Original subtitles

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Um, this is for MSG's Digital Content Department.

So could say your name and...

- That's okay. - I'm Scott Avett.

I'm with the Avett Brothers.

I sing and play the banjo

and the piano and the guitar.

- I'm Seth Avett.

I play and sing with the Avett Brothers.

- Awesome.

And can you talk a little bit about, uh,

playing at MSG and coming here today?

- Yeah, we can't talk a whole lot about playing yet

because we never have before but--

- Well, the feeling to just be in the arena?

- No, I got you. No, this is our first time

playing at MSG, and we're super excited

because it's a place of such legend and history.

Okay, I just got lost.

- Yeah. Sure do.

- Awesome-sauce! - Yeah.

- "Awesome-sauce."

- Hey, guys, this is Lauren from "Huffington Post."

- Hi, guys. - Hello.

- Hi. So nice to see you. I've met you guys once before.

- Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

- Yes. Thank you. - Yeah.

- "True Sadness," let's talk about that.

- I love the new album.

- I love the record, first of all.

I'm wondering if you kind of take me back

to, like, the very first sessions

when you guys realized that you were

gonna start putting another record together?

[The Avett Brothers "Laundry Room" plays]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Don't push me out ♪

♪ Just a little longer ♪

♪ Stall your mother ♪

♪ Disregard your father's words ♪

♪ Close the laundry door ♪

♪ Tiptoe across the floor ♪

♪ Keep your clothes on ♪

♪ I've got all that I can take ♪

♪ Teach me how to use ♪

♪ The love that people say you made ♪

♪ Teach me how to use ♪

♪ The love that people say you made ♪

♪ ♪

- Last night I dreamt the whole night long.

♪ And I woke with a head full of songs ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I spent the whole day ♪

♪ I wrote them down ♪

♪ But it's a shame ♪

♪ Tonight I'll burn the lyrics ♪

♪ 'Cause every chorus was your name ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing time machine ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing time machine ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing time machine ♪

- ♪ And I'll take you all for a ride ♪

- ♪ Break this tired old routine ♪

- ♪ Man, I am a breathing time machine ♪

- ♪ And this time don't let me leave ♪

Yeah!

♪ ♪

Come on!

Go!

Go!

- Ohhh!

♪ ♪

- All right, all right, all right, thank you!

♪ ♪

- ♪ And if you take my heart ♪

♪ Don't leave the smallest part ♪

♪ I've no need to live ♪

♪ If you're to come up gone ♪

♪ And as my life turns to a song ♪

♪ And if and when I treat you wrong ♪

♪ No I never want to hurt our family ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ There ain't no man can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man can enslave me ♪

♪ There ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change the shape my soul is in ♪

♪ There ain't nobody here... ♪

- If you look at the history of, um, bands with siblings,

whether it be the Bee Gees, The Kinks, The Everly Brothers,

any--any ones that we can think of

they tend to hate each other.

I think the Avetts are

the rare example of a family-based band

where there is love and understanding and, uh,

appreciation for what the other brings.

- I remember when dad--my mom-- our mom was making fun

of our dad--uh, a tie that he wore to church one morning

and we were on our way to church--

- We were all making fun of it.

- And we just kept on and on about it.

He said, "You guys don't like my tie."

He took it off and blew his nose on it

and threw it out the window.

- In the first 30 seconds of meeting them,

I knew they were people that I wanted to work with.

And it seemed like being around them

would, um, make life better.

- ♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find it there ♪

And then you do like you're little sweet...

- Uh, it should be like, uh...

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find ♪

- Yeah.

- ♪ It there ♪

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- When you have a-- a minister as a grandfather,

which I only-- I was baptized by

but never--never spoke to because he died

the same year I was born.

A lot of his sermons are out there.

When you read these and when you realize,

I came from the son of this man,

he knew or believed that how he felt about things mattered,

and that people wanted to hear

how he felt and how he viewed those things.

And we kind of just carried that on early thinking,

um, yes, I feel something,

and people wanna hear about it.

You know, you're completely wrong sometimes,

but we just kind of grew up thinking,

everybody wants to hear about it.

They--they must.

Don't they wanna know how I feel?

