I recently caught Katie Larson and Sav Buist on a webinar called “The Power of Engagement,” hosted by Folk Alliance International, where they talked about their songwriting, down time during the pandemic, collaborations and ways they’ve kept creatively engaged with their growing fan base. Weekly blogs and inclusion of others into their community have yielded bountiful rewards, and their Patreon page members were a big help when their trailer got stolen and their van was totaled. Acknowledging new friends who had shown them acts of kindness, they also connected with others for advice on songs, videos, books, logos and T-shirts. I was impressed by how they’d kept their momentum going strong even in a time of isolation.       

Their Time Out Sessions are all about taking a deep breath and connecting. Released in mid-2021, Time Out Session #1 was the result of their attic’s conversion to a recording studio and a refocus on a streamlined sound with songs, songwriting and production. Savannah Buist (lead vocals, electric bass, acoustic & electric violin), Katie Larson (harmony vocals, electric guitar, cello) and Michael Dause (harmony vocals, drums, electric guitar) formed when they were in high school. Since graduating in 2016, The Accidentals have toured extensively and perform about 200 gigs a year.

After connecting with other artists on the Net, songs on Time Out Session #1 were co-written by The Accidentals with Kim Richey, Tom Paxton, Dar Williams, Maia Sharp, Mary Gauthier or Jaimee Harris. While the guests co-penned songs, they did not perform on the album. Now, in 2022, the Nashville-based trio’s Time Out Session #2 features co-writes with Gretchen Peters, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Gary Burr, Tom Paxton, Maia Sharp, Georgia Middleman, and Peter Mulvey. Some of them also appear on this latest EP.  

“Eastern Standard Time,” co-written with Mulvey, paints a beautiful picture of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and reflects their joint love of nature and history. With a haunting feel, impressionistic lyrics state, “The light of the stars and the falling snow. We shiver in the still of the sweet dark cold. The Three Fires burn from the old bloodlines, and beneath the water as dark as wine, the past is sleeping but still it shines. Eastern Standard Time.”  The Three Fires are a reference to Native Americans that inhabited Mackinac Island long ago. The song also carries a subtle message for environmental protection.

In a song like “Just a Town,” the arrangement builds from reflections in a verse, to sweetly wistful remembrances in a pre-chorus (sung together), and finally to expressive statements like “I built it up when it was all just meaningless, Like it's some kind of sacred ground. Sometimes a town is just a town.” Instrumental colorings of piano and pedal steel create an evocative mood in “Leave it in the Dust.” On Time Out Session #1 they included a song co-written with Tom Paxton, and Time Out Session #2 similarly treats us to “Remain the Same.” A breakup ballad about spiraling into an uncertain future, “Circling Round Again” picks up the tempo and has nice embellishments from Katie’s 12-string guitar and the song’s co-writer, pianist Beth Nielsen Chapman. Closing the EP with “Wide Open,” The Accidentals, inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem, tell us to let hope and optimism out of its cage. Depending on the track, guests layer in tasteful percussion, piano, organ, bass and electric guitar.              

The Accidentals’ Time Out Session #2 is top-notch folk-pop, with songs carefully cultivated to capture beautifully melancholic moments, evocative moods and accessible messages. Perhaps they’ll consider releasing both Sessions #1 and #2 as a combined full-length album, rather than as separate EPs.  (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)