It starts with the live show which is always a joyful experience. The Avetts always play with intensity and raw emotion, like it might be their last time playing music. Although they are professional musicians, performing isn’t a job – they simply enjoy playing music and performing for their fans. When you see them you can’t help but smile the entire time.

While seeing them live is a joyful experience in itself, to me they really shine in their recorded work. Scott and Seth are simply 2 of the finest songwriters I’ve ever heard, particularly in their slower, more reflective songs like “November Blue”, “Famous Flower of Manhattan”, and “If It’s The Beaches”. Their songs don’t fit the standard, verse chorus verse format and as such aren’t immediately memorable. Instead they are linear explorations of universal human feelings of love, loss, longing, sorrow, and joy that slowly make their way into your mind and soul and stay there. While the themes of their songs are universal and therefore common, Scott and Seth address these themes with intuitive depth and insight. Without compromising their masculinity, they write with the emotional sensitivity and vulnerability of a woman, like the illegitimate sons of Steve Earle and Joni Mitchell.

Like those musicians whose music has endured over time, the Avetts’ music is defined by integrity and emotion. Integrity in that they have stayed true to their art and have created a body of work that they can look back on without embarrassment. Emotion in that it’s music that touches the core of the human experience with honesty and feeling.