♪ You walk the streets each day ♪

♪ The people stop and move ♪

♪ Stop and move ♪

♪ And then they ask for money ♪

♪ You never give them change ♪

♪ It's just your style ♪

- We established our trust really, really early

because there are all these bonds and all these dynamics

that become established when you're children.

He's my older brother. He's bigger, he's stronger.

He knows how to do all these things

I don't know how to do.

So I have much less trouble deferring to him

than I would to someone who-- who is--is not my brother.

- ♪ You'll have to meet me in another time and place ♪

♪ The roof over my past has fallen in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You get the-- ♪

- No, it's the--it's, uh--

♪ Falling in ♪

It's only, like, three notes away.

It's not, like, way up there.

- ♪ In-in ♪

- Yeah. - Again.

- ♪ In another time and place ♪

♪ The roof over my past ♪

♪ Has fallen in ♪

♪ You get the--♪

- I'm gonna so kill this once I learn it.

- No doubt, but that was it though. Well done.

- Seth's the sweetest person I've ever met.

And let's not say Scott's not sweet.

But then Scott is like a carnival coming at you

with all the rides.

It just works. Luckily, it works.

- I think because they're so different,

they fit together perfectly.

- Oh!

- Good game.

We do disagree.

You know, there are certain things we just--

we just flat-out do not have the same feeling towards.

I just lean towards a certain thing,

and he leans toward-- toward another,

and then it's--it's kind of a fun, like, kind of game

to figure out how it's gonna end up where we're

both happy, because it will, you know, eventually.

Even if it just ends up me completely going,

"Uh, let's just do what you wanna do."

Eventually, we're probably not even gonna

remember the fight so...

- Thanks, dude. - Hey, good job today.

- I'll talk to you this week. - All right.

- Good night. I love you.

- Good night. I love you.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- You gonna split some wood for me?

- Might--might replace that with a "with."

- I've only ever really wanted to be two things:

an astronaut, at about five,

and then around six or seven it changed

to wanting to be a musician.

Dad ran a welding business,

and Mom eventually was a teacher,

but she was a stay-at-home mom when we were--

when we were real little.

I remembered, uh, dad always playing songs

for us, always had a guitar in the living room.

Around that time, I saw the benefit of--of building

this ability to play guitar, that if I can do that,

I will be able to be a complement to--to Scott

because he's a singer, you know.

Like, I thought of Scott as a--as a lead singer.

12, 13 years old, he's just the--

the kid that will get up in front of anybody

and dance around and sing, you know, off the cuff.

- So what you got here are some pretty wet wood.

It's still pretty damp. We want it to dry.

It's a little late in the season.

So I'm trying to stack it kind of spacey, generously,

allow air to go through it.

You know, when I was eight years old,

I did a lip-syncing, uh, performance

of a Hall & Oates song,

and I remember thinking before I did it that there's--

there'll be some talent scout that'll happen to be around,

probably pass the window and see this,

and they're gonna--they're gonna just see stardom--

like they know.

I mean, I know it's just a matter of time

before they know and I'm scooped up

and swept away into the--

wherever the-- the movie town is.

If that's Hollywood, that's what I heard.

Or is it New York or is it somewhere else?

The funny thing is,

is here's a director from New York

in the woods where I used to run around and dream

that there would be a-- a director

from New York filming me.

I need to get this even,

then I'll feel like I'll be good for the winter.

- I bet--I bet you're pretty good feeling already.

- I need to get this even

and then double this right here.

- You know, it depends on how much the winter is.

When it starts and how long it lasts and how--

how bad it is when it's here.

- Well, that's-- that's all well and true,

but Scott also has central heating.

- So I think that we'll probably--

- You don't know what will happen.

- Scott--Scott, you know it all depends

on how long the winter lasts

and also if the central heating repairman can make his--

make his way out to the house.

- Hey, dad, are we laughing at that?

- Younger than 13,

Scott and I were-- were not friends really.

- One, two, three, four.

- Four years is not that big of a difference now.

Four years is-- is nothing when you're 60,

but at 5 and 9, it's pretty--

that's a pretty major difference.

At--at 8 and 12, it's a pretty major difference.

