One of my most recent obsessions has been the alt-country and bluegrass trio the Avett Brothers. With Seth Avett on the guitar, Scott Avett on the banjo, and Bob Crawford on the stand-up bass, you get one of the most unique and passionate musical acts you’ve ever heard. There is something very raw and yet so refined about Seth’s songwriting. Their music doesn’t feel like some phony reproduction of the past. Rather, it is a pure and unadulterated sound that invokes such strong emotion. One perfect example of this is the lead single from their most recent release, The Gleam II. “Murder in the City” is easily the best song of last year, maybe even the best song of the decade. It is rare for a music video to capture my attention for more than a minute these days, and rarely will a song finish without my eyes straying to something else on my computer screen. So it was even more amazing when this simple video, shot of nothing more than the two brothers sitting on a hotel bed, singing and playing the song on the acoustic guitar, was able to captivate my full attention.
So now that you’ve received a proper introduction to the Avett Brothers, I am sure that you will be excited to know that they set to release a new album this year and are in the middle of a 48 show tour. I and Love and You, due in stores on August 11th is their 10th studio effort and will be produced by Grammy award winner Rick Rubin, who has worked with pretty much everyone, from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z to Justin Timberlake to Jakob Dylan. This is easily my most anticipated album for the rest of 2009. So if you trust my musical opinion in the slightest, I want you to listen to “If It’s the Beaches”, one of the best love songs of the past decade. Then I want you to check out this list below and buy tickets to the show nearest your home, that is if they are still available.
Dave Matthews is giving us yet another reason to get excited about his music this year. Next week he kicks off his 2009 tour in Madison Square Garden with The Roots. And from there he starts his journey across the country hitting over 25 different states and playing with 15 different artists, none of which couldn’t be headlining their own nationwide tour. His openers are not only good, they are bands that I would pay the DMB ticket price to see by themselves. And let me tell you, those tickets aren’t cheap these days. I mean these are bands that in my opinion shouldn’t be opening for anybody, like the Avett Brothers, or The Hold Steady, or Robert Randolph & the Family Band. The list could go on, as you can see below. Let’s just hope their new album can meet my expectations. Because this year more than ever it will be a challenge every night for them to make sure the night ends on a high note. This seemingly never-ending journey ends in October, right here in Oklahoma with Willie Nelson & Family.
