Success doesn’t faze Avetts

By WALTER TUNIS

For years, the Avett Brothers operated as a sort of rootsy, indie antiquity in motion.

A banjo, stand-up bass and guitar outfit from the bluegrass-rich regions of North Carolina, the band’s music was one part rustic, literate, acoustic charm and two parts seething rock ’n’ roll. And with every album cut for the independent label Ramseur Records, the band’s fan base grew.

A growth spurt was bound to happen sooner or later. The trio, consisting of guitarist Seth Avett, banjoist Scott Avett and their unofficial sibling but fully indoctrinated “brother,” bassist Bob Crawford, has caught the ears of the major labels — specifically, American/Columbia Records.

Not only that, its first non-indie project, the critically acclaimed “I and Love and You,” released last year, teamed the band with one of the record industry’s most esteemed producers, Rick Rubin.

So how does the change sit with the Avetts? Did jumping from the indie ranks to cutting an American album with Rubin puncture the intimacy and organic energy of the brothers’ rambunctious string band sound?

“We’re a major-label act now,” Johnson said. “We can’t deny that at this moment. But we’re kind of dancing with the one that brung us, you know what I’m saying? That said, we haven’t really changed our attitudes about what we’re doing since the days when me, Seth and Scott we’re touring around in a pickup truck.

“What’s happening now is simply the next step on the ladder for us. If you listen to each album, you will see a maturing process even though you will not notice any great change in the music. We have learned what works and what doesn’t. And then we simply modified.”

The Avetts will perform Saturday at House of Blues in Cleveland. The show is sold out.

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