- Seth, he just never-- he was, uh--

he was just smiling all the time.

A real sweet kid, real sweet.

And, uh, I always joke with him and say, you need--

he had this crew cut

when he was 11 years old and I'm like,

"You need a crew cut so I can remember you like

that little 11-year old kid,"

that I could-- that I could mess with him.

And he'd say, "Scott."

- Scott took advantage a lot of Seth.

Not in a malicious way but in a conniving way.

- Just like big brothers do.

- In a conniving way. - Yeah.

- I always wanted to hang out with him,

and he was always keep--

you know, keeping me in a distance.

That's--that was kind of the--the dynamic.

- From a very early age, Scott took on the role of, um,

of protector in a way for me.

- I was really afraid of how it'd feel

to see Seth get hurt.

I would also worry a lot when we couldn't find him,

like we'd lose him in a department store.

I would just worry to no end.

- If I announced that I was going to the store

and Seth was going with me, he would find a way to go too

because he thought I couldn't watch Seth up to his standards.

- He always had his--

his kidnapping radar on or whatever.

He was always worried I was gonna get kidnapped.

I'm not sure if he saw a television show or something,

but he was damn near obsessed with--with the idea of--of--

of me being kidnapped, which is kind of ridiculous because,

uh, he was simultaneously the older brother that, you know,

would grab me in a headlock, you know, or whatever.

So it's kind of like, you know,

are you protecting me or are you attacking me?

Like which--which one we got going on here?

- I'd do just like, you know, kind of mean things.

I used to put pillows in his shirt.

I said, "Put pillows all in your shirt, all around it.

"I'm gonna show you what to do if a bully comes.

And I'm gonna be the bully. Okay, let me show you."

And then I would just, you know, wail on him

and knock him down and say, "Now, what do you do?"

You know, but he was really tolerant of that.

- Probably around 14, 15 is when we became friends.

When I was 14 or so. He's 18.

We--we sort of joined forces in a way.

- Gotta be purposeful. 17-12.

- It's still spinning. - Ohh!

- That was a big pivotal point right there.

- Big point.

- I both consider Scott the greatest songwriter

ever from North Carolina,

and I consider Seth the greatest songwriter

ever from North Carolina.

I'm--I'm just glad they play in the same band.

- ♪ Don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way here without you ♪

- I don't think so.

I've heard-- I've heard several.

- I think you've heard this but it was, uh...

- I'm not sure about name. - It really didn't have a name.

It's one of my all-time favorite songs ever.

You gotta hear it.

- Two, three, four.

["Rejects in the Attic" begins]

♪ ♪

♪ I've been hanging out ♪

♪ With the rejects in the attic ♪

♪ Can't get out of my head ♪

♪ The way you left ♪

♪ I got a sense of belonging ♪

♪ But what does it matter ♪

♪ And winter's on its way here to collect ♪

- ♪ I was born on the outskirts of a dream ♪

♪ ♪

♪ My daddy was a miner of almost anything ♪

♪ And I've been busting stones ♪

♪ Too proud to go back home ♪

♪ Admit that all my digging was in vain ♪

- ♪ But don't we talk different than we did ♪

♪ Am I more quiet ♪

- ♪ Than I've been ♪

- ♪ And don't you look brighter ♪

- ♪ Than the moon ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

- ♪ Well, don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

♪ ♪

- That ability to really share

their innermost, deepest, private thoughts

is what makes a great songwriter a great songwriter,

but typically it's done more a solo mission.

So the fact that they are able to do it together

and then help each other through that process

or add to each other's process,

allows their songwriting to grow

in a different way than--than most.

- ♪ And don't we talk different ♪

- ♪ Than we did ♪

- ♪ Am I more quiet well ♪

- ♪ Than I've been ♪

- ♪ And don't you look brighter ♪

- ♪ Than the moon ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look, well don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look, well don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look, well don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way here without you ♪

♪ Winter's on its way here without you ♪

- I'd like these guys even if they weren't my sons,

you know that?

- So I built this chicken house, that's right.

- Can I pet that chicken for a second?

I want it.

- There's a weird thing that happens, um--

or happened for me and Scott anyway,

growing up around cows and-- and tractors,

and all these country things, country music,

our Dad being very country,

lots of pearl button shirts, you know.

