PORTSMOUTH, NH – The camaraderie within a band can resonate in various ways. It can come through how they perform and interact with each other on stage, and it can come through in their recordings. This is a noticeable trait within the Binghamton, New York folk-rock band Driftwood, which consists of co-vocalist and guitarist Dan Forsyth, co-vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Kollar, co-vocalist and violinist Claire Byrne, co-vocalist and upright bassist Joey Arcuri and drummer Sam Fishman.
They also have an incredible sound, and they’re going to be bringing it to The Press Room in Portsmouth on November 22. Local alt-country staples Jon Nolan & Good Co. are going to be opening up the show, and it all starts at 7 p.m.
Arcuri and I had a talk ahead of the festivities about what he was doing musically before joining up with Driftwood, the band’s latest full-length record, and his thoughts on coming to Portsmouth.
Rob Duguay: With the current lineup of Driftwood, you’re the most recent member due to joining up as a bassist in late 2011, so what were you doing musically before joining up with the band? Is Driftwood the first band you’ve ever been a part of, or are there other bands that you were involved in beforehand?
Joey Arcuri: Driftwood was the first touring band I joined, and I’m obviously still in it. Before that, I graduated as an undergrad from Ithaca College in 2009, and then I freelanced for two years while playing in various bands. I played jazz gigs and I did musical theater, anything that I got asked to do, I was doing it all. Then when I joined Driftwood, not only was I super impressed with them and happy to be in a really great band with great songwriting, they were a band that was touring together, building a sound together and recording together. That formation stayed the same, and it was something that I hadn’t experienced until then because prior to that, I was doing jazz gigs where there were different people for each show.
This was a band that was building their sound show after show and tour after tour, and it was an incredible and really gratifying experience to be in a well-oiled machine that was growing together. That was something different for me, and from where we’ve come since 2011, it’s been even more special to think about the years of growth.
RD: Would you say that the growth and building of a substantial sound that you just mentioned is what makes this band stand out for you, or is there another unique quality that comes with making music with Joe, Dan, Claire and Sam?
JA: When I’m a spectator and I go to shows, I can tell, and I know the audience can tell, when there’s magic on stage and there’s chemistry within the group. You can tell that they’re well-rehearsed, you can tell that they’ve just spent time together and that they like each other. That’s such an important thing to have a personal relationship within the band, and on stage, you can feel it with our banter. We like each other, we’re smiling when we play together, and that chemistry is exuded on stage visually and also through the music. That’s something you get with Driftwood, we’re a group of people who genuinely enjoy spending time together and being friends with one another.
It’s bigger than the music, we’re a family and you can even see it transcend into the fan base community that gathers at shows. People that have come year after year, they get to know each other in the audience and become family and friends. It’s a really special bond that the music makes happen for everybody, so I just love that about it. Also, Sam is our most recent member. In 2021 or 2022, he joined us on drums, and we’ve had a few drummers before him along with formerly being a four-piece, but Sam has been a great addition.
RD: You guys released your latest album “December Last Call” in March of last year, and it was your first full-length record in five years. When it came to this gap of time with making this record, what was the experience like?
JA: Life is happening all the while, and in terms of everyone’s personal lives, the pandemic didn’t help. That through a hitch in touring and all that while stalling us collaborating or getting together until about 2021 when it started opening up again. There’s two members of Driftwood who have families, so people were raising kids and I went back to grad school during that time. I got a degree in music education and I’m a school teacher now during the week, so I think that was definitely a big part during the pandemic and of our personal lives over the last five years. Around 2022, we started really hitting it again, and that’s when I think we started recording after a pause.
Then by 2024, we released “December Last Call”, and it takes longer than you think to make an album. You go and record, and then you do overdubs, you listen back, and it’s a long process. Unless you pay for like two weeks, which we did with “Tree of Shade” where we did it in 10 days. It was a really great way to do it because we recorded all of it and then we got it back, but it was all done and it was a quicker process. Most of the time we do albums, it’s a slower process, so that’s kind of what it was like with the latest release.
RD: That makes sense, especially with the pandemic going on and life stuff, like you mentioned. As part of the album, you guys also did a series of music videos that were done at Electric Wilburland, which is located where you’re from in Upstate New York, and they feature the title track of “December Last Call”, “Up All Night Blues” and “Every Which Way But Loose”. How did these videos come about and how were you able to film them at this specific location?
JA: That was a really great experience. Electric Wilburland is a studio run by Will Russell, it’s a really, really renowned place and it was formerly a church. The main room where you record in has great acoustics with stained glass windows and there’s a mystical and magical vibe. We’re always thinking about content, what we can do to stay creative, and just put out stuff. We needed new videos, and it just happened naturally. Sam has a great relationship with Will, and he was going in there a lot to do his own videos and recording, so he recommended it and we figured we should do it.
We needed some new videos to represent our sound, the latest edition of the band, and all of that. Also, more importantly, we needed videos to pair with the release of “December Last Call” because these days, if you’re interested in booking a band, you go to YouTube, you look them up if you want to see them, especially if their videos are live. They came out great, we hired a video crew, we’re really happy with them and we’re glad we have those to represent our sound and album.
RD: They do look pretty cool, I enjoyed watching them the other day. What are your thoughts on this upcoming show at The Press Room? Are there any differences between the audiences in the New England region and the audiences in Upstate New York, or are they somewhat similar?
JA: I’m so excited to come to Portsmouth, I’ve never been. The closest I’ve been is Portland, Maine, and I’ve heard a lot of great things about Portsmouth so I’m super excited. I actually have a friend who is originally from Rochester named Adrienne Mack-Davis, and she now lives in Portsmouth, so I’m really excited to see her too, she’s a musician and a singer in that area. There’s definitely different vibes in different cities in terms of the music scene, and from what I hear, Portsmouth is a cool, coastal college town, so I’m expecting there to be some music lovers there and maybe a lot of young people. I don’t really know the scene there, but I do know that cities have their own vibes with their music scene and who goes out to shows and what kinds of venues are there.
If you got a venue that’s really good and people love going there, then generally that’s where you want to play. You want to play those clubs that generally just have people that want to go there, even regardless of what band is there, just a scene of people who want to be out at that place. We play all different rooms, but I’m excited to play The Press Room and I’ve heard good things. I imagine that there’s a good music scene in Portsmouth, just based on what I hear.