Tag Archives: avett brothers

The Avett Brothers and Love and You (MP3)

avbro12

We at Owl&Bear make no secret about our love for The Avett Brothers. Whether it takes the form of gushing over their impeccable live performances or praising our fair city for having the good taste to share in our Brother-ly love, the fraternal folkers sure do get a lot of press around here. And, what with the impending release of their new album, that’s probably not gonna change anytime soon.

Case in point: The Avett Brothers, in conjunction with Spinner, have just made their new single “I and Love and You” available as a free download. The song is the title track from their new Rick Rubin-produced album, and finds the duo maintaining the same creative heights they’ve been soaring at for their past few releases.

Judging by this song and the lovely “And It Spread”—which they played at their amazing Belly Up show last month—the new album will be nothing to shake a stick at, unless shaking a stick at things is just the weird way you show your love.

Review: The Avett Brothers; May 10, 2009 at The Belly Up Tavern; Solana Beach

The Avett Brothers

No one likes a gushy reviewer. People want evenhanded critiques that take a band’s flaws as well as their strengths into account. Reviews that seem overly positive wreak of bias and/or ignorance, smack of unchecked fandom, and can diminish the credibility of the reviewer. But, like it or not, this is going to be one of those reviews, because when The Avett Brothers performed to a packed house at The Belly Up on Sunday, it truly was a flawless show.

Backed by Bob Crawford on standup bass and—because no country/folk/bluegrass band is complete without a long-haired, head-banging Asian guy—Joe Kwon on cello, brothers Seth and Scott Avett took to the stage with understated confidence. Their aw-shucks Southern humility dropped no hints as to the stellar performance they were about to deliver but, from the moment they began to play, The Avett Brothers nailed each note with baffling ease and agility. Continue reading

High Fiving Hipsters or: San Diego Loves the Avett Brothers

High Fiving Hipsters

The last time I was at the Belly Up I high fived a hipster. The results were fascinating and hilarious; I came out after the show to see my “victim” sitting on a ledge outside being consoled by his girlfriend.

“It was a good show though, right baby?” she said with a hopeful and worried tone.

He responded with his head hung low, “Yeah it was okay…I just can’t believe that guy high fived me.”

I had apparently ruined the guy’s life. I spent the car ride home making obnoxious phone calls at 1am telling my friends the story of the wounded hipster. Why the hell did I high five him anyways? The moment had come right after Built to Spill finished an extended version of “Randy Described Eternity” and I was in heaven. It was one of those concert moments that I live for; it felt like there was no way anybody in the audience could have been on any level other than the one I was on: pure stupid bliss. Continue reading

Avett Brothers Answer Our Prayers

The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers are obviously readers of Owl&Bear. Just last week I lamented the fact that the band would not be stopping in San Diego on their upcoming tour and, lo, it turns out that the band will be playing at Solana Beach’s Belly Up Tavern on May 10th.

We’d like to thank the Avett Brothers: not just for reading our blog—as they surely do every day—but, more importantly, for doing whatever we ask of them. Of course, there is the slim possibility that this show has been lined up for a while now, and that I just forgot to thoroughly research the matter before writing a half-cocked story about it and grossly misinforming the public.

But no, I don’t like that version of reality, so I’ll stick to the one I made up. Head out to the Belly Up on May 10th and help us thank the Avett Brothers in person. And finally, just in case I do have special powers of influence over musicians: I sure would like it if Tom Waits played a show at my house.