There was something that--

something in us that at some point was like,

you just wanna reject it, you know.

We don't wanna be identified with the area we grew up in,

you know, which is dominated by,

uh, blue-collar work, the country, and NASCAR really.

- We were like, "Oh, you know, this country music's dumb, Dad.

You know, we want Hall & Oates, Prince, Duran Duran.

- The way that I saw a way to kind of

culturally broaden my horizon was Kurt Cobain basically,

you know, like a lot of us did.

- ♪ I love you but I can't remember why ♪

- When I was 16, I wouldn't have thought--

I would never have touched a banjo.

And we made fun of anybody

that wore cowboy boots, you know.

We--we played soccer, we listened to Nirvana,

we wore thermal underwear with cargo shorts, Dr. Martens

and that was that.

♪ ♪

- Let's go through this gate right here.

- Okay.

I came back to the music of North Carolina and--

and a rural-based country type music

with a vengeance because I-- I had the opportunity to go

and meet Doc Watson when I was 14 years old

and go to his house and-- and hang out with him.

- ♪ Well, I finally listened to my mama ♪

♪ Good people ♪

♪ Then I would not have been here today ♪

- Um, you know, he-- he is the one to open the door.

You know Doc is a-- he is a legend, you know.

I went with him that evening and, uh--

and sold merch for him.

But when I watched him play,

everything I thought about

what it took to have a powerful music performance

just went out the window.

Because I think at that time,

I--I--I thought volume and-- and power were synonymous.

I--I--I felt that in order to have a--

a powerful performance musically, you had to be loud,

and I realized that night and every other time

I ever saw Doc, which was many times,

that power comes from character.

- I don't ever fail to look back across there

and appreciate what we got.

- You and be both, Pops.

A lot changed that night and I--

I realized what could come of a--

somebody just playing an acoustic guitar and singing.

Just threw the-- the curtains open

and just let all the sunlight in on what--what it--

what it could look like.

You know, with music like this, whatever this music is,

you--you can't hide behind the volume.

♪ ♪

♪ I wish I was a tune ♪

♪ You sang in your kitchen ♪

♪ Putting your groceries away ♪

♪ And washing your dishes ♪

Gonna put on--

♪ Putting your groceries away ♪

♪ Washing the dishes ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Then when we were done... ♪

- Just turn me on. - Yeah.

Whatever. "Turn me down."

And then, like, I was thinking,

♪ If I get in-- ♪

♪ But if I get too close ♪

That's all I got.

A simple love song but, sort of, like,

some hesitation in it, you know, or, like,

it's really that's the theme, hesitation is a--

I wish I could be involved with you but not--

but not hinder you.

Wish I could be in your life or in--

somehow integrated into your life.

♪ ♪

- ♪ I wish I was a sweater ♪

♪ Wrapped around your hips ♪

♪ And when the cold wind blow--blew ♪

♪ Into me you would slip ♪

♪ ♪

♪ And when the sun came back ♪

♪ You would hang me up ♪

♪ And I'd watch you undress ♪

♪ From the closet ♪

♪ Deeply something in love ♪

- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.

I like the idea of it.

I was thinking about that--you'd say,

"I watch it from the bed--"

Like, wherever she puts it, but if she hangs it up,

and he watches from the closet, like--

because it has to be put away again happily.

So I think that's a good structure and--so that's three.

- Okay.

I think, uh, we maybe need another verse

that's maybe not an analogy verse.

- Yeah, just one that's not metaphorical.

♪ ♪

- Another approach could be going through

and saying, "I don't wish I was a candle.

"I don't wish I was a sweater. I don't wish I was a song.

"I am this and this is where I need to be

and there's nothing stopping him."

- ♪ I'm not a song ♪

♪ I'm not a sweater ♪

♪ Hmm I'm not a tune ♪

- I'm not--

- I'm something better. - ♪ I'm something better ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I'm in love ♪ - Yeah.

- It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

♪ I'm gonna let it roll ♪ - Yeah, write that.

- And you're gonna see all the bad things and...

- Write it, write that. - Yeah.

