Life > October 9, 2008

By Caroline Edgeton | Asst. life editor

To whoever decided that listening to folk music was considered “cool” among young folks, I personally thank you for the good you’ve brought to humanity. To whoever decided that listening to folk music was considered “cool” among young folks, I personally thank you for the good you’ve brought to humanity. If it weren’t for you, the explosion of wonderful, harmonious, banjo-infused, harmonica-hummed melodies wouldn’t grace my eardrums with their presence nearly as often as they do now.

Something I think that gets quite annoying, though, is when folk music is classified as “country.” Maybe it’s just me, but when an individual calls a folk band a “country band,” I feel like the connotation entailed with that description is, to be frank, quite degrading.

Yes, it is a form of music that roots from the southern part of the country, but it most certainly isn’t your stereotypical “country” crap that gets played on the radio and CMT. Now, clearly, I’m biased (maybe elitist) and not someone who enjoys that poppified country music I was just referencing. I’m someone who enjoys the type of country music that involves intense instrumental attention, well-written, intelligent lyrics and authentic voices.

In other words, I like my country music to focus on telling the story while playing an instrument (preferably a sweet sounding banjo), and playing it well. One band that satisfies my taste for this wonderful genre called “folk” is most certainly the Avett Brothers.

The band hails from Concord, N.C., and they never let you forget it. Their music is certainly full of southern pride, but it’s also full of energy and life. As one of my friends once described them, “They’re folk singers that play their instruments like punk stars.” They’re known for playing the hell out of their instruments and breaking strings during most performances. When I saw them live, the second those lovely bearded men stepped foot on stage, you could already feel the energy from their songs upon the first stroke of their guitar strings.

Opening the show with “Shame,” it made the crowd slowly get into their music. “Shame” is a rather slow song recorded, but when they performed it live it had a new, more upbeat tempo that made everyone sway back and forth.

Though they started on a more mellow level, they certainly left plenty of room for their faster paced songs that all Avett fans love. The band is known for screaming during the songs, and they certainly accomplished this in just about every tune they played.

Playing several of their new songs from The Second Gleam, the Avetts kept the crowd going by playing a nice mix of their older stuff and their new stuff.

Overall, this was an excellent show. I definitely intend on seeing them again as soon as I can.

If you ever get an opportunity to see them perform, by all means embrace that chance as much as you can and go. Even if you are not a fan of that whole “southern music” thing, trust me, you don’t want to turn your nose up at these guys. They have beards, they scream and they’re instrumentally and lyrically talented. They are a mix of genres: bluegrass, country, punk, pop, folk, rock, honky tonk and ragtime. Now, tell me there’s not something in there for everyone.

Asst. life editor