An Evening with The Avett Brothers

In their 17-year history, The Avett Brothers have evolved from the rustic sounds bred in their hometown of Mount Pleasant, N.C., to the mainstream rootsiness influenced by producer Rick Rubin to near pop crossovers on their most recent release, True Sadness. They earned a pair of GRAMMY nominations this year and have been on quite a musical journey of evolving their sound over the past decade, going from a trio playing acoustic guitar, banjo and stand-up bass to what is now a seven-member lineup that can build considerably on the group’s scrappy, stripped-back acoustic beginnings.

But brothers Scott (banjo/vocals) and Seth (guitar/vocals) Avett, along with Bob Crawford on double bass and violin and Joe Kwon on cello, ooze authenticity, even as they’ve lost and won fans with their kaleidoscopic sound. During 2009, The Avett Brothers made mainstream waves with their lauded major label debut, I and Love and You. It landed at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 and garnered unanimous critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, Paste, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Time, who even dubbed it one of Top 10 albums of the year. 2012 saw The Carpenter hit #4 on the Billboard Top 200—their highest bow to date—while People, USA Today, and American Songwriter lauded the album. The group graced the stage of Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! twice in merely a few months’ time. During the second performance, they invited the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra along to pay homage to Brooklyn with “I and Love and You” as personally requested by Mr. Kimmel. Their eighth studio album, Magpie and the Dandelion, went on to debut at #5 on the Billboard Top 200, while they performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman as well as joining legendary Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell for a rapturous Pearl Jam tribute on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. 2015 saw them support The Rolling Stones for the first time at the “Zip Code Tour” in Raleigh. A string of sold out shows followed as the boys continue to dream up their next step.