- What about I'm your sweetheart writing a letter

or just maybe the song is the letter?

I'm thinking the whole song becomes a--

'cause the whole song is to her, to a person.

- Like...

♪ Just take it, would you read it ♪

♪ Is there something, believe it ♪

♪ I love you, I'm sorry ♪

Like apologizing for-- I'm sorry I love you,

because I'm so drawn in it and it ends like that,

kind of almost ends-- - It's great.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ I'm not a song ♪

♪ I'm not a sweater ♪

♪ I'm not a fire ♪

♪ I'm something better ♪

♪ I'm a man in love ♪

♪ Writing you a letter ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ Will you take it ♪

♪ Will you keep it ♪

♪ Will you read it ♪

♪ Believe it ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ I'm sorry ♪

- Thank you very much. That's a new one, y'all.

Thanks for letting us share it with you.

I appreciate it.

What?

- Yeah.

Where are you? - In the band room.

- I can't get this thing open, man.

No matter how hard I try. How strong is your grip?

- Pretty good. Want me to give it a try?

- Yeah. Gonna give it a little help,

so I can say that because I helped you.

I mean, it's on there like nobody's business.

- It's probably gonna explode.

- When he was in college and I was in high school,

I would record songs or ideas on a cassette tape

and then mail them to him in a--in an envelope.

He would, maybe, try to write the next part

or write the next part.

- ♪ There is a key ♪

♪ There is the light ♪

♪ There's some times that I catch it ♪

♪ Maybe last through the night ♪

There were a couple songs that we wrote back and forth.

We'd leave messages on each other's answering machines

and then it slowly became the band Nemo.

- I think what we were attempting at that time

was something closer to like At the Drive In.

- ♪ Yeah ♪

- We were just still hung up on two electric guitars,

electric bass, drums, lead singer, loud, aggressive.

- Those ultra-dynamics, singing, screaming,

all kinds of stuff but-- but definitely heavy rock.

♪ ♪

- I know it was painful. It was physically painful.

It was draining and it was, uh--

it was becoming maybe insincere to continue that.

- ♪ A lot of moving, a lot of rolling ♪

♪ A lot of driving... ♪

- As we did that, Seth and John Twomey and I,

would play some old time songs or some old country songs.

But Seth and I were--were beginning to commit to that.

- And it--it felt-- it felt natural.

I don't know if it came natural, but it felt natural.

And it, it felt--it felt like--like we were starting

to do the thing that really made sense for us to do.

- Every week, we were more interested

and more interested and when the band, uh, stopped, we--

we all of a sudden felt this huge relief.

- I've always loved this acoustic music.

We're making some okay sounds when we sing together,

with just an acoustic guitar and a banjo, whatever,

so let's just simplify the hell out of this.

So we just went--just down to just me and Scott

and slowly became, uh, the Avett Brothers.

And starting like that with someone who I already trusted

more than anybody in the world is--

it's like the most solid beginning

you could have for a band.

If there's anyone that I wanna start a band with it was Scott.

And whatever's gonna happen afterward,

we'll figure that out later.

- It was just the two of us and it felt

very, very good and very strong

and it was a great foundation.

From there, it moved into the--that's where--

when we met Bob and it moved into the next step.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

- He quit the band.

- Well, yeah, but...

- Oh, he's rejoined. - There he is.

- Hi.

- Bob quit the band and now he's--

- I did, but, uh, I couldn't get a job anywhere else,

so I guess I'll come back.

- At some point, we decided we really need some low end here.

We need a standup bass player. We need, you know--

We need the sound, but we really need the look.

- It was so old-timey and so rich

and full of soul, and we knew if we wanted

to continue on with that...

just for a good platform, we needed a standup bass player.

- Started asking musicians we know,

"Do you know anybody who plays standup bass?"

- I was going to school

at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina,

and I was in a jazz guitar program,

but I had just started playing upright bass.

- We met at the Media Play parking lot,

which is kind of like Best Buy.

It's closed down now, but it was over by--

by the school that I went to, UNC Charlotte.

- I got my bass out

and I'm waiting for somebody to show up,

and Scott and Seth pull up

in a gold Ford Taurus station wagon and get out,

and they're wearing, like, flannel shirts

and, like, cut-off shorts,

and they've got long hair and weird facial hair and...

