Scott Avett is a talented individual. He’s known for his work with The Avett Brothers, but he’s also an accomplished painter.
According to his web site, Scott is also active in illustration, printmaking, and sculpture (in addition to his songwriting, recording and performing duties).
Captain Obvious had a chance to speak with Scott last week, before the band’s Friday night Merlefest appearance.
Obvious: You guys have really picked up a lot of steam as of late, playing Late Night with Conan O’Brien last year and having “If It’s The Beaches” played on the NBC series “Friday Night Lights.” Are you surprised by the success?
Scott: None of our accomplishments have made us champions but we are extremely thankful and honored by the recognition. Since day one we have promised to carry ourselves proudly no matter the rate of “success” that comes our way. Success, for us, is to maintain that integrity and that attitude and nothing can touch us… but, surprised to find yourself on the Grand Ole Opry or Conan O’Brien, no doubt about it.
Have you read Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s essay on energy in Vanity Fair? It’s well worth your time if you have yet to see it.
Here’s a quick look at the essential argument:
Carbon dependence has eroded our economic power, destroyed our moral authority, diminished our international influence and prestige, endangered our national security, and damaged our health and landscapes. It is subverting everything we value.
And yet, there is ample reason to be hopeful.
We sit atop the second-largest geothermal resources in the world. The American Midwest is the Saudi Arabia of wind; indeed, North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas alone produce enough harnessable wind to meet all of the nation’s electricity demand. As for solar, according to a study in Scientific American, photovoltaic and solar-thermal installations across just 19 percent of the most barren desert land in the Southwest could supply nearly all of our nation’s electricity needs.
All I know is I want to be part of this clean energy boom. Entrepreneurs will solve what government won’t. Am I right?
I recently came across the work of Jeremy Lyons & The Deltabilly Boys. Given that Lyons in playing dba, one of my favorite bars in New Orleans this afternoon at 4:00 p.m., it seems like a good time to mention him.
According to his MySpace, he moved to Cambridge, MA in 2005. I’m thinking it must be nice for Lyons to be back in the Crescent City this week during Jazz Fest. It’s surely a good thing for his fans.
We’re just back from our first Merlefest and there’s much to share.
Let’s begin with the bands we were able to see perform.
Saturday
Levon Helm Band
Ollabelle
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby
Hot Buttered Rum
Bearfoot
Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven
Donna the Buffalo with Jim Lauderdale and Tim O’Brien
Friday
The Avett Brothers
Peter Rowan + Tony Rice
Sam Bush Band
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Donna the Buffalo
The Infamous Stringdusters with Tim O’Brien
Ralph Stanley & Clinch Mountain Boys
What a lineup. Donna the Buffalo with Jim Lauderdale and Tim O’Brien on the Hillside Stage on Saturday was the best set of the bunch. But seeing Ollabelle for the first time was a treat. Ollabelle, featuring Amy Helm, played the Cabin Stage just prior to her father Levon Helm’s set. The music coming from this “tweener” stage was special, and not just because Ollabelle played “Ripple” and “Brokedown Palace.” This is a band to learn much more about.
I also enjoyed seeing Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven (from David Grisman Quintet). This quintet-for-the-day pushed bluegrass into an experimental place and I like when that happens. It’s interesting to note that Brown runs Compass Records in Nashville, which ain’t no big thang for a Harvard- and UCLA Business School-educated banjo picker.
Levon Helm opened up his headling Saturday night set with “Ophelia,” and right there, the price of admission was pretty much covered. He had a lot of energy and attacked his kit, putting some rock and roll on the plates of the traditionalists still gathered (many scooted out after Ricky Skaggs).
Merlefest is a great time in a beautiful foothills setting, but I’d be negligent in my duties if I failed to mention there is no beer, wine or booze available inside the festival grounds (and I never smelled even the faintest whiff of pot). It’s a sit down affair popular with lots of middle aged church going folk. You might say there’s the Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson faction of traditional music lovers and then there’s a new school element, on stage and in the audience. (I know some people were shaking their heads at The Avett Brothers, but hey, they play acoustic instruments.) At any rate, everyone seems to get along fine but it’s not an equal mix of hula hooping acoustic freaks and traditionalists. The old school has numbers at Merlefest.
UC Santa Cruz, long a home to eccentric individuals, is now officially the most Dead-friendly university in the land.
According to The Wall Street Journal (no irony there), surviving members of Grateful Dead have decided to give the group’s archives to the university library in Santa Cruz, Calif., which some Silicon Valley executives hope to help turn into a mecca for scholars and the band’s fans.
The trove, to be transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz, includes photos, artwork, press clippings, posters, letters, backstage passes and other documents assembled by the band over 30 years, as well as memorabilia sent to the group by fans. It doesn’t include the Dead’s huge vault of live recordings, which still spawn new releases and generate revenue.
Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley investor and musician, and Bill Watkins, chief executive of Seagate Technology and a longtime Deadhead, are expected to join a committee to oversee the project, which is likely to require considerable fund-raising.
Gibbard’s essay is a good read. I could point to several different passages, but I like this one about fighting the accelerated pace of things.
I can unequivocally say that I’m so glad we were one of the last bands to break before the Internet got crazy. We actually had some time to develop. I hate hearing people say, “I went and saw this band—everybody’s saying they’re really great—but I went and saw them last night and they weren’t any good live.” You know why they weren’t good? Because they’ve never done more than five shows in a row, and now they’re two weeks into a tour—their first national tour. They don’t know how to get to the shows, they don’t know how to sleep right, they don’t know where to find food. They don’t understand how to make a set list somebody cares about. You can’t blame these bands for not being great yet. We were terrible when we first started playing. Our shows were so fucking boring.
For the opposite of boring look at this cinematic eight and half minute video featuring a song about a stalker from the band’s new album, Narrow Stairs (in stores May 13th).
There’s another important piece of Gibbard’s writing worth examining.
Before I made a living playing music, I used to work shitty job after shitty job and think “Man, as soon as I’m able to make a living in music, it’s really going to come together then, it’s really going be amazing.”
The point here is find a way to be happy where you are. Enjoy your path, because it’s never ending. Even when you make it as an artist, you’re still just a guy walking a path, living a life with ups and downs and all the rest.
I caught my first Spoon show last night in Fort Lauderdale. I’m so glad I did.
Several of the band’s song are still echoing in my head, including “Turn My Camera On,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Don’t You Evah,” “Eddie’s Ragga” and “Rhythm and Soul.”
Here’s a live performance of “Rhythm and Soul” from last fall in Nashville:
I wish I had video from last night to share. This band is beyond tight. Lead singer and guitarist, Britt Daniel, is a force of nature. The son of a neurologist, Daniel grew up in Temple, Texas, before heading to Austin for university. He now lives in Portland, Oregon–another musical stronghold. I mention his background because this is a smart guy heading up a smart band.
Spoon is also skinny jeans band. In fact, long tall Mr. Daniel sports a pair. But there aren’t any shoegazers at this show. Spoon “gets your hands from your back pockets.”
[MP3 Offering] “Rhythm and Soul” from The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 8/20/06
