Merlefest 2005: Avett Brothers

I saw the Avett Brothers last year at Merlefest 2004, and I really wasn't all that impressed. I didn't catch an entire act, which is always my big mistake, but instead just breezed by and caught a couple of songs. They seemed really off-key and sloppy, and I just wasn't impressed.

I'm also not a big fan of their "Love Like the Movies" song off of the 2004 Fresh Faces of Merlefest album. Although I highly agree with their song's theme (I even started writing a similar song a few years ago myself), I just couldn't get into the song itself. Some of the lyrics were weak enough to turn me off on the whole song. I thought that all of their stuff must be similarly flawed.

This year at Merlefest, however, I kept hearing a lot of buzz about them. I caught a couple of their songs at their Americana Stage set, and I really liked them! They were much more confident it seemed. They were very much into their songs, and just looked like they were having a great time! What really impressed me was how they'd go from a singer shouting and yelling straight to a chorus with three-part harmony. It was really fun. I saw a couple of songs, which included my soon-to-become favorite of theirs, "I Killed Sally's Lover." That song sounds like the Ramones singing Bill Monroe! No lie.

So, now I was liking them more than before, and I'd decided to buy their live CD, but I still wasn't smitten by them. Not, that is, until I saw them Sunday morning on the Cabin Stage. They played a four-song set followed by an unexpected encore. They were fantastic! After a great Doc Watson and Nashville Bluegrass Band show, a so-so Thad Cockrell gig (more on that later), and a repeat of Saturday night's Chieftan show, these guys rocked the Merlefest house. The reserved seats were chock-full of people, and I overheard lots of folks being verbally amazed by them.

I myself sat bolt upright and laughed myself silly in a few places. They did a version of "Muleskinner Blues," the Jimmie Rodgers/Bill Monroe standard, that could've passed as a hill-billy version of the Clash. I was hooked. I immediately went and bought their other two studio CDs.

I rocked my drive home Sunday night to their live album, which I highly recommend. They haven't replaced Old Crow Medicine Show as my favorite high-energy "punk" Americanna band yet, but I really like them. I can't wait till tomorrow night when I see them at the Cat's Cradle. I think that show tomorrow will really make a fan out of me. (I'm even starting to like that "Love Like the Movies" song a bit more, although it's really not their best.)