- We just played in this parking lot because I--

you know, as far as I was concerned,

someone might come and see us.

And an opportunity to, uh, play for some people.

Maybe make some change or meet somebody,

and so let's just do-- we're used to--

we do this all the time anyway.

- And we just started playing tunes like,

"Going Down The Road Feeling Bad,"

uh, "Worried Man," like traditional folk songs,

Woody Guthrie, um,

Ramblin' Jack Elliot type songs.

♪ ♪

- Oh, yeah.

- And they were like,

"Okay. Well, let's go over an original song."

And they showed me actually the song, um,

"Kind of in Love," and it was--

immediately stood out

because it had a lot of chords in it.

- ♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

♪ Why do you fool me into thinking ♪

♪ That I'm kind of in love with you ♪

- And then that was it.

"Okay. We'll talk to you later."

- We played several songs and--

and so we left and Seth and I talked on the way home.

He was like, "You know, seems good to me."

And later we found out that he had probably played bass,

like standup bass, a couple of times.

Maybe played around on it.

- I mean, the guy had barely touched the instrument.

I mean, I didn't find this out for,

like, probably for a good four, five, six years

that it was a brand-new instrument to him.

Of course, we had no experience whatsoever

playing with a standup bass player.

So just the fact that he was standing there

with a standup bass was-- was, you know,

convincing enough for us.

We're like, "All right."

- I guess Seth and I just didn't really know what a--

what a seasoned bass player

or a con bass player sounded like,

but it was great because he was on the same level as us.

We were all in the same page.

- Oh, God.

- This is listed on Wikipedia as one of our records.

So people can find this and listen to it.

- Well, John sounds pretty good right there.

- John does.

♪ ♪

♪

♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

- ♪ Why do you fool me into thinking ♪

♪ That I'm kind of in love with you? ♪

- Oh, good God.

- You want to sing it or--

- Yeah, I can sing first. - Okay.

- Now that I'm coming off of that I'm ready for it.

- You're all dialed in, you're all tuned up.

- Oh, God, I'm dialed in.

- At first, when it was just me and Scott,

we were mainly just playing without anyone asking.

We didn't really have so much in the way of proper bookings.

But when Bob came on, he started booking.

He booked the first tour, you know, basically by himself.

- This band actually wouldn't even

have gone on tour if Bob hadn't said,

"We got to get out of North Carolina."

Because we're just hillbillies.

We just--we were self-centered hillbillies

who thought the world was gonna either come to us or not.

And either way, they were missing out.

And Bob was like, "Are we gonna go play for anybody?

"Other than, uh, you know, Cabarrus County

"or Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

"What is-- what's going on here?

Do you guys wanna go anywhere?"

And he took us.

♪ ♪

- ♪ Well, I've been locking myself up ♪

♪ In my house for some time now ♪

♪ Reading and writing and reading and thinking ♪

♪ And searching for reasons ♪

♪ And missing the seasons, the autumn ♪

♪ The spring, the summer, the snow ♪

♪ The record will stop and the record will go ♪

♪ Latches latched the windows down ♪

♪ The dog coming in and the dog going out ♪

♪ Up with caffeine and down with a shot ♪

♪ Constantly worried about what I've got ♪

♪ Distracting my work but I can't make a stop ♪

♪ And my confidence on and my confidence off ♪

♪ And I sink to the bottom and rise to the top ♪

♪ And I think to myself that I do this a lot ♪

♪ World outside just goes, it goes ♪

♪ It goes, it goes, it goes, it goes ♪

♪ And witness it all from the blinds of my window ♪

♪ I'm a little nervous ♪

♪ 'Bout what you'll think when you... ♪

- Maybe like Friday night we'd be, you know, somewhere,

and we would have--

we'd be playing like 10:00 and we would go to, like,

a Ruby Tuesdays or some kind of like...

- Chili's or something.

- Chili's or something and there'd be all these, like,

guys there with their girlfriends or their wives,

and they're having their-- they were, like,

out to dinner on Friday night.

And we'd be, like, cold,

and we're not gonna go on until 10:00 P.M.

