‘Up All Night Blues‘ from Upstate NY-based Americana outfit Driftwood is a 3Am anthem to change, the staring into an unknown future as the old certainties fall away, “Don’t close your eyes / It won’t change a thing / The Up All Night Blues ain’t what they used to be / I’ve been around long enough to see that the whole gang’s gone, everything fell away,” sings Claire Byrne. And what is the cause of this distress and malaise? The collapse of the economy, a final and irrevocable break up, a dependency that started out as just fun and is now…well something else entirely? You know, it could be any of those but Byrne, who also wrote the song, has explained that the theme draws on reflections on her life before becoming a mother, and the effects of transitioning to that new role. There must be some plus sides though….and if there are they’ll surely be found on Driftwood’s latest album ‘December Last Call’ which taps into the band’s experiences of the last 15years or so.
‘December Last Call’ is Driftwood’s sixth album and it is a bit of a full circle momnent as it was recorded in the same basement where founding members Joe Kollar and Dan Forsyth started making music as high schoolers. The band now includes violinist Claire Byrne, bassist Joey Arcuri, and drummer Sam Fishman, and it has been described by Joe Kollar as “basically a beautiful friendship that happens to play music together. I know it’s rare. I know I’m lucky to know these people and lean on them and go through these massive life changes together. We’re communal, right? Humans need to be connected, and we get to have this special thing.”
