No doubt, we love music around here. Tantalizing tunes are piped throughout our house daily. And, as we’ve discovered, you’ll find a lot of noise out across the music scene. But there’s also plenty of brilliant stuff to be discovered, if you know where to find it.

The Avett Brothers have been top on our playlists lately. They’re a young band from North Carolina that’s become popular in the “Americana/acoustic” circuit, if there’s such a circuit. They create a sound that’s groovy and kicky – a cross between rock, country, folk, bluegrass, and other genres. The brother’s unique voices are accompanied by guitar, cello, bass, sometimes banjo, piano, or drums.

Whenever I hear The Avett Brothers crooning through our space, I feel like they could be plopped right down in my den, performing just for me, while I organize my spice cabinet, or match the colossal mound of socks.

Their music seems natural. It’s not overproduced, with too much fluff. It’s simple, stripped down, refreshing and original.

It’s clear.

It’s real.

And it has something to say.

Lyrically I think you’ll find they’re unique, powerful. Some of their songs are humorous, others, not so much.

“She’s talkin’ to me with her voice
Down so low I barely hear her
But I know what she’s sayin’
I understand because my heart and hers are the same…”
~ “January Wedding,” The Avett Brothers

Or this sweet one…

“Please remember that there’s nothing that’s worth sharing like the love that let us share our name,”
~ “Murder in the City,” The Avett Brothers


Awwwww…

Many of their songs are about a longing for deeper, stronger, more meaningful relationships.

“What is important? What’s really important? Am I not to know by my name?”
~ “Incomplete and Insecure,” The Avett Brothers


Just makes you want to hug your brother. Or your sister. Or your long lost Aunt Myrtle, who thinks she’s Hemingway and wears those crazy arse stockings.

You’ll find The Avett Brothers lyrics brutally honest and convicting…

Relationships aren’t always easy.

Love is hard work sometimes.

Love is costly.

Sometimes it hurts.

“Three words that became hard to say…I and love and you,”
~ “I and Love and You,” The Avett Brothers


But we were made for deep relationships. It’s been that way from the beginning, and remains that way today.

Many of us think it’s easy to make friends these days, especially with online social networking. Toss out a cheery greeting here or there. “Friend” someone with the click of a button. I find that The Avett Brothers lyrics run counter to a culture that promotes relationships that are sometimes numerous but shallow. To build those deeper relationships, based on trust and vulnerability, we really have to work to go beyond “Have a nice day,” don’t we?

Music is glorious isn’t it? In one swift measure, it can wash away the melancholy. It can take you back to places you’ve long forgotten. It can make you ponder, think, and reassess priorities. What a gift. What a joy.

So kudos to the brothers from Concord, NC swimming against the tide and making great, thoughtful, meaningful music.

Keep on rockin’ it bro. We’re listening.

Any new tunes or groups you’re finding groovy these days?