I remember, like, sitting, and Scott would be like,

"Man, wouldn't it be great to be home.

- They're all just living their lives, man.

- ♪ Now I can't recall ♪

♪ A time when we made the city ♪

It felt like I was saying without a radio hit

there's just no telling where it's gonna go.

We've never had a record that was massive marketing-wise

and we're-- we've continued to grow.

We've never shrunk. We've always grown.

So I believe that could probably keep going.

The Grateful Dead did it.

- I did--I did expect us to have a hit though, I really d--

I really did. A few--

There's been quite a few times where I've been like,

"Man, this is gonna be it."

- ♪ Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Are you aware the shape I'm in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ My hands they shake, my head it spins ♪

- Lord, it spins.

- ♪ Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in ♪

♪ ♪

- Gary, I'll see you on, uh...

Fri--Saturday. - Saturday.

Okay, my friend. Have a good one.

- All right.

- Holler if you need me.

- Hmm.

- Da-da.

Da-da.

- All right.

It's a perfect little family. - You smell like the bus.

I smell like the bus?

- And you just--and your mouth smells like gum.

- Hi.

- It's hard to make sure you kiss, like, everybody

at the same time 'cause if you kiss anybody first--

- Somebody gets upset.

- You never know, Mom might get upset.

Eleanor might get upset. Max might get upset.

You smell like tractor.

I smell like tractor?

- Yeah. - Mm-hmm.

- If I'm here, I'll just basically do breakfast

and dinner as much as I can.

Once we get apart, like when I go,

I'm getting to dislike it more and more,

but once I'm here I don't wanna go anywhere,

but I say that I've always been that way,

and I probably told you that before, I don't--

I start thinking that I don't--

I don't wanna ever travel anywhere, that's not true.

Anytime I'm leading up to like a trip,

like to Malibu or like a big tour.

I'm just like, "Oh, oh, I guess I just don't

ever wanna leave home," and then I, uh, you know,

then I get in Oslo and I'm, like, "Oh, okay."

You know, I'm just taking in so much

and I'm--I'm, uh, I'm living, you know?

And I'm bringing that back to,

uh, to people that, uh, that it matters to.

There's Eleanor coming in.

Try that.

- The six year old here. - Six years old.

- It's official. It's official.

- Six years old.

I think Sarah and I are--

it's--it's kind of unspoken,

but we, uh--we both depend on each other

to do what we do for the family.

- You know, he wouldn't be who he is

if he wasn't doing what he loved to do.

So therefore we just, you know, make it up as we go.

So... - Yeah, that's true.

- Six years old.

Our first and only little girl.

- Mm-hmm.

- I'm an only child, so it's pretty new for me,

because at my house growing up it was very,

you know, very quiet, everything was very calm.

You know, we sit down for a family meal and it was just,

you know, still and, you know, calm.

And when I first met Scott and going to his house

and the whole family comes and then everybody's kids come

and it's--it's-- it's chaos and it's great.

- There's Uncle Seth!

♪ ♪

- So sick of the stereotypes

about North Carolina barbecue.

It's all we ever eat, right?

Barbecue.

♪ ♪

Ahhh!

Max, what do you think we'll name the new baby brother?

- ♪ I don't even need to see your face ♪

- It is interesting that you spend so much time together,

but time together with the entire band and crew

every day and night is not the same as--as this.

We don't enjoy the same kind of, uh, communication

we get at home that we, you know, wanna wrap in.

- No matter what we think, you know,

the core of this is us spending

natural time together.

Ahh!

- Oh, yeah, cupcakes. Max, cupcake.

all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday... ♪

- If we're not connecting,

if we're not aware what's going on in each other's lives

and not keeping our joking and everything going,

then the--then the music side suffers.

It's a weird thing.

It's not something that I would've predicted really.

- Daddy, I wanna go back outside.

- Okay go, go.

- I'm going back out!

And here I come!

- A little Avett.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

- First day.

How you feeling?

- Great.

- Sweet.

- Good, good. That's good to hear.

- This is the place is living, huh?

- Yeah, pretty much. How's it going?

- Good, man.

- Yeah, Monday.

