If you tuned in to watch the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards earlier this week, you may have spotted some homegrown Traverse City talent on your TV screen. Members of local band The Accidentals appeared on the award show as part of the string section accompanying country music star Lainey Wilson. All three members of The Accidentals – Sav Buist, Katie Larson, and Katelynn Corll – were on stage for Wilson’s televised performance of her song “4x4xU,” with Buist on violin, Larson on cello, and Corll on acoustic guitar.

Buist and Larson met years ago as members of the Traverse City West Senior High orchestra program, before transferring to Interlochen Arts Academy to be a part of the school’s then-brand-new singer-songwriter major. They formed The Accidentals in 2012 and have garnered significant local and national acclaim in the years since for their mix of pop, folk, indie rock, and classical styles. Corll joined the band last year, taking over for longtime drummer Michael Dause as the third member of the group.

Though they’ve retained a local presence, The Accidentals have also gotten more involved with the broader music industry in recent years, including in the world of country music. Speaking to Ticker sister publication Northern Express last summer, Buist and Larson explained how an urge to pursue professional songwriting and session recording opportunities had inspired them to move to Nashville in 2021. The CMA Awards, one of several major award shows that focuses specifically on the American country music industry, takes place each November at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

“Still so surreal,” Buist wrote of the CMA appearance in a recent Facebook post. “Huge thanks to Lainey Wilson for her big heart - including us as the string section on her hit song ‘4x4xU’ at CMA Awards and giving us the opportunity to do what we love. We couldn’t be more honored to share the stage with her. It feels good to be in community.”

Wilson has risen to prominence in Nashville over the past five years, thanks to the country radio success of songs like “Things a Man Oughta Know” and “Heart Like a Truck.” At last year’s CMA Awards, she won the top award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, becoming the first woman to win that prize since Taylor Swift claimed it back in 2009. This year, Wilson won two more trophies, for Female Vocalist of the Year and Music Video of the Year.

This week’s show wasn’t the first time Wilson has shared the stage with a Traverse City artist. Last year, Wilson selected TC singer-songwriter Drew Hale as one of the winners of the Tractor Supply Company Emerging Artists Program. As part of the prize package for that contest, Wilson mentored Hale and the two shared the stage together at an October 2023 Grand Ole Opry concert.

Wilson’s CMA performance of “4x4xU” can now be watched in its entirety on YouTube.

Pictured: Lainey Wilson with Accidentals members Katelynn Corll and Sav Buist visible in the background.