High Sierra off to a sizzling start on Day 1

The Accidentals debut was a highlight of High Sierra's opening day. Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
The Accidentals debut was a highlight of High Sierra’s opening day.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage

QUINCY, CALIFORNA – Every year High Sierra Music Festival concertgoers discover a great new band. For folks at the Big Meadow, that occurred when the very first group took the stage.

The Accidentals are Savannah Buist and Katie Larsen, a couple of Michiganders who recently graduated from high school. In their first High Sierra appearance, the girls warmed up the crowd just as the early afternoon sun began to bake.

The Accidentals played acoustic guitar and cello with rock star poses, thrilling the arriving crowd. When the band busted out a Rush cover, the stage manager shouted: “This is now my favorite band.”

The stage backdrop, which marked the 26th annual festival, appeared to glow.

“See my lavender backlighting,” Tom Sloger said from the side of the stage. “I’m the lighting guy for a daytime show. Nobody notices,” he joked.

The mood on the first day of the festival is euphoria, when everyone is clean and rested. The Fourth of July will not occur during High Sierra for the first time in at least a half-decade. While the crowd is large, tickets are still available. Many folks are buzzing about Ben Harper, who will play Saturday at the Grandstand. It will be Harper’s first appearance with the Innocent Criminals in seven years.

Meanwhile, another artist made her High Sierra debut. Samantha Fish tore into her set with distorted dirty blues before welcoming the audience with a Kansas City drawl. And more new fans were made.

High Sierra runs from Thursday, June 30, through Sunday, July 3. Bands include Leftover Salmon, JJ Grey and Mofro, Greensky Bluegrass and Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Related story: Girls rule on Day 1. Spencer Kilpatrick reports. LINK

Samantha Fish
Festivalgoers were fortunate to catch Samantha Fish.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
High Sierra
The happy folks were the first to step into the High Sierra Music Festival on Thursday.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage

ABOUT Tim Parsons

Tim Parsons
Tim Parsons is the editor of Tahoe Onstage who first moved to Lake Tahoe in 1992. Before starting Tahoe Onstage in 2013, he worked for 29 years at newspapers, including the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Eureka Times-Standard and Contra Costa Times. He was the recipient of the 2011 Keeping the Blues Alive award for Journalism.

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