Very soon The Avett Brothers will be releasing their latest live CD and DVD combination titled "Live Volume 3" to the public. Just the other day the tracklist for both was made public.
CD: 1. Pretty Girl from Matthews 2. Talk on Indolence 3. Ballad False Start 4. The Ballad of Love and Hate 5. Colorshow 6. I and Love and You 7. Shame 8. When I Drink 9. Murder in the City 10. I Killed Sally’s Lover 11. Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise 12. The Perfect Space 13. Paranoia in B-flat Major 14. Distraction #74 15. Kick Drum Heart 16. Salvation Song
DVD: 1. Pretty Girl from Matthews 2. Swept Away 3. Talk on Indolence 4. The Ballad of Love and Hate 5. Colorshow 6. I and Love and You 7. Shame 8. When I Drink 9. Murder in the City 10. I Killed Sally’s Lover 11. Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise 12. The Perfect Space 13. Paranoia in B-flat Major 14. Distraction #74 15. Kick Drum Heart 16. Salvation Song
Here's a great fan-shot video of the Brothers playing "The Perfect Space" in Texas
Once again, High Sierra Music Fest has put together a stellar lineup with jamband, bluegrass, rock and indie rock favorites. The festival boasts the most intimate festival experience and amenities. They even had the wit to knock off the new over-hyped iPad. Watch the video below to see what I mean. Hilarious.
The Avett Brothers Ozomatli Femi Kuti and Positive Force Railroad Earth Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer Dr. Dog Karl Denson's Tiny Universe Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Cornmeal Blitzen Trapper The New Mastersounds March Fourth Marching Band Nels Cline Singers The Infamous Stringdusters Surprise Me Mr. Davis The Slip BLVD Beats Antique Telepath Carolyn Wonderland Darol Anger's Republic Of Strings featuring Sharon Gilchrist Great American Taxi Nathan Moore Johnny Vidacovich, Robert Walter Duo Big Light Trampled By Turtles Zach Deputy and many more to come!
2009 was a big year for music. It saw folk/punk road-warriors catching the attention of none other than Rick Rubin. Underground indie rappers were popping up everywhere, on the albums of hiphop legends and all over the radio waves. Folk monsters shared an album, and a stage on several occasions. It saw a rapper from Brooklyn top rock and roll legend Elvis Presley as well as indie-godfathers make an extremely accessible album, arguably for their first time. It also saw a jazz pianist embrace wonderful musicians new and old, and newcomers make beautiful roots-rock that would have made Dylan and The Band very, very proud. Ladies and gentleman, here are the top 10 albums of 2009:
1. Dawes - North Hills These newcomers from California put out a record that hits you from the first listen. It feels like The Band froze some of their creativity from "Music From Big Pink" and donated it willingly to Dawes. Lead singer Taylor Goldsmith's voice encapsulates the soul of Rick Danko while still remaining completely his own. The album is roots-rock at its finest. The production is minimal yet extremely crisp, and every instrument and voice simply shines. The band writes songs that rock veterans may hope to someday write, and this is their debut album. Simply put, grab it now and see what you were missing, I promise you won't be dissapointed. Key Tracks: When My Time Comes, Peace In The Valley, That Western Skyline Live Track: Peace In The Valley
2. Phish - Joy Phish made every hippies dream come true when they decided to re-unite at Hampton Coliseum in 2009. Let's be honest, every fan new that Coventry would not be the band's true farewell, partially because the whole event itself was a trainwreck, and so was lead guitarist and singer Trey Anastasio. Anastasio saw the error of his ways, got clean and got the old band back together. The boys enlisted producer-extraordinaire Steve Lillywhite to produce "Joy", the first Phish album in far too long. Playful tunes such as "Ocelet" and heartfelt lyrics such as those on the title track make this album a strong return from a band who is just beginning to get their groove back. Key Tracks: Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Ocelot, Backwards Down The Number Line Live Track:
3. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 Jigga drops another album full of instant classics. He enlists the help of up-and-comers such as Toronto born Drake and Kid Cudi. Jay also happens to make New York's unofficial anthem with Alicia Keys at his side and proves that none of us have to grow up on "Forever Young". The Blueprint 3 is easily the best rap album of 2009 and helped rekindle my love for hip hop. Key Tracks: Empire State of Mind, Already Home, Thank You Live Track:
