The Accidentals Have ‘Udderly’ Amazing Performance at Music in the Park

This story first appeared in the July 14, 2023, Mackinac Island Town Crier print edition

Armed with colorful sunglasses straight out of the ‘70s, more instruments than performers on stage, and a bass drum decorated with a Highland cow, the musical group, The Accidentals, originally from Traverse City, took over Marquette Park Thursday evening, July 6. They are one of several award-winning groups and artists to play the Island this summer. The performance was the second in the series of Music in the Park concerts hosted by the Mackinac Arts Council. The Mackinac Island performance was the fourth date listed on the band’s aptly named Udderly Amazing Magicow Mystery Summer Tour, which will take them all around Michigan, several Midwestern states, and a performance in Canada.

The band plays everything from indie folk to rock, and they gave the Island a high-energy performance Thursday night. They ran through the audience and rocked out with the crowd right before the finale of the show. Many of the songs ended with bandmates Sav (Savannah) Buist and Katie Larson on the stage floor, shoulder-to-shoulder or back-to-back. They were joined onstage by drummer Katelynn Corll. Mx. Buist and Mx. Larson met in the high school orchestra, which becomes clear when you see them jamming out together on their electric cellos and violins, in addition to their guitars and electric bass. At rehearsal one night for the alternative styles for strings club, they formed a band and have been playing ever since. They have been playing the Island since 2014 and say that people from all over the world attending their shows recognize them, having seen them perform on Mackinac Island.

Sav Buist (center), back-to-back with Katie Larson, ran through the crowd at the end of the show, leaping off the stage.

“No matter where we go in the country or the world, we get that comment,” Mx. Buist said. “There’s not a whole lot of places like that.”

They love coming back, being so close to home. While this wasn’t the first time they had been on the Island, this was the first time the three performed as a trio here.

Pete Kehoe of Petoskey opened for the group. He’s a musician who has been playing on the Island for more than 30 years and, as Brian Findley of the arts council said while introducing him, he helped get the arts council off the ground 20 years ago. He performed covers and original songs, like “Big Water,” inspired by Tim McCleery from the Mackinac Island Yacht Club.

Katelynn Corll, the band’s drummer, played a drum set adorned with a Highland cow.

When The Accidentals took to the stage, they sang songs inspired by everything from childhood dogs to long-lost green jackets. They head-banged so hard at times, their colored glasses fell off. A cool breeze drifted through the park as couples danced in the background and kids wrestled each other on the lawn. At one point they discussed the Highland cow, the band’s drummer’s favorite animal, which adorns the bass drum. It is also the centerpiece of the T-shirts the band was selling at its merch table next to the stage. A gasp could be heard throughout the crowd at the mention of Highland cows and soon there was a line of people stretching through the park waiting to purchase their own Highland cow T-shirts.

Sav Buist (from left), Katelynn Corll, and Katie Larson after their Music in the Park performance in Marquette Park Thursday evening, July 6.

After walking off stage, talking with even the youngest of fans and signing merch while shaking hands, Mx. Buist and Mx. Larson said they were hoping to bike around the Island before leaving and maybe pay a visit to the Original Butterfly House and Insect Museum. They will tour all around Michigan this summer, going back and forth to Nashville between concerts, where they now live. But they all agreed that the Island is a truly unique place to play.

“It’s not often we play on an island and the whole population comes out and hangs out on their lawn chairs,” Mx. Buist said.

“I do it for the fudge,” quipped Mx. Larson.

You can find out more about the band, including upcoming show dates at www.theaccidentalsmusic.com.