The Avett Brothers and Shane Smith And The Saints

The groups beginnings can be traced back to the two brothers younger days, when they merged the separate bands they had formed at college and school to perform under the moniker “Nemo”. Whilst playing in the rock influenced Nemo and releasing three albums with them, the brothers started a side project focusing on acoustic music, eventually writing their first folk EP, the eponymous “Avett Bros.”, in 2000.

After the disbanding of Nemo, the Avetts, alongside new members Kwon and Crawford, decided to push on with their new band, and wrote and released their debut album “Country Was” in 2002, before embarking on their first tour together in the same year.

They were shortly picked up by local record label, Ramseur Records, and released their follow up album a year later, “A Carolina Jubilee”. This was the first glimpse of the Avett Brothers’ ability to blend their folk style with other genres, such as punk, pop and honky tonk.

The group released a further three studio albums with Ramseur between 2004 and 2007, before collaborating with legendary producer Rick Rubin, and subsequently signing with his American Recordings label.

It was with Rubin that the band really broke through into the mainstream, with their sixth effort, “I Love You and Love You” reaching number 16 in the US charts. The album was well received by critics, who appreciated their more polished sound, and after touring for a few years the band moved on to capitalise on their newfound fame, releasing the even more successful “The Carpenter” and “Magpie and the Dandelion” in 2012 and 2013.

As well as touring, the band has performed at the Grammy Awards and TV shows such as “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and their music has also been used as the soundtrack for many different movies such as “This is 40” and “Friday Night Lights”.