4. Marco Benevento - Me Not Me Marco may be one of the busiest men in the music industry today. He plays in like 5 different groups and still manages to put out incredible solo records. Enlisting the help of Reed Mathis (JFJO, Tea Leaf Green) and Andrew Barr (The Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Land of Talk) doesn't hurt either. Marco covers indie-favourites My Morning Jacket, classic rockers Led Zeppelin and even George Harrison. He also sprinkles in a few of his own sonic gems as well. Key Tracks: Golden, Call Home, Mephisto Live Track: Heartbeats
5. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You In 2009 the Avett Brothers proved that hard work and determination (as cliche as it sounds) pays off. Rick Rubin, arguably the biggest record producer in the world produced their latest album, and the boys played on national television on several occasions. I and Love and You is poetic and poppy while still remaining true to the signature sound of the Avetts. Key Tracks: I and Love and You, Laundry Room, Kick Drum Heart Live Track: Laundry Room
6. Wilco - Wilco (The Album) Wilco probably pissed off quite a few fans with their latest, humorously self-titled album. At first I kind of felt betrayed too. The album is undeniably poppy on first listen. But like all good Wilco albums, the subtle nuances and instrumental intricacies seep in upon numerous listens. The lyrics are dark (listen to Bull Black Nova), but their is plenty of sunlight on the album as well, as can be hard on You and I (featuring Leslie Feist of Broken Social Scene) and Sunny Feeling. Not to mention, the songs completely blow you away live. Key Tracks: I'll Fight, You Never Know, One Wing Live Track:
7. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk This super group made up of Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward, Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) could simply never live up to the hype. That being said, the album is pretty good. It may be a little heavy on Oberst's "i'm holding back the tears" singing style, but it is rich and texture and has a nice old timey feel to it that would make The Travelling Wilburys or even CSNY take notice. Key Tracks: Temazacal, Baby Boomer, Man Named Truth Live Track: Temazacal
8. The Black Keys - BlakRoc Leave it to blues duo The Black Keys to finally get the recipe for a rock meets rap album right. The low-fi guitar and drums combo enlist the help of some of the best rappers out there including Mos Def, Jim Jones, Raekwon and Ludacris to put together a seriously interesting album. The beats are heavy and trippy and it seems that the rappers really dig the bluesy vibe of the Keys. Check out the webisodes which document the whole making of the album, which took an astonishing 11 days to complete! Key Tracks: Why Can't I Forget Him, Ain't Nothing Like You, Stay off the Fuckin Flowers Live Track: Ain't Nothing Like You
9. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End Of Day Cudi reached the public ear with virtually endless remixes of his standout hit "Day N Nite". The young MC redefined what a hip hop album should be, enlisting indie-rockers and rapping over seriously unique beats. He also had some of the biggest and best in hiphop lend a hand on a few tracks. Key Tracks: Simple As, Day N Nite, Make Her Say Live Track: Make Her Say (feat. Common)
10. The Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock These roots-rockers bring a vaudeville like quality to their latest release. The group can make things dark and minimalist as can be heard on the track "The Big Surprise" and create an interesting juxtaposition of dark lyrics and upbeat rock on "Penn Station". Yonder Is The Clock is just a great, down home style album that really works and shows the potential of this band. Key Tracks: Penn Station, The Big Surprise, All When We Were Young Live Track: Penn Station
Special Mention: Surprise Me Mr. Davis - Demo With the addition of Marco Benevento to the group, Surprise Me Mr. Davis' new album which will likely be released in 2010 (its now streaming on their website) is sure to be a winner. This is a band that deserves wide spread recognition and I think they may just find it with this up-coming album. Expecting big things from this band in the new year. Key Tracks: That's The Way, One Sick Knave, Sleepyhead
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix The French indie-rock band put out a highly danceable album, and the tracks "Listzomania" and "1901" could literally be heard everywhere, clubs, radio-stations, television shows and commercials and movies since their release. That being said, most of the songs follow a very similar rhythmic formula which to me, grows tiresome. I can pick and choose some of the songs I love and I do thoroughly enjoy listening to them, but I can't listen to the album all the way through, which is problematic for me. All in all, W.A.P. is still a very strong album and people seem to love it so it deserves special mention in this list.
