Thu 10/14 @ 7:30PM
Riverdog Retreat out in Lorain County has had another good summer, due to the adaptability of its facility to the pandemic. Last summer it moved its shows from its barn to its meadow, where it set up socially distanced chairs and tables in a bucolic setting, enabling it to do a full season of show.
But its season is coming to an end, and this weekend is its last show of 2021, as it hosts the dual CD release tour of the Accidentals and the Sawyer Fredericks Band.
Riverdog regulars are familiar with the Accidentals, who’ve played the venue several times before. They’re a trio out of Traverse City, Michigan, who play a likable blend of roots/folk/indie music, wrapped up in energetic rock. The young band was formed in 2012 by violinist Savannah Buist and cellist Katie Larson who met while they were playing in their high school orchestra. They released their debut album that same year. They followed it with 2013’s Bittersweet, an EP in 2016, and a third full-length, Odyssey, in 2017. The eclectic band now includes drummer/ percussionist Michael Dause.
Since we last saw them, pre-pandemic, they’ve been busy. They formed a nonprofit called Play It Forward, Again and Again, which mentors younger musicians, helping to provide them with instruments and lessons. They worked to get out the young vote in the 2020 election. They hosted numerous live streams to raise money for a whole host of worthy causes ranging from the #iVoted Festival and Rock the Vote, to Concert for Hunger Chicago, to Arts Quest youth programming.
And during the pandemic, they hunkered down in Traverse City to work on their fourth album Vessel in their state-of-the-art home studio, which their bio says “tightly embraces their folk-pop and Americana influences more than ever before with a common thread of their signature strings and ethereal harmonies.” That album has just hit the streets and it’s the one they’ll be celebrating at Riverdog.
Fredericks is a also a youthful musician, a singer–songwriter who won season eight of The Voice in 2015. Fredericks, who is 20, is touring to support his 2020 album Flowers for You. He’s touring with a full band.
All tickets are $28, by pre-paid reservation only. As always, you’re welcome to bring your own picnic basket and cooler. Go here to buy tickets.