Photo courtesy of Republic Records
Before college, Bob Crawford hadn’t ever played the upright bass.
Crawford picked up the instrument for the first time during his early years at South Carolina’s Winthrop University, where he studied jazz guitar. He hoped to become a music theory teacher—but, after just a month and a half of upright bass-playing, an opportunity fell into his lap that would put his dreams of teaching on hold.
“I knew a gentleman in the guitar program with me and he knew a guy who was looking for an upright bass player,” Crawford remembers.
That guy just happened to be Scott Avett, a banjo player from North Carolina who needed to round out the sound of the band he had formed with his brother, Seth. With the addition of Crawford and his upright bass, the band now known as the Avett Brothers was born.
Since their incarnation in 2001, the Avett Brothers have released 8 full-length albums, 3 EPs, and 3 live albums. Their most recent album, 2013’s The Magpie and the Dandelion, reached #5 on the Billboard 200 chart. The Avett Brothers’ songs have been featured on popular TV shows like Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, and One Tree Hill, and the band has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
This year alone, the Avett Brothers are headlining at the Minnesota State Fair, the Speed of Sound Festival in New York, and the Boston Calling Music Festival—but they are especially anticipating their performance at LouFest.
“St. Louis has been a great town for us,” Crawford says. “We love the city, we have a lot of great friends there, and we’ve had a lot of pivotal shows there in the past.”
The Avett Brothers plan to play a wide variety of music when they take the stage this September. “We have a new record we’re working on right now,” Crawford says. “And hopefully, you’ll hear some reimagined old songs from us.”
It is difficult to classify the band into any specific genre. The simple piano chords and emotional lyrics of “I and Love and You” are reminiscent of popular folk band Mumford and Sons, while others like “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” hearken back to the brothers’ North Carolina roots with bluegrass-style fiddling. “I Never Knew You” and “Kick Drum Heart” even venture close to pop music.
This wide stylistic variety stems from each band member’s respective musical influences. “We all have a very broad, wide range of inspirations,” Crawford says. “Personally, I was raised on Bruce Springsteen, punk rock music, and the Grateful Dead. We all have our elements that are in the subconscious of our musical jargon.” Certain musical icons, however, have influenced every member of the band—Crawford cites Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young, among others.
This refusal to align with any specific genre is an essential part of the Avett Brothers’ identity. Their songs are not pop hits, bluegrass tunes, or folk music—they are “just chords with real voices singing real melodies.”
“It’s up to the writer to define,” Crawford says. “It’s up to the artist to create.”
The Avett Brothers perform Sunday, September 13 at 8 p.m. For more info, go to loufest.com.
