Two powerhouse roots bands. One night at Zenbarn.

Driftwood x The Mallett Brothers Band come together for a special co-bill on Friday, October 23 — bringing two distinct takes on Americana, folk-rock, country and roots music to the same stage.

Driftwood has spent nearly two decades building a fiercely loyal following with soaring harmonies, bluegrass roots, rock-and-roll energy and songs that feel lived-in and real.

The Mallett Brothers Band brings its own hard-driving blend of Americana, alt-country, jam, classic country and roots rock, forged through years of relentless touring and sharing stages with artists like Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Blackberry Smoke, Turnpike Troubadours and Robert Earl Keen.

This is one for the roots music people. Two full bands. One stacked night in the barn.

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Music has guided Driftwood to hallowed ground many times since its founding members, Joe

Kollar and Dan Forsyth, started making music as high schoolers in Joe's parents' basement.

Whether the Upstate New York folk rock group—which today also includes violinist Claire Byrne,

bassist Joey Arcuri, and drummer Sam Fishman—are converting new fans on a hardscrabble

tour across the country or playing to a devoted crowd at hero Levon Helm’s Woodstock barn,

the band’s shapeshifting approach to folk music continues to break new ground. And yet in

many ways Driftwood's latest work, the transformative December Last Call, finds the group

coming home.

Recorded in that very same basement where the Driftwood dream began, December Last Call

lyrically reflects on the recent past, musing on the ways the group grew up, together and apart,

through curveballs like new parenthood or pandemic shutdowns. But sonically, the band’s sixth

album looks confidently to the future, experimenting with new sounds while staying true to the

bluegrass roots that built them. Across the album’s nine tracks, the band often leans into

hard-rocking electric guitars and driving percussion: On “Every Which Way But Loose,” we get a

foot-tapping beat and a sweeping chorus, and on “Up All Night Blues,” the band shines with an

ambling, sing-along-able reflection on the challenges of new motherhood. But other tracks, like

standout closer “Stardust,” take a simpler route, allowing bare-bones vocals and acoustic

instrumentals to underpin a deeper emotional message.

One of Driftwood’s biggest differentiators—and perhaps its biggest strength—is the sheer

breadth of talent in its lineup, with Claire, Joe, and Dan all contributing as songwriters and

vocalists. This creative push-pull, where each selects songs to share with the group and record

together, bakes vulnerability and collaborative spirit into every recording. “It's at the heart of

what we do,” says Dan. “Everybody has a strong love for songs, for songwriting, and we each

appreciate everybody else and the way that they contribute to that.”

While 2019’s acclaimed Tree of Shade tapped Simon Felice as producer, the band opted to

self-produce this latest effort, leaning into their creative impulses and striving to capture their

distinctive live energy. Figuring out how to channel that on-stage intensity into a recording has

actually, in many ways, been a lesson in restraint. “When I look back at the things we were

writing and playing, oh, I don't know, 10, 12 years ago, they were really arranged: a lot of you do

this here, we're going to do this there, we're going to break down, we're going to do a big build,”

Claire explains. “These days, it's more like, ‘Let's play the song and just see what happens.’”

This approach makes all the more sense when you consider Driftwood’s live shows, which

operate not only as effervescent, twang-studded musical parties, but also as reunions for their

throng of devoted listeners—folks who have started to feel less like fans and more like

something bigger. “They're supporters. They're friends,” explains Joe. “It's crazy how much love

we've got and how many wild situations on the road we've gotten out of because of those

people.” Many of them are quite literally invested in the band’s future: December Last Call was a

crowd-funded effort, and it wasn’t the band’s first. It’s as if every listener, ticketbuyer, album

backer, and general band evangelist is in on Driftwood’s biggest secret: this whole band thing

has endured for nearly two decades because it offers a kind of community you can’t get just

anywhere.

“Driftwood is basically a beautiful friendship that happens to play music together,” says Joe. “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.” For Driftwood, each song is like a journal entry: cathartic to

create, yes, but capable of unlocking new lessons—and when shared—forging new bonds.

“We're communal, right? Humans need to be connected,” Joe says. “And we get to have this

special thing.”

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The Mallett Brothers Band is an independent rock and roll / Americana / country band from Maine. Their busy tour schedule since forming in 2009 has helped them to build a dedicated fanbase across the U.S. and beyond while still calling the state of Maine their home. With a style that ranges from alt-country to Americana, country, jam and roots rock, theirs is a musical melting pot that's influenced equally by the singer/songwriter tradition as by harder rock, classic country and psychedelic sounds.

Texas Hill Country Explore Magazine calls them “New England’s wildly eclectic crew of genre rebels.” Bill Copeland Music News says “Combining their authentic roots rock sound with a reflective lyrical style that perceives stories on the level of epic myth, it’s like William Faulkner has been resurrected with an electric guitar in hand.."

The Mallett Brothers Band has performed at some of the country’s top venues and festivals, including Portland, Maine’s State Theatre; Austin, Texas’s famed Continental Club; Alexandria, Virginia’s Birchmere; New Hampshire’s Meadowbrook Pavilion; Nashville’s Bluebird; Denver’s Cervantes’; and Little Rock’s The Rev Room, to name a few. A list of artists for whom the band has provided direct support would include The Turnpike Troubadours, The Outlaws, Blackberry Smoke, Robert Earl Keen, .38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, and many more. Festival appearances include FloydFest (Virginia), Hop Jam (Vermont), Nateva (Maine), The New England Country Music Festival (New Hampshire), Eastbound Throwdown (New York), and many more.