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The buzz-generating Avett Brothers, Seth (perched on chair) and Scott (seated) will play the F.M. Kirby Center at 8 p.m. Saturday. Touring cellist Joe Kwon (left) and Bassist Bob Crawford (standing at right) will join them.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The 2009 release of ’I and Love and You’ was produced by golden-eared guru Rick Rubin.
If Noel and Liam Gallagher of defunct Britpop band Oasis epitomized the fractious relationship between musical brothers, then Seth and Scott Avett may represent their polar opposite. Since forming the Avett Brothers in 2001, the North Carolina siblings have forged a career based on respect for the songs, their fans, and, most important, each other. On Saturday night, they will bring a bit of that brotherly love and their buzzed-about live show to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre.
“The live show is who we are. We have spent so much time over the past 10 years playing 2,000-plus shows. They are a living thing,” Seth Avett said during a phone call with The Times Leader. The younger Avett handles acoustic-guitar duties on stage, while big bro Scott plucks away at the banjo. Stand-up bassist Bob Crawford rounds out the group, along with touring cellist Joe Kwon.
Known for an organic, mainly acoustic sound that effortlessly combines country, folk, rock and, at times, a little punk, the Avett Brothers caught national attention with the release of their major-label debut, 2009’s “I and Love and You.” Produced by golden-eared guru Rick Rubin, the CD propelled the band into the mainstream, driven in part by the success of the soul-baring title track.
Honest songwriting, Avett says, is the primary focus of the band, despite its reputation for lose-your-mind performances. “The reality here is that we are not great musicians,” he says with a laugh. “We do OK, but our principal concern is the songwriting. That’s what matters to us. Then we figure out a way to play them. We certainly don’t want it to sound like a record on stage. We like it to be loose and raw. We’re trying to bring the spirit, that lively real energy, to the table and not so much technical triumphs.”
Avett’s modesty aside, the band’s playing is often riveting, as are the brothers’ vocal harmonies. Check out their NPR “Tiny Desk Concert” performance of “Laundry Room” from “I and Love and You” on the Internet, for example, or their current live CD, “Live, Volume 3.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Avett volunteers smooth-voiced duo Hall & Oates as one of his earliest influences.
“There hasn’t been a point in my life where I wasn’t enamored of some kind of music. I cannot get enough. I listen to music all the time, probably more than what would be considered healthy,” he says, rattling off a list of beloved performers: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana and bluegrass great Doc Watson among them.
When it comes to songwriting influences, however, one artist towers above all others.
“Tom T. Hall is at the very top of the list,” Avett says of the story-song master and Country Music Hall of Famer. “He represents a lot more than just a musical influence. He’s a light in the world. I’m probably listening to him every day.”
Nevertheless, Hall isn’t the only country artist the band has been inspired by. “Rose Colored Glasses” singer John Conlee, Hank Williams and the iconic Johnny Cash also helped shape the Avetts’ sound. In a way, the brothers returned the favor to the Man in Black when they contributed banjo and percussion to the title song of 2010’s posthumous Cash CD, “American VI: Ain’t No Grave,” one of many highlights for the band these past few years. In 2008, they even got to meet Conlee. “He introduced us at the Grand Ole Opry,” Avett recalls. “That was a high point.”
Area music-lovers probably will feel the same way after Saturday’s performance, which marks the first time the group has played in Wilkes-Barre. And despite few local outlets for the Avetts’ blended genre — college radio and the eclectic WVIA aside — a hearty contingent of fans already has “checked in” on the band’s website to say they’ll be attending. (Tickets are still available).
For that, Avett is grateful. “We’re really excited that the fans carry it along. Having this (online) community is an amazing thing to be a part of. We don’t take it for granted,” he says.
Nor does he worry these days about getting the band’s music heard. In fact, he’s almost Zen-like about it.
“For better or worse, it never crosses my mind. The music will go to whom it needs to go to. We just try to be open to write the songs that are supposed to come through us and play them the best we can,” Avett says. “The rest of it is up to the fates, you know?”
IF YOU GO
Who: The Avett Brothers
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: F.M. Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre
Tickets: $37, $52 and $72
Call: 826-1100