It’s been a little while since we have heard anything new from everybody’s favorite indie bluegrass act. Well they recently took time out of their hectic touring schedule to make an appearance on CMT Unplugged. As a part of their set, they played the classic Roger Miller tune “Where Have All the Average People Gone.” In the vein of their stripped down Gleam EP’s, they slow it down and turn it into a gorgeous ballad that fits right in with the rest of their catalog. I really dig this track and would love to see them release an entire album of old country classics from the 50′s and 60′s. Here’s hoping…
While no official timeline has been revealed, it looks like the follow up to 2009′s I and Love and You will make it’s way to our ears by the end of the year. The are currently in Asheville’s Echo Mountain studio with I and Love and You producer Rick Rubin. It appears that The Brothers are aiming to out-do themselves again. In an interview with Billboard.com, Scott Avett shares that “this time (they) have a really long list of songs, and we’ll just carve it from there and let the best and most appropriate songs see the light of day.”
Apparently the creative juices have been flowing lately, as they have an abundant amount of material to work with. They have already completed one session of recording and have discovered they need to limit the amount of songs they record this go around at 25. “We have definitely that many we could do. The number of songs could probably go triple or quadruple that if we want,” says Avett. As an avid fan, this is exciting to me both that they have an abundance of songs to start with, but that they are taking their time and not just slapping together a dozen songs so that they can get a paycheck and get back out on the road.
Speaking of…it won’t be long before The Brothers are out on the road again. They kick off a new stateside tour on the 18th in D.C., which will quickly turn into festival hopping. They are already scheduled for the Savannah Music Festival, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mountain Jam 2011, and many more (seriously). Unfortunately this tour won’t lead them through Arkansas or Oklahoma, but I’m hoping the wife and I can make it down to Dallas to catch them at the Palladium in April.
And if you have yet to give The Avett Brothers a listen, start today by downloading The Gleam for only $1.99 on AmazonMP3.
Everyone’s favorite alt-country band, The Avett Brothers, have stepped out into new territory this year. After discovering a musical kinship with Garret Dutton (aka G Love), they will be producing, for the first time, a record that is not their own. According to Paste Magazine, the band will be joining up with G Love at Echo Mountain Recording Studio, a beautiful converted church, in Asheville to produce his newest album, set to be released sometime in the Spring of 2011. Below you can see a video of the beginnings of what should prove to be a very fruitful musical friendship.
The wife and I had the great pleasure of seeing The Avett Brothers perform live at Cain’s Ballroom this past weekend. We were both truly blown away. I would feel cheap giving the concert some sort of grade on how good or bad the concert was. It’s a such a subjective thing, that is completely relative to the individual attendee. Not to mention there are many variables outside of the artists control at each and every different show. But I’m going to give you all several reasons that I think you should attend the next Avett Brothers show that comes to your city.
1. They draw great crowds. With the exception of one song, the audience was enthusiastically engaged and attentive to what the band was doing on stage. Which isn’t all that out of the ordinary, but with the band playing 9 songs from their record that hadn’t even been released yet, I felt like that was pretty great. And this was one of the first shows in a long time that I didn’t have any drunk guys flailing all about right next to me.
2. They bring more energy to the stage than any other band that can fit inside the folk genre. I’ve seen anyone go crazy and yell and scream while playing the banjo. I’ve never seen anyone play the cello standing up. Not only standing up but Kwon was actually jumping around on stage while playing. And I love that while playing his guitar, Seth has a hi-hat at his feet and Scott has a kick-drum that he plays along with his banjo. It just creates something really special.
3. And finally these guys know how to draw you in. Each song, no matter the tempo, was very personal and intimate. Numerous times they took that risk and were very vulnerable and would slow things down and just stand up there all alone. Just a guy, a guitar, and his words. It’s much easier to hide behind a lot of noise, but these guys didn’t shy away from being real and trying to connect with the crowd. I love that their words are, more often than not, the primary feature of their songs. And boy do they have a way with words.
The hard thing about seeing a band you love, is that it is nearly impossible not to leave disappointed. I could’ve spent the rest of my weekend dwelling on all the songs that I wish they would’ve played. And even with them playing 20+ songs, there were still several that I would’ve loved to hear. But what they did was pretty special, and I am just grateful to be a part of it. Some personal highlights of the night: They got the whole crowd in a sing-a-long at the end of “Go to Sleep” while they jammed for a while. That was pretty great. I loved it how they played “Kick Drum Heart” off of the new record that hadn’t been released yet, but the whole crowd created their own stomping part to the chorus. And then the greatest moment of the night for me, was when Scott came out for the beginning of the encore by himself and played “Murder in the City.” I think that is easily the most beautifully written song, lyrically of this past decade. But what I really loved about the performance was how he changed the last verse of the song to “Let my daughter know I love her, Make sure her mother knows the same, Always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.” It was awesome and almost brought tears to my eyes. So that glimpse of why I am putting them high up on my list of “artists to see.”
The new album, I and Love and You, came out yesterday on Columbia records. I love it. I suggest you go out and get it.
Here is a video of a “Tiny Desk Concert” that they did for NPR a couple of months ago, to give a small glimpse into their live performance.
I also think it’s worth mentioning that Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers opened up the night with a pretty stellar performance. I’ve put their debut album, Songs in the Night, on several times over the past several months and enjoyed it every time. They have a pretty great sound and I was really impressed how together they sounded live, for how young of a band they are. Crain’s voice was awesome and she had a really great stage presence. They captured the attention of probably have of the people that were there, which I think is very hard to do as an opener. I think that Sam Crain is a name that you’ll continue to hear for many years to come.
