The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers /ˈeɪvᵻt/ are an American folk rock band from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, USA. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, hi-hat) as well as Bob Crawford (double bass, violin) and Joe Kwon (cello). Mike Marsh (drums), Tania Elizabeth (violin) and Paul Defiglia (keyboard, organ) are touring members of the band. Following on from Seth and Scott's former rock band Nemo, The Avett Brothers combine bluegrass, country, punk, pop melodies, folk, rock and roll, indie rock, honky tonk, and ragtime to produce a novel sound described by the San Francisco Chronicle as having the "heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, the raw energy of the Ramones." 2History 3Beginnings Although they played music together since childhood, the brothers Scott and Seth Avett truly began their partnership in the late 1990s with the merger of Seth's Mount Pleasant High School rock band Margo, and Scott's college group Nemo. Seth's band Margo had released a song "Dumbfight" on a compilation album before merging with Nemo. After releasing three albums under the Nemo moniker the Avetts started experimenting with acoustic music with some friends at night. After a few street performances and get-togethers they dubbed "The Back Porch Project" or "Nemo Downstairs," the brothers and Nemo guitarist John Twomey put together an EP titled The Avett Bros. in 2000 while performing shows as both The Avett Brothers with Scott, Seth and John, and Nemo. As Nemo broke up Scott and Seth continued to write acoustic music together. In early 2001 stand-up bassist Bob Crawford, formerly of The Memphis Quick 50, joined the Avetts and the band released their first full-length album Country Was. The Avett Brothers set out on a self-booked tour to promote the new album and in late 2002 began preparations for a follow-u