Driftwood
Dan Forsyth (guitar/vocals) Joe Kollar (banjo/vocals/percussion) Claire Byrne (fiddle/vocals) Joey Arcuri (upright bass) Sam Fishman (drums)
Hailing from the Southern Tier of New York, in the post-industrial city of Binghamton, Driftwood is one of the brightest new acts to come out of the area's music scene. Formed in 2006 by what was first a simple collaboration between two friends bent on traveling the country playing folk music, they have turned into one of the hardest-working bands in the business. In 2008 they met Byrne and started touring full time in 2009. In 2010, Bassist Joey Arcuri joined, and by then they were regularly hitting the East Coast club circuit. Drummer Sam Fishman, a more recent addition, joined in 2021.
With three people sharing the vocal and songwriting duties, there are certainly some disparate elements at play reminiscent of other well-known, multi-singer bands. But it’s very apparent Driftwood have no interest in emulation; their focus seems to be purely on creation.“I feel blessed to have 3 main singer-songwriters in our band. It allows us to paint from a pretty big pallet and also to challenge each other. Sometimes it can take a minute to make our styles flow but really it’s been such a huge part of our growth as a band and as individual writers.”
In 2019 the band had just released their 5th studio album, Tree of Shade when Covid shut everything down. Byrne explains, “For the 10 years prior to the shutdown, my life had revolved around Driftwood and life on the road. I wasn’t only out of a job, but also having a bit of an identity crisis. I had just become a mother and now my career was on hold for an indefinite amount of time. After reality set in however, it became clear that we as a band needed this break. After things started to open up, we started getting together and playing again. We picked up right where we had left off as friends and as co-workers. The songs and musicianship had evolved and mature and so had we. We began work on a new album, “December, Last Call.” These songs are a snapshot of us over the last few years. They are a reflection on life, past, present and future. They portray a group of great friends who have continued to evolve together and separately over more than 15 years.”
"I'm struck by the gratitude that making music with my best friends/my other family brings," says Kollar. “Laying out some of your most intimate moments and showing the rawest version of yourself is both scary and exhilarating but more importantly, it reminds you why you chose music as the vehicle. It's the '66 Corvette that will always take me back to the beauty and power of a group of people setting out to make something together.”
