The Upstate New York-based band Driftwood continues to turn heads, fusing the worlds of old and new by bringing punk-rock sensibilities to classic bluegrass Americana instrumentation. Having formed in 2005, the band is truly dedicated to bringing their soulful music to the people with a rigorous touring schedule – they average over 150 shows a year!

It’s an exciting time for Driftwood, as the group is set to release their new album City Lights on November 4th. The band, which features banjoist Joe Kollar, violinist Claire Byrne, guitarist Dan Forsyth and bassist Joey Arcuri, put their whole hearts and minds into City Lights, working like never before to perfect their studio approach.

To get fans excited for the new release, the band has released a brand new video for the City Lights track “Skin and Bone.” Featuring footage from the band’s recent tours, “Skin and Bone” takes listeners on the Driftwood journey through life on the road. We’re excited to premiere this great new video below; enjoy!

All four members of the band weighed in on “Skin and Bone” – read their thoughts below.

Joe Kollar (Songwriter of Skin and Bone):

Skin and Bone – This one came from a reflection I had of myself and life on the road in general. It touches on trying to keep perspective, forging ahead, and embracing the future…I’m realizing all the time about how connected I am to what I do and this song explores that.

Making the album was a dream come true for me. I love the studio and using the studio as a paint brush or an instrument, which was a part of the intention of making this album ourselves. Because it was created in our home studio it allowed us to explore and experiment in ways that would not be feasible in a typical, pay by the hour studio. I’m very proud of what came out of the experience and am looking forward to hitting the road and supporting our very own creation!

Claire Byrne

The “Skin and Bone” video gives viewers a little peak into our world beyond the stage. The “glamorous” life of a touring musician means days away from home and family, long hours of driving and a whole lot of down time. To endure such a lifestyle there needs to be a great deal of passion and dedication to your art. That is what the song “Skin and Bone” is about. It’s about knowing that you haven’t chosen the easiest path but that you love it enough to do it your whole life, you’re almost “stuck with it.” I like that this video goes between performing footage and road footage. It’s a great way to sort of glue all the pieces together for viewers, to give them a better idea of our lives. The video also seems to have a feeling of hope and I like that as well because I think the song has that undertone, too.

The album “City Lights,” like our other albums, captures a moment in time. It is a sonic self-portrait of us in 2016. We chose to do this album at our banjo player Joe’s studio, Yellow Bike Studio. Working closely with a good friend on production, we laid down “meat and potatoes” of the album in about 5 weeks or so and from there began putting it all together and adding layers. “City Lights” was a fun album to make because the material has taken a step forward. I’m hesitant to say it has gone in a “new direction” because I think we’ve always been heading in the same direction, but it’s interesting to realize where exactly that is. With each album comes a great deal of growth and learning and I think this one marks a turning point for us. We took chances and basically wrote a couple of these songs in the studio. Now it’s exciting for everyone to hear the finished product, and to think about where the next one will go!

Joey Arcuri

Our song “Skin and Bone” is very much an anthem for us and for hard working people in general, who are driven and have their goals in mind. In a very literal sense the lyrics reveal aspects of performing, traveling, and doing all of that to “make them smile now”. On a personal level, we in Driftwood know how exhausting it is to spend hours in a vehicle, hours for load in and sound check, and then very naturally and selflessly brushing that all to the side and spreading the love and joy within us and our music. I believe the message in “Skin and Bone” can relate to most everyone’s situation, in one way or another, whether your job is music, legal, medical, service industry, whatever.

“Skin and Bone” is the closing track on Driftwood’s newest album “City Lights”. We took a different approach with this album. Before the material was went to an engineer to mix, we recorded and edited all of it ourselves, with the help of a dear friend Chris Merkley, who produced it. Because of this process, we feel very connected to the album. The studio is always a self revealing place. You learn so much. This was definitely the case for the making of “City Lights”. What took way longer than the initial recording of the songs was the editing process (vocals, percussion, re-doing some parts, etc.). But through it all, we learned lots and love spending time with each other, which is integral for the well being of a working band. It’s a very exciting time, with the release date less than a month away. We are very proud of these new songs. And just like the message of “Skin and Bone”, we pushed through, set goals, and are hopefully going to make everyone “smile now,” with our finished product.

Dan Forsyth

For us, this album is a great accomplishment. For the first time, we recorded an album together and didn’t quit working until we were completely satisfied with the results. Just like being a touring band on the road all the time, records are way more work than you think they will be.. that is if you take the time to listen to the music and follow it wherever it needs to go. When you’re working with any group, it always takes some time to flow. It’s not easy for everyone to let go of outside forces and just focus on the music. This album was more about the music than anything else we’ve done. This album was more about the music than anything else we’ve done. We were also lucky enough to have our great friend Chris Merkley along for this endeavor. He really helped to keep us grounded.

I love this video. The footage is mostly from the last year..all during the time we were working on this album. It was a crazy year, really busy. And what this video represents to me is the hard work and dedication the members of Driftwood have collectively put forth to make the band work. Or just simply put, for the love of music.

Don’t miss Driftwood on the road, and be sure to get your copy of City Lights! The album is due out on November 4th, and you can see the full track listing and the band’s tour schedule below.

City Lights Track Listing:
1. Fishbowl
2. City Lights
3. Talkin
4. Gasoline
5. Lemonade
6. The Waves
7. Maria Constantina
8. Too Afraid
9. LostCause
10. Skin And Bone

Tour Dates:
November 4-Rochester, NY – Flour City Station
November 5-Buffalo, NY – Iron Works
November 9-Stuart,FL – TerraFermata
November 10-Melbourne, FL – JustOneMore
November 12-13-Brooksville,FL – Riverhawk Music Festival
November 16-Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
November 17-Charlotte, NC – Double Door Inn
November 18-Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
November 19-Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
November 25-26-Apalachin, NY – Random Steele Tavern
December 1-Cambridge, MA – Club Passim
December 2-New York, NY – Union Hall
December 3-Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
December 8-Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House
December 16-Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
December 17-Vienna, VA – Jammin’ Java
December 29-30-Ithaca, NY – The Haunt