There you have it folks. My favourite 10 albums of 2009. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Only the truly special bands get the opportunity to work with musical legend and producer extraordinaire, Rick Rubin and The Avett Brothers are without a doubt one of those bands. They’re the type of group that you would love to keep your own little secret. You love seeing them in the smallest, dingiest of venues, but deep down you know they should and could be wowing audiences in stadiums all across North America and beyond. I and Love and You is the album that will be winning over legions of new listeners. Between the piano, strings and vocal harmonies of brothers Seth and Scott, the boys from North Carolina cut deep on their latest album. The title track cuts deep, with the strength of a Counting Crows ballad and the imagery of musicians who have clearly paid their dues on the road for far too long. While die-hard fans may be wondering where the Avett Brothers’ punky edge went, they have to look no further than “Kick Drum Heart”. This piano driven rocker features the Avett’s signature screaming that’s sure to surprise new fans and delight old ones. “Laundry Room” is the sleeper hit of the album. It starts off slow and ballad-like as Scott sings “close the laundry door, tip-toe across the floor” but gradually grows into an all out banjo-driven country rocker. The Avett's respond to the likes of two classic rock monsters on the acoustic guitar and organ driven “Ten Thousand Words”. They borrow both chord progression and rhythm that sounds strikingly familiar to both Zep’s “Your Time Is Gunna Come” and Traffic’s “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave”. In true mainstream fashion, Rubin has streamlined the Avett Brother’s signature sound. Gone is the rough, homemade sounding production of the past and prevalent banjo and strings. Instead we have slick pop songs paired with smooth harmonies, textured backgrounds and minimal banjo. Will I and Love and You ostracize old fans? I think it’s rather unlikely. The Avett’s have a loyal following that should be more than willing to share their once perfectly kept secret. Leave it to Rick Rubin to be utilitarian, spreading the joy that is the Avett’s music to millions, while spoiling the old secret for a select few.
The late night television appearances just keep on coming for The Avetts. They played Craig Ferguson last night and performed another song off of I and Love and You, this time a tune called "Laundry Room". It's nice to see the boys sticking to the original 4 members and playing a more up beat, punkier song than they played on Letterman.
The band also just announced a string of New Years shows The Avett Brothers will ring in 2010 with a performance at Knoxville, TN’s Tennessee Theatre on December 30 and a gig at Asheville, NC’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on December 31. The band will then make stops in Atlanta, GA (1/1), Dallas, TX (1/3), Midwest City, OK (3/3), Milwaukee, WI (3/6) and Reno, NV (4/18) early next year. The next leg of the group’s fall tour will kick off with an appearance at Baltimore, MD’s Rams Head Live on October 15 and come to a close with a Halloween performance at Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium (from jambands.com).
Today I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak to Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers. As I've mentioned before, The Avett Brothers just released their brand new album yesterday titled I and Love and You. They just got signed to a major label, Columbia, and the infamous Rick Rubin produced their album. They played Late Night with David Letterman just two days ago. The Avett Brothers make wonderful music with heavy influences from bluegrass, punk, folk and alternative music. Their new album is a bit of a departure from their more raw, off the cuff punk style but I think this is a good thing. This is a band that truly deserves a wider audience. They are making some of the most honest music in the business today and their lyrics are poetry. Thankfully for me, Scott Avett is a completely nice and humble dude and he agreed to chat with me over the phone.
Firstly, congratulations on the release of the new album and playing Letterman, the performance was phenomenal! That was your first live television performance if I’m not mistaken? Were there any on stage nerves?
Scott: Actually we did one show out in LA that won’t come out to the 6Th of October. Letterman was the first to actually air for this record. It was a really, really exciting experience and environment. About half way through the performance my adrenaline was definitely pumping
Was that performance the first time you have played as a 5 piece band?
Scott:We’ve played as a 5 piece band before. Rick actually recommended Mike Marsh from Dashboard Confessional to play drums for us, and he also recorded with us on the new record.
