ZRock

ZRock Music News and Videos

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Artists
  • Concerts
  • Interviews
  • Photos
  • Contact
  • Submit News
  • Requests

The Accidentals : Heavy Flag

November 4, 2018 by Jarrod Vrazel

Share
Tweet
More

IMG 1178

The Accidentals new single Heavy Flag is a “call-to-action” song about the cost of societal apathy, and about the power of humanity to affect change.

“I wrote Heavy Flag thinking about the future, the weight and responsibility of our generation to care for our resources and for each other (this is what I do in my down time),’ says Sav Buist.  “_While I was writing the song, I had a book open to the famous photo “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”. The weight of that flag being both physical and psychological struck me as a powerful statement. The time for that statement is now.”


Named among Yahoo Music’s “Top 10 Bands to Watch in 2017,” The Accidentals’ adventure began in their hometown of Traverse City, MI, when Larson, a sophomore cellist, and Buist, a junior violinist, were paired for a high school orchestra event. The gifted young musicians became fast friends and before long, bandmates. Having both grown up in musical families with professional pianists for fathers and vocalists for mothers, their shared influences bounced between classical, jazz, bluegrass, country, alt-rock, and the obscure.

Dubbing themselves after the musical notes that fall outside of a key signature, The Accidentals recorded and released a pair of independent albums in 2012 and 2013, the latter funded by a hugely successful Kickstarter. Their original songs revealed a band with wide-ranging influences but always true to their orchestral roots. National applause and attention followed, as did acclaimed collaborations with some fellow local artists and independent filmmakers. Other career highlights included scoring arrangements for a 75-piece orchestra to accompany them on their original songs as well as arranging pieces for an opera/dance production with Jennifer and Ryan Lott (Son Lux).

The past five years have seen The Accidentals perform over a thousand live shows, including headline dates, festival sets, and shared stages along such diverse acts as Keller Williams, Martin Sexton, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Bird, The Wailers, Joan Baez, and others. 2015 saw the band embark on their first full-scale national tour. Their SXSW debut saw them hailed by Billboard Magazine for “displaying a genre-hopping range of influences and some smart songwriting skills to go with their abundant musical chops.”

Now, at long last, The Accidentals unveil their most compelling and finely honed work to date. Co-produced by Buist, Larson, and Dause with engineer Jason Lehning (Mat Kearney, Guster, George Jones, Alison Krauss) at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording, ODYSSEY sees the band joined by such friends and fans as acoustic guitar maestro Kaki King, bassist – and fellow Michigander – Dominic John Davis (Jack White, Beck), Carbon Leaf guitarist Carter Gravatt, Keller Williams and The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee, who spent three days in the studio alongside the band, lending her distinctive organ to a number of the album’s key tracks.

“It was a really collaborative process,” says Larson. “A lot of these songs had been hashed out at our live shows over the past few years, so we had a very strong idea of what we wanted in the arrangements.

The Accidentals’ inviting spirit of shared creativity is perhaps best represented by the album’s audacious first single, “KW,” showcasing the inimitable guitar work of Keller Williams, whose own virtuosic genre-agnostic approach towards music making inspired the song in the first place.

From the orchestrated rock of “Memorial Day” to the album-closing “Ballad Tendered Gun” – surprisingly, The Accidentals’ first instrumental to be included on an LP – ODYSSEY is a strikingly dynamic work, both layered and unhurried, bittersweet yet life-affirming. Rich with literary references, whispers of nostalgia, and an unstoppable sense of forward motion, its songs were written independently by Buist and Larson and then arranged and refined by the group, creating a perfect yin/yang between individual introspection and dynamic cooperation, each artist bringing her own unique perspective to the process.

“We rely on each other to create a balance,” Buist says. “I think that’s the key to this band. Our styles of songwriting and arrangement are very different, so when they come together, they create this variation that couldn’t happen any other way.”

The goal as ever is to experiment and experience, exploring new ideas and approaches while always staying true to their roots. With ODYSSEY, The Accidentals have conjured a truly one of its kind sound and vision, booming with free-thinking musicality, wisdom, and an understanding that growth is a process, not something that happens overnight. The Accidentals are already moving forward on their amazing journey, rolling down the windows on an open road towards someplace that’s both true and transcendent.

