Photo via Marco Benevento’s Official Facebook

On Saturday, June 17, Marco Benevento hosted his second annual Follow The Arrow Festival at  Arrowood Farms in Accord, N.Y. The Upstate gathering boasted a jam-packed lineup of talent, who took the stage throughout the event, which stretched from noon to sundown. The most prominent theme on the grounds was collaboration, a motif embraced by every player. 

The festival gates cracked open just after noon, allowing attendees time to settle near the stage before 12:45 P.M. Before official sets, Stuart Bogie greeted festival-goers at the entrance with a solo delivery on clarinet. Then, music picked up with the Benevento Family Band. After a frame that embraced kinship and community, Karina Rykman arrived for her highly-anticipated set, capped by Upstate, who delivered their blend of folksy tunes in a separate ensuing frame.

Saturday afternoon continued with music from LaMP, the group comprised of Russ Lawton, Scott Metzger and Ray Paczkowski prior to The Barr Brothers’ arrival and takeover for their collaborative festival time. During the frame, Brad Barr, Andrew Barr, Eveline Gregoire-Rousseau (harp) and Josh Toll (bass) start things out with “Hideous Glory,” featuring assistance from Benevento and Joe Russo. 

The same guests stuck around for “Queens of Breaker,” which also saw Bogie on tenor sax. The group assisted with “Look Before It Changes.” Then, the lineup switched with the arrival of Rubblebucket’s Alex Tooth, who helped the Barr Brothers and Benevento on “Even The Darkness Has Arms.” A special moment occurred next, as the group debuted a new tune, with the working title of “Shooting Stars and Battle Scars,” featuring Benevento’s on the first U.S. performance.  

For their final tunes, The Barr Brothers delivered “Song That I Heard” and “It Came to Me” sans guests. The festival continued with a frame from Benevento, and his band, Rykman and Chris Corsico, who welcomed Kalmia Traver (Rubblebucket) on “This Is How It Goes” and “Limbs of a Pine,” with some extra help from her bandmate Toth and Bogie. Of interest, Traver added vocals on select numbers featured on Benevento’s 2012 release TigerFace, making their stage time a reunion of sorts.

To follow, Rubblebucket performed an hour-long set, which saw Bogie take the stage and assist during “Lemonade.” The final frame of the event presented a Tribute to David Bowie, dubbed Let’s Dance and featuring an augmented Benevento Band lineup and an open door for sit-ins. Highlights included a run-through of “Rebel Rebel” featuring guitarist Duane Betts, Brad Barr, Adam November and Sister Sparrow’s Jackson Kincheloe on harmonica. 

“Queen Bitch” brought together Dave Drewitz on lead vocals and bass, along with Metzger, November, and Brad Barr. “Let’s Spend The Night Together” saw Betts return to the stage with Brad Barr and November in tow, as well as Kincheloe, Mikaela Davis (harp), Rykman on bass, and Andrew Barr and Corsico on double drums. The same lineup closed out the night with “Let’s Dance,” featuring an added groove lent by Bogie. 

Scroll down to view photos shared by Benevento via his official Facebook account.