I’ve finally had time to process my weekend listening to the Avett Brothers at the Orange Peel, and I’m sad to say that the shows left me with the same melancholy that’s pervaded my holiday season overall.
The sadness here, with the Avetts, has everything to do with how the band has changed over the past year, and I’ve struggled with my conclusion.
The Avett Brothers have seen growing success over the past few years. There have been rave reviews to new albums, an appearance as the music guest on a late night comedy show and a signing with a famous music producer. The band has toured nearly non-stop around the country, building its fan base one venue at a time. Certainly the band deserves its success.
And as artists, the Avett Brothers deserve to be allowed the room to grow, change, experiment, expand. That’s clearly what’s happening. Asheville Citizen-Times freelance writer Michael Flynn’s Q&A with band member Seth Avett clearly states it:
Q: How would describe the upcoming record?
A: I think there will be those who see it as a departure, but we see it very clearly as the next natural step for us. Each full length record has been another step away from an Americana-type delivery or instrumentation further in the direction of rock and roll. I think when you listen to this record there won’t be any question we are not a bluegrass band.
Wow. That’s the first time I’ve heard the band come out and say, in no plain terms, that they’re leaving behind the sound that got them noticed in the first place. That sound was lovely song-writing, combined with a head-banging bluegrass sound. It might be described as Americana punk. The sound was never easily categorized, but the Avett Brothers have clearly been playing in the bluegrass milieu.
Not anymore. Mountain Xpress staff writer Alli Marshall’s story about the Avetts also gets to it:
One change of which they are certain is manifest in the Avett Brother’s yet-to-be-titled, soon-to-be-released album, produced by Rick Rubin. Yes, the same Rubin who masterminded the 1986 Aerosmith/Run-D.M.C. collaboration “Walk This Way.” The same Rubin whose 2008 credits include Weezer’s self-titled CD, Neil Diamond’s Home Before Dark, Jakob Dylan’s Seeing Things, Metallica’s Death Magnetic and forthcoming releases by Slayer and ZZ Top.
If Metallica’s record coach seems an odd choice for a heart-on-sleeve folk-core band armed with lumberjack beards and old-time instruments, Crawford offers this: “I think The Avett Brothers is always different. I don’t think we’ve ever arrived anywhere.”
What saddens me is that the band I saw at the Orange Peel this past weekend is not the band I fell in love with. The Avett Brothers have polished away its bluegrass rough edges. They’re not as raw, and to me, that means they’re not as real. They had their musical exclamation points in all the right places; it’s almost as if they’re too good for their own good.
The Avetts played all the songs I loved hearing from them early on. But it feels like the band is leaving those behind. What’s ahead sounds sonically bigger and richer; not so banjo-y and rough.
And while I appreciate an artist who feels the need to grow and change, I don’t like it when there’s no vestige left of the original creator that I fell in love with.
There’s no doubt that there’s much success ahead for the Avett Brothers. But I fear they’ve left me behind.
13 Comments
ash, you nailed it buddy. i used to watch these dudes at a crappy mexican restaurant in greeville years ago, and those performances gave me ten times the chills i got this weekend. though, i was only at the sunday show.
do you think having to spread their songs out to 3 sets took away from each? or do you think their unique edge is completely gone?
if ya need a new grunge-grass band to follow, check out O’death.
I’m sorry, but you guys must have been at different shows than me. These shows were my 6th, 7th, and 8th Avett shows, and to me they were every bit as amazing and magical as the 2 shows last year (which you yourself raved about). The music has NOT changed. So what if Scott puts down the banjo and hops on the drums every so often? The lyrics are still incredible and honest. As long as the Avetts bring shows of that quality to Asheville, I’ll keep going.
try to push the forms, melodies, harmonies, etc. into different directions. you begin to manipulate and augment your ‘core’ sound simply to keep yourself and your bandmates from going insane.
Which is the genius of Americana, a genre defined by the inability to categorize it, a genre aficionados define as ‘the good stuff’. I can see saying ‘we aren’t bluegrass’. I can’t see rejecting Americana. It smells like a sell out. But time will tell.
joey, i hear what you’re saying, but i see lots and lots of creative music around Asheville.
b.c.w., thanks for your insights. you’re right on.
there are a lot of hypotheticals in situations like this that the casual listener is never privy to. as a musician myself who works in many different bands, many different genres, and is also a composer, it’s tough for a band with any creative spirit to retain the pure essence of their ‘seminal’ sound if they are to push themselves and break new ground. you can only play the same songs or the same style for so long before you try to push the forms, melodies, harmonies, etc. into different directions. you begin to manipulate and augment your ‘core’ sound simply to keep yourself and your bandmates from going insane. i think any band that cares about its sound and its fans will always strive to retain what their fans love in the first place, but you can’t let that define your artistic pursuits totally. i find that the best bands have a core sound, depart from it occasionally, but always return to it in the end. it’s a healthy cycle, unless said band decides to totally change for commercial appeal. if the Avetts have indeed consciously shed their bluegrass roots, they probably did it thinking their fans would adapt along with them. as with any band dynamic, i’m sure that not everyone involved is probably totally happy with such drastic changes… rare is the band where everyone agrees all the time. it’s always a compromise. i speak from experience.
moving away from bluegrass doesn’t sound like a bad thing. i gave the band a chance a few records ago and was thoroughly bored with all but a few songs. in my opinion, it couldn’t get any worse.
as someone new to the asheville scene, who was excited to move somewhere touted as a "great music town", i am so sick of the mediocre jam bands, bluegrass ensembles, and overall lack of originality that seems to thrive here.
am i alone here?
Marissa, I found Jason Webley’s schtick a little grating. Fun songs, but the whole twitching thing he had going bothered me. and any time i see members of bands obsessed with their hats, i think it’s a sure sign of immaturity. but he certainly got the crowd going.
arratik: ok, i’ll give ’em a chance. there’s no doubt that there’s no small genius attached to Rubin. but i don’t the band’s new direction.
Celo, totally.
I was at the Friday night show and I just didn’t feel the Avett edge I usually feel when I’m sitting in my car screaming along at the top of my lungs. . .well written, Ash.
I must say, however, that I am now slightly in love with Jason Webley. Kickass songwriting and a great act.
The words "Produced by Rick Rubin" aren’t necessarily a bad thing. It should also be remembered that this is the same Rick Rubin that helped introduce Johnny Cash to a completely new audience by producing four stripped-down acoustic albums that many consider to be up there with his finest work. I’m curious to hear what Rubin brings to the party that is the Avetts. (Two things are for certain – Rubin has an excellent ear for what sounds good, and he’s particularly adept at coaxing the best possible performances out of everyone he works with. Except for the new Metallica album. Even divine intervention couldn’t make that steaming pile of horse hooey sound good.)
Personally, I usually give bands I love a two-album buffer before I write them off as a "band I useta like". Sometimes the "major label debut" will alienate some fans, but not all of them.
Dude, now I’m feeling teary.