Meet Sav Madigan | Singer/Songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist, member of The Accidentals

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sav Madigan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sav, what are you inspired by?
Random acts of kindness. In this business, when you travel all the time, there is always a crisis of some sort that has to be worked out. Sometimes it gets to be overwhelming. Every time we have felt like we we’re hitting a wall, someone would just reach out and lend their support. Everything from gas cards and cookies to warm beds and tow trucks. Those random acts of kindness have kept us going and inspired us to pay that forward whenever we can.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I like to call myself a dollar store Phoebe Bridgers. Which is kinda true. I write sad songs about two-headed cows and Oliver Sacks books and horseshoe crabs, time and change and the little histories that make us who we are. But I’ve also got a little Sarah Jarosz in me, in that I play a lot of string instruments – violin, viola, mandolin, banjo, bass (upright and electric), guitar (acoustic and electric), and I’m tapping into pedal steel these days as well.

I was actually born in Nashville – my parents are both musicians and songwriters, and my dad used to tour pretty hard as a multi-instrumentalist with artists like Whispering Bill Anderson and Terri Clark. We moved to northern Michigan when I was around five years old. I grew up in the woods and the snow, catching snakes and frogs and relocating spiders to outdoor locations, reading books voraciously, and rearranging the CDs in my dad’s collection to a color spectrum.

I started hearing harmonies to songs when I was nine years old. My biggest hyperfixations were the Indigo Girls, Nickel Creek, The Chicks, and Brandi Carlile, but I also was obsessed with the Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Queen, Radiohead, and Electric Light Orchestra. I picked up violin in grade school through a public program and a year later, my parents formed a band that I could learn the ropes of improvisation through. I sang harmonies and played violin but had never tried learning other instruments or writing songs before.

I met my friend Katie Larson through our high school orchestra program (she is also a multi-instrumentalist who plays cello, electric guitar, and bass among other instruments), and we formed a band that toured 250+ shows a year for ten years. As the touring started to wind down, I started touring both as a solo artist and a side artist for other bands – sometimes doing both on the same run of shows.

It’s been a wild ride. I’ve had years and multiple rent’s worth of equipment stolen out from under me; van and trailer crashes and breakdowns; I’ve had my fair share of close calls and even had multiple stalkers over the past few years that have made me question whether or not I had the courage to do this for a living. I’ve been in studio situations that made me so angry, I went to school for engineering and proceeded to engineer my band’s last four records, and to this day I still do 99% of the engineering for the session work I’m hired to do every year. There’s been plenty of sexism and ageism, but I don’t dwell on it much. People say all kinds of weird things, and usually it comes from a place of fear and self-doubt. I try to have compassion for them while keeping focus on my own path.

I’ve learned how to build walls around my heart and how to break those same walls down. Luckily I went into this with support from parents who taught me what to expect out here, and over the years I’ve cultivated friendships and fanships and familyships that have kept me afloat. I’ve learned to ask for what I need, to put myself out there, to get outside my comfort zone, to solve problems, and to always carry a multitool, a good book, and a nice pair of headphones. And maybe a neck pillow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I moved down here in 2019, moved back to Michigan during the pandemic (but still paid Nashville rent), and tried again in 2021, and I’ve been here ever since. I don’t get out much, but when I do, it’s usually to get a hit of serotonin from a restaurant like Mas Tacos, The Smiling Elephant, Mofungo Cafe, Nectar: Urban Cantina, Vui’s Kitchen (I wear my “phó real” cap all the time), The Horn (best chai in town)…we’re so lucky to have so many great restaurants and coffee shops here. I find a new pocket of Nashville every freakin day, usually by driving to meet someone for a session or a co-write, and the brain cells devoted to geography didn’t get divied up to me, so I struggle to really know where I am at any given time.

A few weeks ago my younger brother was in town, so I took him to Grimey’s and to Anaconda Vintage, and then to Nashville Used Music. He’s hanging for the month, so we’re gonna watch some shows together at Basement East and Dee’s and Brooklyn Bowl. The Ryman is a must-see. I remember walking in there and feeling like I’d been there hundreds of times before. Maybe that’s the native Nashvillian in me talking.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This list is extensive. It’s never one thing or person. It’s a community. Shout out to the Braun family, Shure, Takamine, LR Baggs, Fender, D’Addario, Liquid Violins, and my entire Patreon family.

Website: www.savmadigan.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/savmadigan

Facebook: www.facebook.com/savmadiganmusic

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@savmadigan

Other: www.patreon.com/savmadigan

Image Credits
Ellen Joy Photography Jay Gilbert Photography