How did the band get paired up with Rick Rubin, arguably the most sought-after record producer in North America, if not the world?
Scott: We always had the mentality as a band that if we kept doing what we were doing and were true to the music that good things would come. This feels rehearsed but it’s the honest truth. We just kept faith in the band and in the music and kept writing and playing shows. Rick found us and asked to work with us on the new album.
Rick has produced records for virtually every genre of music. Was there any fear that the band’s unique sound wouldn’t mesh with his ideas? Or did you have complete faith in Rick?
Scott:Oh man, we had complete faith in Rick. The guy is a genius so we had to trust him.
That said, how much was Rick really involved in the recording process on a day to day basis?
Scott: Rick was there every day in the recording studio with us. He would stay with us for 7 or 8 hours a day every day for the entirety of the recording process. We bounced ideas of each other and respected each other’s creativity.
The album is certainly a bit poppier than older albums like Four Thieves Gone and the Gleam, but it no doubt sounds like The Avett Brothers through and through. Do you find that as a maturing band this more “radio-friendly” sound was the direction the band was always heading towards?
Scott: Me and Seth have always been writing music and this album was just a focus on trying to write more good songs and good music.
Marketing a successful album is perhaps one of the biggest challenges in the music industry today. Where did the idea for releasing short chaptered videos come from?
Scott: That idea kind of came from everyone who we work with. It came from the band and our management. We just wanted an original way to show off the fans and the music. We also had a million ideas for cool things to put up on the website and the short chaptered videos kind of just came out as the best ones in the end.
Integrating your fans and brief clips of the songs into these videos really gave the viewer a sense of how close the band is with their audience. Ultimately was the goal of these videos to display this intimacy perhaps even more so than the new music?
Scott: Yah those videos are amazing. They’re actually kind of difficult for me to watch. It’s tough to believe that something you make can have such a strong impact on people. We have a close tie to our fans and we know they love the music we make. I try and distance myself from those clips when I watch them because they are simply overwhelming to an amazing extent. A dude named John that actually used to go to my high school produced the videos. He now works out in Los Angeles but he’s a big fan of the music and spent countless hours on the road filming fans and the music. He’s doing some amazing things and we can’t thank him enough.
Being a Canadian myself, it’s always interesting to see a band play a single show in Canada. I hate to lump you guys into the jamband scene but I do believe you exist in it even if you’re just on the fringe. Most bands in this extended family do not gig in Canada for the quote unquote “safety of its fans” if you know what I am getting at. Does your fanbase extend to Canada or will this be a one-off show?
Scott: We don’t mind being lumped into the jamband genre. I think that the term “jamband” is very loose. We actually know that at least a handful of our fans are going to make the trek out to the show. We had a show booked in the States and had to cancel it, so we rescheduled it to Toronto. We saw some of our die-hard fans out in New York and they told they had booked flights out to Toronto or were driving in. We know we have fans in the U.S. and we hope after this show tonight in Toronto that the fan base will expand at least a little bit.
Unfortunately due to some digital noise issues with my recorder, some of the interview was inaudible. What you just read was the bulk of the interview that I could transcribe accurately.
I strongly encourage everyone to purchase the band's new album from either their website or itunes. My review of the album will come shortly.
Here's a video of The Avett Brothers playing the punky "Kick Drum Heart" and an older tune "Famous Flower of Manhatten". Directly below is the edited version of "I and Love and You" played on Letterman
HUGE news today as Back In 15 Minutes will be interviewing country/punk/folk band The Avett Brothers! Expect the interview to be up either late this afternoon or early tomorrow. The Avetts just dropped a huge new album produced by music legend Rick Rubin and played Letterman only two nights ago!
I just stumbled across this video while browsing the interweb. The Avett Brothers are an incredible band with a highly anticipated new album which will be released on September 29. The new record is titled I and Love and You and was produced by musical genius Rick Rubin. Needless to say there is a ton of hype around this country/punk/folk band and for good reason. The title track on the album is completely infectious with some superbly, deep lyrics. Stay tuned for an album review. In the meantime, enjoy this live video of the aforementioned track.
