French Valley Vineyard hosts The Accidentals FAMgrove

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

It’s for family and more. The Accidentals’ annual FAMgrove party takes place at French Valley Vineyards on Oct. 12.

“It’s become one of our favorite events,” says Katie Larson, who co-founded the group with fellow string player and songwriter Savannah Madigan when both were still in high school. Now all these years later–12 to be precise–the band gathers members of its fan club and hometown fans for an end-of-season bash with a number of special guests. This year that list includes the Rebel Eves, Luke Woltanski, One Hot Robot, Low Phase and A to Z.

Derived from the song “Mangrove” off the band’s ​Bittersweet​ album, The Accidentals’ FAMgrove community began in 2012 as a Facebook group. Now it is an interactive, personalized fan club on Patreon, and the FAMgrove party is the band’s way of giving back. FAMgrove members are admitted free of charge, while those who are not (yet) members can purchase tickets.

“The event has grown a lot. It started as a get-together with family in Traverse City and we invited our favorite bands, and we’d jam together,” recalls Larson. Now it’s a chance for the band to head back to its hometown after moving to Nashville, and gather both with those who first recognized the duo’s talent and newer fans as well.

Previous iterations have been held at Fountain Point, but this year it was moved to French Valley due to licensing issues. The show will take place on two stages, one in a large tent and the other in a large, refurbished barn.

Larson says inviting musical friends always makes for a good time for the band and fans alike. Many of them are artists the band has toured with. “It’s not competitive but collaborative. Friends come up and play or sing – we love to have people jam out.”

Given the potential for collaborating with one another, how does the band select which songs to perform? “We always create a set list for each show,” says Larson, though she says it is subject to change. “Earlier this year we did a cover album of female artists. We’ll touch on that. But we also pay it back to our hometown crowd” by playing some of their favorite songs, she notes. That can mean anything from taking audience requests to suggestions from its Patreon fan page.

Though still in their late 20s, the Accidentals already have a dozen years of touring under their belts. The band has survived accidents and near-accidents, theft (their whole trailer of equipment was stolen while on tour), and a major personnel change when drummer Michael Dause left the band after nine years and was replaced by Katelynn Corll.

Larson says the Accidentals are cutting back on the number of shows it performs, which regularly topped 200 a year. “We’ll do one or two more shows this fall, and we have a new album ready to go for next year,” says Larson.

But that doesn’t mean the members are any less busy. They all write, record and perform with other musicians as well as one another. Larson has been performing with Brett Young, Madigan with Lainey Wilson, and Corll will be playing on upcoming shows with Beth Nielsen Chapman.

“Timing is everything. It’s a challenge to get everybody together,” adds Amber Buist, who manages the band.

In addition to the music, the FAMgrove party will feature art, beverages from French Valley, and three food trucks: Rafael’s Indigenous Food Truck, Taqueria Mosqueda Food Truck, and the Leelanau Lemonade Stand.

Tickets for the show, which starts at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to go until 10 p.m., are available at MyNorthTickets.com.