Just seven years ago Rolling Stone named The Avett (pronounced A-Vet) Brothers “Artist To Watch.”
Word spread. Their audience grew. Late night TV and the 2011 Grammy’s beckoned. They played international music festivals and became favorites on the Americana music scene and their newest single, “Ain’t No Man,” is Top 5 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative chart.
Their sound is unique; according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Avett Brothers have the “heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, and the raw energy of the Ramones.”
In other words, a mélange of bluegrass, country, punk, pop, folk, rock n’ roll, indie rock, honky tonk and ragtime.
Imagine these lyrics backed by a jazzy, blue-grassy, southern rock n’ roll, up-tempo band:
Ain’t no man that can save me
There Ain’t no man that can enslave me
Ain’t no man or men that can change the shape my soul is in
There ain’t nobody here
Who can cause me pain or raise my fear
cause I got only love to share
If you’re looking for truth I’m proof you’ll find it there
The hand clapping and foot stomping in “Ain’t No Man” was also a technique used by Queen as the underpinning to their 1977 super hit “We Will Rock You.”
Background
The Avett Brothers are guitarist Seth, age 29, and Scott, age 39, on banjo.
They are from North Carolina.
“Aint No Man” is the first single from “True Sadness,” the group’s ninth album, due to be released late June.