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Formed by two high school friends bent on traveling the country playing folk music together, they have turned into one of the hardest working, original bands in the business.
In 2005, Dan Forsyth and Joe Kollar wanted to start a side project. Playing in jam rock bands throughout high school and into college they where ready for something new. “We were entranced with everything going on in the folk world at the time, also I had moved out to Colorado for a bit and Joe came to visit. We went to the Telluride Bluegrass Fest with some friends and our lives were changed forever. When I moved home, we started jamming folk tunes on the side and eventually we set out to learn how to play around one mic, put together a set of original folk music and try to tour on it.” Says Forsyth. In 2008 they met violist Claire 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 in the vocal and songwriting duties, there is certainly some elements reminiscent of other multi-singer bands such as Fleetwood Mac. But it’s very apparent they have no interest in emulating, the focus seems to be purely on creation. “In the early days, we would sing folk tunes and try to write as many original tunes as we could. So naturally the earlier songs sounded a bit more folky. But over the last 3 or 4 records, the writing style has changed and we all have quite a different approach these days. At any rate our main focus has always been songwriting.” Says Forsyth. “I feel blessed to have 3 main singer-songwriter’s 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. “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.” Says Byrne. “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 guitarist/songwriter Joe 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.”
After two years of starts and stops, a few Covid scares, one scrapped attempt at recording live and lots of late nights spent in the basement studio where Kollar and Forsyth grew up making music, they finished recording their latest offering “December Last Call” this Summer. due out this Spring and the title track single out on 11/10.