For more than a decade, Woodsist Festival has operated as a kind of annual field report from the far reaches of independent music: a gathering where cult heroes, emerging songwriters, psychedelic outliers, and artists resistant to easy classification share a bill—and often an audience. The festival returns to Arrowood Farms in Accord September 26 and 27, with Destroyer headlining Saturday and Cate Le Bon closing out Sunday.
The two artists make a fitting pair. Both have spent decades building bodies of work defined by unpredictability, following their own peculiar logic while remaining recognizably themselves. Destroyer began in Vancouver in the mid-1990s as the home-recording project of Dan Bejar, whose cryptic lyrics, theatrical delivery, and restless musical instincts have since carried the band through glam rock, orchestral pop, electronics, and the saxophone-lit sophistication of its landmark 2011 album, Kaputt.
Destroyer’s 2025 release, Dan’s Boogie, is the band’s 14th studio album and another sharply angled turn in a catalog full of them. Across eight songs, Bejar moves between compact pop constructions and sprawling compositions, including the nearly eight-minute “Cataract Time” and the title track, which stretches past nine. The album also features singer-songwriter Simone Schmidt on “Bologna,” lending a counterweight to Bejar’s characteristically enigmatic narration.
Sunday headliner Cate Le Bon arrives behind Michelangelo Dying, her seventh album, released in September 2025. The Welsh musician, songwriter, and producer has long occupied a fertile territory between post-punk, art rock, and pop surrealism, pairing angular guitar work with melodies that can feel both inviting and slightly destabilized. Written in the aftermath of a breakup, Michelangelo Dying turns heartache into a prismatic song cycle filled with filtered voices, processed saxophones, and submerged textures. Welsh compatriot John Cale appears on “Ride,” while a companion single, “Always the Same,” features St. Vincent.
Le Bon has also become an in-demand producer, working with Deerhunter, Devendra Banhart, Wilco, Horsegirl, St. Vincent, and Dry Cleaning. That ability to shape the musical worlds of others while protecting their eccentricities aligns neatly with the curatorial spirit of Woodsist.
The weekend’s supporting lineup ranges widely. “Divine Songs: The Music of Alice Coltrane” pays tribute to the visionary jazz composer and spiritual seeker, while Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar performs a solo set. Also appearing are Toody Cole of the influential Oregon punk band Dead Moon, Hayden Pedigo, Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, Frog, Otto Benson, Dutch Interior, Brazilian singer-songwriter Rogê, Okonski, Secular Music Group, Jens Kuross, Ruby of Thanks, and festival hosts Woods.
The festival is organized by Woodsist Records, the Stone Ridge-based label founded by Woods singer and guitarist Jeremy Earl in 2006, in partnership with Impact Concerts and Ground Control Touring. Held on two alternating stages, Woodsist pairs its carefully chosen musical ecosystem with local food vendors and beer brewed on-site at Arrowood—a homespun setting for artists who have made careers by following idiosyncratic paths.
Woodsist Festival takes place September 26–27 at Arrowood Farms in Accord.
One day tickets start and $129 (plus $10 to park) and travel north from there. Festival information is available at WoodsistFestival.com.
