Rooted in Wayne and western Stark counties, the band Upstream Drifters makes old-time music for the new era.
Friends Aubrey Helmuth Miller and Craig Mast craft songs that blend the rich textures of traditional American folk with modern touches like synth, melodica, percussion, and infectious funky grooves.
Incorporating tin whistles, mandolin and ukulele, one instrument stands out as the inspiration behind it all.
“I remember the first time I heard a clawhammer banjo — it was actually in college. I was just awestruck,” Miller said.
It was there at Goshen College in Indiana where Miller and Mast first met.
They didn’t connect as musical partners until 20 years later, when they each settled in Northeast Ohio.
"[We're] trying to put the 'folk' back in folk music. Just singing about ordinary things."Craig Mast
Mast lives in the rural Wayne County community of Kidron near where he grew up.
“Very rural. I often say, ‘More cows than people,’” Mast said.
Miller was living in Canton perfecting the down-picking style on her new banjo, which involved slapping the strings with the backs of her fingernails instead of plucking them.
Mast primarily played percussion instruments and put together an Irish traditional group to play music on St. Patrick’s Day. He reached out to Miller since he knew she ran with a “musical, artsy” crowd.
“I shot her an email or a text one day. I said, ‘Hey, do you know any fiddle players in the area? I need a fiddle player.’ And then she responded, ‘No, but would you take a banjo player?’” Miller said.
Playing against the current
The duo started out performing traditional folk covers but quickly began writing their own songs.
Miller said Mast would throw out some chord progressions, and she’d add in some melodies on the banjo.
“Part of the impetus behind the band was to say, ‘Let's think of how we can bring kind of the claw hammer banjo scene back,'” Mast said.
They called their new songwriting duo Upstream Drifters, representing their unique style of going against the current or mainstream.
Miller said their songs flow from personal experiences and connections to nature.
“Like I was in the middle of a marsh when I wrote this… or the eclipse was happening when I wrote this,” Miller said.
Or the two will tell each other stories from their lives, and from those anecdotes, a song will naturally develop.
“Somewhere to Lay My Head,” for instance, describes a canoe trip Mast took with his brothers when they collided with a log and capsized.
“And we realized quickly that we might not make it to Portsmouth on the Ohio River in time to get to our van to get back to work Monday,” Mast said.
The song details the true-to-life journey of trying to make the trek before the sun goes down.
In February, Upstream Drifters released their debut EP, “Carried Along.”
The release blends instrumental music that follows the more formulaic old-time tradition of composing songs for dancing.
The lyrical songs deviate from the formula and are more about the stories.
“[We're] trying to put the ‘folk’ back in folk music, singing about ordinary things,” Mast said.
New music with old-time traditions
Upstream Drifters released an LP, “Crooked Step, Open Gate,” this month. The eight-track release was recorded in one day with a live band.
Mast said the duo wanted to try something different for this release, leaning into the connections they’ve made throughout Northeast Ohio to put everything together quickly.
The duo embraces a raw, rugged, rough-around-the-edges sound they describe as just on the edge of falling off the rails.
“Giving that sense of ‘We're doing this in our living room,’ Mast said. “We want to invite you to come into the living room and have a good time, too.”
The vocals on Upstream Drifters’ debut EP, Carried Along, also carry the traditional folk sound.
“Can I tell you how, coming from a classical background, a choral background, how liberating it is for me to just, like, wail? Like, just go for it,” Miller said.
The spirit of traditional folk music is communal, leaning into improvisation, call-and-response and and embodying the culture of the artist and audience.
Miller said part of why the duo plays is to make every day feel a bit brighter and extend an invitation to listeners to enter the world of their songs.
Mast said the duo tries not to take itself too seriously.
“I am over the moon with how well all of it came out,” Mast said. “At the same time, you'll hear, you hear a little... artifacts of it not being perfect. And we're OK with that.”
