Driftwood, a folk rock band based out of Binghamton, is set to perform at The Westcott Theater on Friday at 9 p.m., and doors open at 8 p.m.

Driftwood’s current members have been together since 2011. The group released its latest album in October 2016. The band started off with rock n’ roll vibes but has evolved into a feel-good, folk rock sound with four members on guitar, vocals, banjo, bass and fiddle. As they gear up for studio time for the next album, the band hopes to hone in on its sound and expand to a national platform.

The Daily Orange spoke with Michael Morrison, Driftwood’s manager, and Claire Byrne, the band’s fiddler and vocalist.

The Daily Orange: How long have you been managing Driftwood?

Michael Morrison: This year.

Claire Byrne: We have been with Groundwork (Artist Management) since March.

The D.O.: How has that been?

M.M.: It’s been an absolute pleasure. They are great people. Wonderful musicians, talented, good songwriters. It also happens to be the style of music that I enjoy the most. They happen to be great people with a great thirst for life.

C.B.: It’s amazing when you find management that really works for you. And you can be the artist without having to be the businessperson.

The D.O.: What was the band looking for in their/your transition to Groundwork Artist Management?

M.M.: They were looking to get to the next level. They do well in your area, Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton and Pennsylvania, but they wanted to become more of a national act. They needed some help as far as branding or marketing was concerned. They needed to have a consistent and easy to understand brand across all of their social media platforms.

We did a pretty deep dive to understand who they are, who they want to be and what kind of message they want to present. We’ve managed to push them quite a bit more nationally.

C.B.: It’s been quite subtle, so it’s not like we haven’t experienced some major success. The changes that we have seen have been a lot of weight off our shoulders, and a lot of new markets have been opened up to us. The biggest adjustment has been letting someone else do it for us when we have been used to doing it ourselves.

The D.O.: What’s next for the band?

M.M.: In a week they go back to the studio with Simone Felice. He produced the last Lumineers record. The plan is to produce an entire album. In this day and age, you don’t necessarily need an album.

C.B.: We released our last album a year ago from last week. I am hoping that (our upcoming collaboration with Simone Felice) ties our sound together. I feel like, as a group, we’ve been working toward a certain sound. And I’m hoping with his skills as a producer and vibes that he has, it will sort of tie the whole thing together.

The D.O.: Can we expect major changes for the upcoming collaboration?

M.M.: Probably not. One of my fundamental edicts as a manager is I’m not going to find an artist and mold them into something. Their sound is going to be similar, the energy is going to be similar, you’re going to hear vocals from all of them and you’re going to get the banjo, acoustic guitar and upright bass. The goal is to take exactly who they are and focus it a little bit more.

C.B.: I think for fans that know us well, there will be some changes. But those changes have slowly been in the works anyway, like adding more drums or having a more produced sound. Like our last album, there were some changes on there more so than there will be with this album. I think the thing that people will see this time, it’s going to be more ethereal.

Published on October 31, 2017 at 8:35 pm

Contact Lydia: lnilesst@syr.edu