Features

Indie Outing: The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers at Wakarusa 2007

Indie-Jam Connection: One of the most commercially successful of the current wave of roots/bluegrass/Americana indie bands, The Avett
Brothers are a natural addition to the jamband-oriented festival circuit. The Avetts were playing festivals like Wakarusa, moe.down, Bonnaroo and Mountain Jam long before they worked with Rick Rubin and opened for arena-size jammers like Dave Matthews Band and Widespread Panic (and then became big enough to fill the sheds on their own). Seth and Scott Avett were drawn to the Allman Brothers Band’s modern update of traditional American music forms but eventually drifted into the punk and hardcore scenes. The brothers also listened to G. Love as a teenager and—after meeting the blues/jam/hip hop artist at a show in Boston—agreed to produce his latest album Fixin To Die. In a recent Relix interview, Scott Avett reminded readers that he’s been listening to G. Love longer than he’s played with the Avett Brothers.

Notable Jamband Moments: The Avett Brothers’ most direct connection to the jamband world is through bassist Bob Crawford. Before hooking up with Seth and Scott Avett, Crawford played in more straight-ahead, Grateful Dead-inspired jambands in his native New Jersey. The Grateful Dead was his gateway to bluegrass, which led him to MerleFest as a fan one year. Crawford loved the scene at MerleFest so much he decided to move to North Carolina where he eventually met the Avetts.

Lot Talk: “As someone who used to play that style of music, I’m always impressed on how well-received we are in those circles. I can’t believe it, actually, because we’re really the polar opposite,” Bob Crawford, Relix