The Avett Brothers—Scott and Seth—were born in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. They are one of the top acts in Americana music with their blend of acoustic, country, bluegrass, pop, punk, folk, jazz, and rock and roll music.
The two brothers played music together since childhood. Their partnership began when the two brothers merged, Seth Avett’s high school band, Margo, and Scott Avett’s college band, Nemo together. The group released three albums under Nemo. In 2000 the Avetts with Nemo guitarist John Twomey released an EP, The Avett Brothers.
After the group disbanded, Scott and Seth joined bassist Bob Crawford and released their first album, Country Was, and booked a tour to promote their album.
Their album Live at the Double Door Inn led to a partnership with Dolph Ramseur of Ramseur Records, a local label in Concord, NC. In 2003 they released their album, A Carolina Jubilee, on Ramseur Records. Their next album, Mignonette, was released in 2004, and Live, Vol 2, recorded at the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, NC and King’s Baracade in Raleigh, NC was released in 2005. The following year the group released Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions.
In May, 2007 the group released the album Emotionalism which debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Heatseekers album chart and number 13 on the Independent Artist chart. They made their national TV debut on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” performing “Paranoia in B-Flat Major” with cellist Joe Kwon.
In November, 2007, The Avett Brothers captured the Duo/Group of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year awards from the Americana Music Association. The next year they released The Second Gleam, an acoustic album.
In 2008, the group signed with producer Rick Rubin and his American Recordings label. In the fall of 2009, the Avett Brothers released 13 short videos to promote their album I and Love and You. The videos featured clips from past concerts, fan interviews and interviews with members of the band and led to them being named The Artist to Watch in 2009 by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Their album I and Love and You was released in September, 2009 and reached the top twenty in Billboard’s best selling albums, top ten in best selling digital albums, top ten inrock albums, and number one in folk albums. This led to appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” and a featured performance on the PBS series “Austin City Limits.”
The Avett Brothers released their first DVD, Live, Vol 3, which was recorded at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte during the band’s homecoming concert. In 2011, the Avett Brothers performed “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” on the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards before performing “Maggie’s Farm” with Mumford and Sons, and Bob Dylan.
Their sixth album, The Carpenter, also produced by Rick Rubin, was released in September, 2012 and debuted at number four on Billboard’s top 200 albums, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album at the 55th annual Grammy Awards.
In 2013, The Avett Brothers appeared at the Newport Folk Festival and in October released their album, Magpieand the Dandelion, reachingnumber five on Billboard’s top 200 albums. Their album, Live, Vol 4was recorded in 2014 during a New Year’s Eve show and their ninth studio album, True Sadness, was released in 2016.
The group’s core members are Seth and Scott Avett, Bob Crawford (banjo, drums, harmonica, guitar, piano) and Joe Kwon (cello, musical saw) with Mike Marshall (drums), Paul DeFiglia (piano, organ) and Tania Elizabeth (violin) joining them on tours. Former members include John Twomey and Jacob Edwards.