Avett Brothers tearing up the West Coast

Concord’s own The Avett Brothers, a band we’ve written about several times in the magazine and once or twice on this blog (caution: links on blog post aren’t working until we update the archives on our new site), are currently touring the West Coast, and crowds are coming out in droves. I just got this email from Dolph Ramseur, who works with the band:

The Avett Brothers sold-out SLIM’S in San Francisco last night.  They had 628 paid!  The tour out west is going great.  They sold out their show in Chico, CA on August 7th.  Los Angeles is on Saturday night and I expect they will sell 500 or more tickets.  This will be the first time the band has played in Los Angeles.  The buzz is really spreading in California as their show at the Lobero Theatre on October 20th in Santa Barbara, CA is already sold-out!  They play Bumbershoot in Seattle, WA on September 1st.  Bumbershoot is a huge music festival.  The Avett Brothers already are at the stage of pulling out 750 paid in Seattle and this will really step things up.  I just wanted to keep everyone posted in North Carolina how the tour was going.  Tour dates are below.

Thanks,
Dolph Ramseur, Ramseur Records

Avett Brothers Getting Bigger

We here at Charlotte mag put Concord band The Avett Brothers on the cover of our October 2005 Music Issue and proclaimed them “The Music Scene’s Best Hope.” A year earlier, Charlotte mag was one of the first local media outlets to extensively cover the band, with this story by Lori K. Tate. Since, the band, composed of brothers Scott and Seth Avett and Bob Crawford, has released two critically acclaimed CDs, including this month’s Emotionalism, played the biggest music festivals in the country, and, last week, played the Conan O’Brien Show. I just spoke with Crawford as he was driving the band to a gig in Alexandria, Va. He called the Conan show the highlight thus far in the band’s brief career, but insisted that it’s just another step in the band’s evolution.

For the uninitiated, The Avetts are known for their raucous, celebratory live shows and unclassifiable bluegrass/punk sound. To celebrate the release of Emotionalism, the band played a free show at Manifest Records on South Boulevard, and over 700 fans showed up. The store sold 300 CDs before the band even played, breaking Manifest’s previous single-day sales record (which was 120, of a Jay-Z CD). The band is playing in-stores now to promote the new CD. Bob didn’t know when they might play Charlotte again. Last year, the Avetts headlined an afternoon festival in August or September (can’t remember exactly) at Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre, but Bob said they were having a hard time getting that scheduled this year and might have to move it. If nothing else, they’ll (hopefully) be back around for the traditional New Year’s Eve show.

In the meantime, here’s the first track off the new CD. You’re welcome. —Rick Thurmond

mp3 The Avett Brothers, “Die Die Die”

UPDATE: Did some more Googling. The Avett Brothers were Paste magazine’s Band of the Week last week. Also, here’s a good feature story on the Brothers from a paste issue of Paste. Paste, by the way, is a great music and culture magazine out of Atlanta, GA. Finally, the Avetts were also mentioned in Esquire magazine last month, among numerous other national media mentions, such as The New Yorker (scroll down).