“I don’t think there are really any limits in terms of genre or instrumentation,” Larson says. “We just really enjoy making music that connects.”

“For us, it’s about the experience and collaboration and trying to learn as much as we can,” Buist says.  Every day is an opportunity.”

For more information, visit theaccidentalsmusic.com

Share
Tweet
More

Filed Under: News, Videos

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

ZRock Featured Videos

ZRock Featured Videos

Kevorkian Death Cycle Brings Anthology Back To Life With The Re-Envisioned ‘Collection:Injection’

Di Auger Addresses Subjugation During Lockdowns With New Single

Clockwork Echo Addresses Self-Annihilation & Hope With New LP

Emily Lazar (SEPTEMBER MOURNING) Continues to Break Ground in NFT World with SEPTEMBER MONSTERS!

THE HATE CLUB Introduces Fans to Futuristic METALverse with Surreal, 3D Animated Music Video, “Sleepwalker”!

DEAD ORIGINAL Releases Official Music Video for New Single “Restrained”

THEM GUNS RELEASE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “FIREWORKS”!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WIN FREE TICKETS AND SHIT

Join the ZRock VIP Z List to get news about your favorite artists and be eligible to win free shit like concert tickets and music

Popular Posts

IMMERSER Releases Official Music Video for “Blame”!IMMERSER Releases Official Music Video for “Blame”!
SILENT THEORY Release Official Music Video for Acoustic Version of “Livin’ The Dream”!SILENT THEORY Release Official Music Video for Acoustic Version of “Livin’ The Dream”!
AZ THE WORLD BURNZ Releases Official Music Video for “Counterfeit Dreamer”!AZ THE WORLD BURNZ Releases Official Music Video for “Counterfeit Dreamer”!
BOURBON HOUSE Releases Official Music Video for High Energy New Single, “Resonate”!BOURBON HOUSE Releases Official Music Video for High Energy New Single, “Resonate”!
OHP Ramps Up the Energy with #MetalCover of Tones and I “Dance Monkey”!OHP Ramps Up the Energy with #MetalCover of Tones and I “Dance Monkey”!
BLACKTOP MOJO Team with DYLAN WHEELER for Cover of AUDIOSLAVE “Getaway Car”BLACKTOP MOJO Team with DYLAN WHEELER for Cover of AUDIOSLAVE “Getaway Car”
OHP Taps Into 90s Pop Madness with #MetalCover of SPICE GIRLS Mega-Hit “Wannabe”OHP Taps Into 90s Pop Madness with #MetalCover of SPICE GIRLS Mega-Hit “Wannabe”

CONNECT WITH ZROCK

Facebook

Like

Instagram

Follow

Twitter

Follow
Tweets by zrockmusic

Recent Rockers

  • HARMLESS HABIT Releases New Single, “Swing Low”!
  • Darkwave Duo, Male Tears Addresses Nightlife Hypocrisy & Abuse With New Single
  • Kevorkian Death Cycle Brings Anthology Back To Life With The Re-Envisioned ‘Collection:Injection’
  • ETCHED IN EMBERS Confront Fear and Unite Fans with New Single and Music Video!
  • GLAZERGIRL Reveals Poignant Music Video for Inspirational, Debut Single, “Amnesia of Me (feat. Zack Miranowic)”
  • BLACKLITE DISTRICT Releases Official Visualizer for “Back Into Darkness”!
  • OHP Takes on the Upside Down with #MetalCover of KATE BUSH Mega-Hit, “Running Up That Hill”!

RSS ACOUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

  • Bonnaroo 2022 – Hot Picks from ACountry
  • ACL 2022 Lineup Announced
  • Outlaw Music Festival 2022 Lineup
  • 25th Anniversary of Shania Twain’s Come On Over
  • 2021 CMA Country Christmas Performers
  • 2021 CMA Awards Performers
  • 2021 CMA Awards Predictions Part Two

submit news & photos
merch - tickets
privacy - contact - advertise - requests
©2003-2022 zrock.com