Fredericks, sheds the high gloss major label treatment, and stays true to Fredericks’s honest and elegantly stripped down style, a self-described “free range folk”, incorporating elements of blues, roots rock, and jazz with live instrumental arrangements throughout. In writing about his top ten Americana albums of 2018 in No Depression and AXS Magazine, Chris Griffy recommends Hide Your Ghost as “a bluesy folk rocker with a no-frills production that relies on Fredericks’ raw voice to carry the emotional weight.”
With song premieres in People Magazine and American Songwriter and an album preview in Billboard Magazine, on May 1, 2020 Fredericks released his 4th album, Flowers For You. “With his second independent album, Flowers For You, Fredericks is expanding his sound even more, moving from bluesy folk into more expansive Americana, rock, and tinges of jazz,” remarks Chris Griffy in Concert Hopper. Two songs from Flowers For You won top awards from the 18th annual Independent Music Awards, “Born” won in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter category and “Amen” won the Vox Pop award in the Social Action Song category. “Born” was recently officially added to SiriusXM’s Coffee House channel.
Throughout his career, Sawyer has played many festivals and prestigious venues like the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival with 2019 touring highlights including official showcases at SXSW, AmericanaFest, Folk Alliance International, and BMI’s Island Hopper Songwriter Fest.
