the avett brothers, made up of two actual brothers, seth (vocals, guitar) and scott (vocals, banjo) and bob crawford (stand up bass) hail from concord, nc and combine bluegrass, country, punk, folk, honky tonk, and ragtime to create music that the san francisco chronicle describes as having the "heavy sadness of townes van zandt, the light pop concision of buddy holly, the tuneful jangle of the beatles, and the raw energy of the ramones."

although they are frequently described by critics as performing an "indie roots", "folk-punk", or "grunge-grass" style, the group steers away from categorizing their music into a certain genre.  "none would do the music the justice.  it's simply left up to each person to extract his or her own account from the avetts' music,” says the band.

the rootsy, harmony heavy brothers started in music while performing in their first band, nemo.  They soon began to collaborate with other greenville, nc musicians on tuesdays where they would have a few drinks and play a few songs. eventually, the informal get togethers (called "the back door project" and "nemo downstairs") became more formal and more public.

in 2000, the back door project was renamed the avett brothers as they released their self-titled debut album.  in 2002 they recorded their second album, country was and in 2003, released their third studio l.p., a carolina jubilee.  since they formed, they’ve released nine other albums, and released their latest l.p., the rick rubin produced, i and love and you, september 29, 2009. 

bob has also released albums under the name of new jersey transient, seth has released albums under the name darling, and the brothers occasionally play shows with their electric band oh what a nightmare.

in other words: they are really, really busy.

click here to listen to i and love and you in its entirety.  click here to listen to an august 01, 2009 newport folk festival gig recorded by wfuv.  click here to listen to a september 24, 2009 world café story recorded by wxpn.  click here to watch a june 22, 2009 tiny desk concert recorded by npr.  click here to listen to a march 18, 2009 sxsw 2009 set recorded at stubb's bar-b-que by npr.  click here for a may 20, 2008 in-studio interview/gig recorded on favorite sessions by kexp.  click here for a february 15, 2006 in-studio set and interview recorded by wxpn for world café.  don't forget, the album cover image always links to sample songs and the band's image to their website.

check here to see if avett brothers have any gigs scheduled near you.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store by people who know and love music and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand).  incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states.  that my friend, bites.