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Songwriting duo returns to valley to lead workshop at VECCA
By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com
WOODSTOCK -- Musicians Lynn Scharf and Charlotte Formichella have been traveling the U.S. for over five years under the name Driftwood Fire, but as exciting as traveling is, they say it's always nice to come home.
Scharf, 29, grew up in Mt. Jackson, and was glad to return to her father's farm when the two women recently filmed a music video for a song on their first full-length album, recorded at Coupe Studios in Boulder, Colo.
They hope to convey that joy of accomplishment to local songwriters at a workshop they'll lead at the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts in Woodstock on Saturday.
Years ago, Scharf participated in a theater program at the center, according to Donna K. Patton, a secretary with VECCA, and Patton was thrilled when Scharf contacted VECCA about offering a workshop.
"This is a great follow-through with our programs," Patton said. "It's something that not many people offer."
It's the first songwriting workshop for VECCA, she said.
The workshop, which will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, will allow experienced and amateur songwriters a chance to learn from Driftwood Fire.
"We would like to continue the songwriting, if it takes hold," Patton said.
"We do a wide range," Scharf said, explaining that the women usually offer one-hour workshops as part of their tours. "When we're on the road, we do maybe one a week."
Offering a full-day workshop allows them to branch out considerably from their usual format.
"You get a chance to work with everyone individually," said Formichella, 27.
"It's nice to get to know the people you're working with," Scharf agreed.
The timing was perfect too, for the pair who just ended a tour this month and are subletting a place in Fauquier County near Paris until February when they'll head out again for another tour that will take them through the beginning of April.
They love the music, they love the business, but Scharf said, "The two things that I really like are the performing and ... the post-show driving."
Getting in a car and driving into the dark for a couple hours is a great way to celebrate a fantastic performance, she said.
"One of my favorite things," Formichella said, "is we get to see people. That's really nice."
They've met so many people in their years in the band that they have a network of contacts that can help them find places to stay while they're traveling, something they say other musicians also use to their own benefit.
When they're not on the road, the women live in Fort Collins, Colo., and have for the past five years.
"Longest we've been anywhere," Formichella said.
After their upcoming tour, however, they're considering moving to the Boston area, where they have friends and greater opportunities for performing close to home.
Their career has come "in fits and spurts," Formichella said. Sometimes the business seems to be doing well, she said, and other times the progress is not so obvious.
Still, with one tour ending and another about to begin, a first full-length CD, a professionally-produced music video and a workshop, no one can deny Driftwood Fire is doing well.
Their new CD, "How to Untangle a Heartache" came out in August, and the fourth track, "Appalachian Hills" -- the one they chose for their video -- is what Scharf calls a dark ballad.
When Colorado videographer Steve Roberts told them he wanted to film a video in the Shenandoah Valley, he asked Driftwood Fire if they were familiar with the area.
Scharf and Formichella knew just the spot.
"This is the place that she wrote the song," Formichella said.
She, too, knew the area, having lived near Roanoke for 10 years.
Formichella was studying biology and music at Sweet Briar College near Lynchburg while Scharf was pursuing geography at the University of Maryland, but they met through friends who knew the two had similar interests.
"We realized that when we were young we played each other in traveling soccer," Formichella said.
They jumped at the chance to return to the valley to film "Appalachian Hills."
"It's sort of about Civil War and post Civil War politics," Scharf said. As a child growing up on a farm that houses old plantation buildings, Scharf said knowledge of the area's history and the societal divide between free and captive residents greatly impacted her.
"That was really odd for me as a kid. ... I think it kind of rattled me," she said.
The song's theme is dark, so Scharf wanted to convey in the video the contrast of a brutal history played out in such a beautiful place.
"We filmed the video in early November and the weather cooperated with us really well," she said. "It was misty and overcast the whole time."
Scharf and Formichella expect the video to be on YouTube in about six weeks, but, they said, that depends on the producer, John McVey.
It's their first fully produced video, they said, and it comes after they spent 21⁄2 years on their CD, writing the music as they recorded it.
"I think all country is the most inclusive term," Scharf said, but they also play Americana and folk, Scharf doing vocals and guitar, and Formichella playing mainly guitar and banjo.
"It sort of felt like going back to school," Formichella said, "so when we finally released it, it felt huge."
She learned banjo while working on the CD, and switched from acoustic guitar to electric for the first time.
"[They are] always seeking lofty educational experiences," Scharf said.
Both women play the ukulele, and Formichella has been learning cello for the past three years, even performing on cello and electric guitar in December in New York City, Off-Off-Broadway at the Theater for the New City in a show called "Voice for Vision," for the theater company The Double Image Theatre Lab.
They collaborated with artist Margot Fitzsimmons from Woodstock, who lives in New York.
For now Scharf and Formichella are trying to take it easy before their next tour, but they certainly won't be idle.
Sweet Briar College asked them to write a theme song for its marketing department.
"We're really excited about it," Scharf said.
They're also preparing for "The American Carnival Live" at Robert's Western World next to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in February, which they said will be broadcast on the radio, likely WAMU out of Washington and an NPR affiliate outside of Charlottesville.
"Businesses have ebbs and flows," Formichella said, "...but you have stuff out there, even through word of mouth, things will grow."
If you go
• The songwriting workshop at VECCA, at 125A S. Main St., behind the 7 East Art Gallery in Woodstock, will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The workshop is open to all levels. For information, contact Donna K. Patton at 459-4226 or email dkpatton@shentel.net.
• Driftwood Fire's CD is available at 7 East Gallery and online at www.driftwoodfire.com.
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