The Avett Brothers: Bob Crawford & The Mortality of Folk
Words: Ryan Patrick Hooper
Photo: Courtesy of Columbia Records
The Avett Brothers’ bass-playing Bob Crawford is resting up on the tour bus. After the trio hit the streets of New York City for an early day of hustle and bustle - press here, press there - the group has returned to regain their bearings before performing one of two shows in the Big Apple. Crawford wolfed down a turkey sandwich and some blueberries before crawling back into what he is quick to describe as his “coffin.”
“My bunk is about two feet high, four feet wide and probably eight feet long,” guesstimates Crawford, continuing to describe the tour bus in Gatsby detail. “The bus is not ours, we rent them per tour. Sometimes you get brand new ones, sometimes you get old ones … but they all serve their purpose - to keep you as rested as possible in a life that moves at a pace where rest is a commodity. No matter what you are doing, whether you are a musician, businessperson or vagabond, rest comes at a premium.”
While he may feel rested, his mind can’t help but wander.
“God, I’m not a morbid person,” laughs Crawford, “but when I lay down at night, I do think about death a little bit. Maybe it’s not morbid; maybe it is natural. I’m going to assume that all humans think like this. You are driving from Washington DC to New York. You get your shower after the show, you get in your bunk and you just hope that driver is keeping it between the lines … especially when you are laying in this little coffin, this little catacomb and thinking, ‘Wow, is this what it’s like?’”
Crawford’s oddball (yet oddly accessible) fascination with death is not unwarranted. It should be noted that the Avett Brothers have been wading through the wheat-pool of folk for nearly a decade, each album and proper release plucking more flowers of fandom as they go. On the Brothers’ tenth proper release, Emotionalism, the trio struck a chord with those outside the farmhouse, unleashing a pop-soaked album that not only gathered critical acclaim, but caught the attention of Rick Rubin - one of the most successful, mythical and sought-after producers this world has ever known. The relationship bloomed as they set to work on what would become next month’s I and Love and You, even as the sickly scent of death filled the minds of Crawford and bandmates Scott and Seth Avett.
“I can tell you that I’ve spent more time with the finished record than I have with the previous albums,” Crawford, who “smirked approvingly” when asked if he was the Avett Brothers’ secret weapon, states matter-of-factly. “I had this thing going for a long time where we would do an album … and I would listen to it in my truck. I would listen to it at my house … a bunch of different environments, and then put it away and not revisit it for a while. I and Love and You I’ve probably listened to twelve times. I don’t know if it’s because I can distance myself from it in a way I haven’t been able to do in the past. It’s not an arrival for us - it’s just another moment in the journey.
“The subject matter on I and Love and You is definitely the inevitably of death that we all share,” continues Crawford. “It’s the great leveler! Any person you pass on the street shares that with you. As you go through life and things change, it begins to loom on the horizon. It’s easy to not pay attention to it, but it’s going to get larger. Every year you live … ”
Crawford is hesitant to describe the album musically, only assuring that is not a complete departure for the group, but rather “another step in the ladder.” In the same way the idea of death leaves us stunned, spiritual and curious, Crawford describes the trio’s progression as “continuing to move in some direction,” but notes that he isn’t really sure what direction that is. He is sure that while the group was originally hesitant to work with Rubin, it proved to be one of the most beneficial moves the band has ever made.
“The perfection before it happened was a little intimidating,” enlightens Crawford, “because we’ve done so well by ourselves, we’ve built everything by ourselves and we weren’t sure why we wanted to go to the big guy when the trend is going independent, and we’ve proven the trend because we’re independent. But on the other side of the coin was, this is Rick Rubin. We’ve got a great opportunity, and even if we make a bad record, we are going to learn a ton and have a great experience, good or bad. Now, it feels like that was the natural step we had to take.”
Like life and death itself, Crawford and the Avett Brothers are all too aware of how fragile their success in the music industry is.
“Sometimes, you get to a level where there is perhaps mythical, perhaps real perceptions of the man,” says Crawford. “In the language of our time, there is a certain Vh1 Behind The Music perception of what the music industry is like. I certainly had it, but our experience thus far does not fit into that. Maybe we’re too old to get caught up in that stuff. We’re coming at it from a perspective that is somewhat smart and wise. We’re ready for it … and we’re thankful to be able to work at our art and do what we always wanted to do with our lives … but we also know how fragile this all is. It doesn’t matter how far you run - we’re all on the same trip.”
The Avett Brothers in Florida:
July 16 - St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine
July 17 - House of Blues, Orlando
July 18 - The Cuban Club, Ybor City
July 19 - The Parker Playhouse, Ft. Lauderdale
I and Love and You comes out August 11.
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