Avett Traction

I touched on these guys in the end of the last entry, but they warrant a bit more. So, in a nutshell, the Avett Brothers…

While their music most closely resembles bluegrass, it defies pigeonholing. Acoustic string instruments play fundamental roles with the distinctive banjo twang standing out among them. But they have a propensity for experimentation.

Sometimes they draw heavily on folk music and rely on sparse acoustic instrumentation. Sometimes they play with pop and go electric. Sometimes they incorporate drums, harmonica, trumpet or piano...sometimes a combination of them all. It varies beautifully and significantly, as their music is carefully crafted and every element has meaning.

This all contributes to interesting music, but you don’t know the Avett Brothers—you don’t understand the Avett Brothers—until you’ve witnessed one of their infectious live performances. Energetic in their delivery, intuitive in their play and humbly masterful in their craft, they have a natural stage presence that makes you want to get up and dance with them. And it is this quality that makes their music not just audible but tangible. It makes you look at them and go “Wow, these guys were born to do this.” It is this quality that makes them a band to follow, to love and to tell everyone you know about. After years of making music and touring around North Carolina, their talent is going noticed on a much larger scale, and a lot of this traction is a direct result of this quality.

Band Details:
The band consists of two brothers, Seth and Scott Avett, and Bob Crawford as primary members with (newer) cellist Joe Kwon frequently joining them on tour. Seth and Scott play a variety of instruments but primarily focus on acoustic guitar and banjo, respectively, while Bob plays standing bass. For more, see the band's website.

Landing Outside

The second annual San Francico festival got a bit of a bad rap. There was heavy criticism regarding the lineup, which I thought was unfair. Considering the fact that this lineup was put together much later than expected (due to park permit issues), I think they did quite a job. There was great music to be heard if you were willing to listen. But most people weren't.

The biggest problem was not the lineup or the schedule but the crowd. I felt as though I was among a group of restless and disinterested high school kids, with more attention being paid to the next stop than to the actual destination.

Outside Lands lacked the sense of collective enthusiasm for music that makes live shows special. Artists struggled to garner emotion from the crowd, as toe tapping and drink passing replaced dancing and cheering. Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz's attempts to crowd surf resulted in awkward confusion from an audience too weak to hold him up, and MIA received radio silence after introducing her newest material. "Sorry. Get to know it later," she offered.

In spite of the unfazed attendees, there were some very noteworthy performances. Below are my top 3...if you get the chance to see any of the groups below, I hope, for your sake, that it's with people who can appreciate what they're watching.

My top 3:
1. The Dead Weather
2. The Avett Brothers
3. TV on The Radio