From the ACL taping program on November 16, 2009:
In the wake of their newest album that redefines them as a musical force to be reckoned with, The Avett Brothers will take the Austin City Limits stage for the first time. Fans take note: this band of troubadours likes to get rowdy and their live shows have become the stuff of legends.
The Avett Brothers debuted their first album Country Was in 2002 with a sound Billboard Magazine defined as possesing the "ability to lure comfortable yet elegant fireplace medlodies from just a handful of guitars and one DNA strand." The Avett Brothers went on to record fice more albums and three EPs, including their 2007 EP, The Gleam II, "marking the band's considerable musical growth over just a few short years...The EP is eloquent but not showy, reflective but not self-absorbed, tender but not saccharine." [Pitchfork].
The tremendous work the band has put into these numerous records has left The Avett Brothers with a generously stocked tool belt of musical mastery that can only result from years of meticulous sharpening and polishing. While each album has been a snippet of greatness in its own right, all were essentially paving the way to I And Love And You. Released in September 2009, this album is "packed front to back with lyrical treats and lovely sonic touches" [Billboard]. Paste Magazine sings the album's praises, claiming "The Avett Brothers are experts in mining the heart and soul of the modern American man. Love is an obvious theme, but so is finding freedon and maturity. Their lyrics are tough yet vulnerable, insightful yet homepsun, manly yet emotional. The kind of thing that makes the girls giddy and the boys envious."