- Scott and Seth and I were working together

cleaning carpet for Bird's Carpet

and Floor Services in Concord, North Carolina.

They were on their first tour in 2002, and that was, like,

uh, a month-long tour, and I wasn't on that one,

but when they got back from it, we were working together,

and so I, you know, I'd heard all about it.

I just graduated from college and Scott said,

you know, as I was talking to him I was like,

"I don't really know what I'm gonna do."

He was like, "Well, just come work with us."

And I was, like, "All right, what do I do?"

So I was just kind of the fourth guy

on the road, selling merchandise, setting up.

It was just baby steps all the way, you know.

It's just, um, each show would be

kind of like a victory, you know.

After the show, we'd be so excited about--

and it's kind of stepping stones from there.

- ♪ Late at night ♪

- The world that we lived in was completely:

go play, sell CDs.

If we can mail some out, we might mail some out

to some people, and they might send us a check,

but cool, but we're making all the money in this realm,

and that's where it lives and that's all we've invested in.

- Must be you guys-- - Yeah, it is.

It might be worth something one day.

I guess a proper release came

when Dolph, our manager, came along.

- And there was an article written

in our local paper about, uh, Scott and Seth.

They had gone across country,

on, like, a little musical journey of sorts.

Went to go see them play one night

at a place called the Wine Vault.

♪ ♪

- I remember going home and telling my wife,

like, I can't really describe what I just saw.

It felt handmade, like it was a one-of-a-kind act.

- Thank you. Good night.

We are the Avett Brothers. Thanks for listening, y'all.

- The whole thing was in shambles, strings breaking.

They were unpolished at that time, uh,

but that was the cool vibe about it.

- Then that-- that grew from there

because he was loosely considering starting a label.

He wanted to do something with music.

He just wanted to be involved in it somehow.

All right, we're gonna sing the whole thing out here?

Just in this? - Yeah.

- Cool. - Try it.

- I guess so.

- Cool.

- I mean, I didn't have anything to fall back on,

but I knew I would rather invest in them

than anything else I could find.

I mean, I just believe them.

- So on that part we'd be like, uh...

♪ You say you look funny ♪

♪ I say you're a star ♪

♪ I say whatever you think you are ♪

♪ Watch the naysayers fall right in line ♪

♪ If believe that they'll say ♪

♪ She's so pretty, he is so fine ♪

♪ There ain't no man can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change the shape my soul is in ♪

♪ There ain't nobody here who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear 'cause I got only love to share ♪

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find it there ♪

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

You want another shot at that last little bit?

- Sure.

- ♪ For truth I'm proof ♪

- ♪ You'll find it ♪

- Hell yeah. - That's it.

- That's it. - Great.

- They've been doing this for so long, like--

I mean, it's amazing.

Like, they're brothers, you know?

God, I've never seen two brothers

get along that well ever.

- It's like it's almost like a Disney movie.

It's really-- it's really weird.

It's a real thing,

and maybe sounds cheesy,

but it's really beautiful, and I think it rubs off.

It rubs off on-- on everybody.

- ♪ Beauty ♪

♪ ♪

- It's a great group of people.

Like the brothers are awesome,

but also the team that they've built.

Having a band that gets along,

that everyone respects each other.

it's not something that I've seen possibly ever.

And I know--like, all of my friends are musicians.

This kind of a dynamic I've never even heard of.

♪ ♪

- I look back now and know that I had, like,

disproportionate responses

to all kinds of things in my life,

because this one huge thing wasn't right.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So, yeah, it was a--

It was a crazy thing, very lonely, and I just--

I--one of the weird-- weird experiences

of the whole thing was-- was feeling like--

like there was this piece of information

that only I knew... - Yes.

- In the whole world. - Yes.

- And no one else could possibly really know it.

Talk to anyone, I've talked with my parents,

talked with my closest people, talked to Scott, you know,

and it's like-- it's all, like, support,

like, do what you got to do, but, like, I was the only one

that could really know for sure,

this is the direction, you know?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - But I appreciate you.

You know, you and I spoke a couple times, you know,

leading up to it, and I--I appreciated that.

- Well, you seem happy and good, like, lighter.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- It's there. It's a real thing.

I think it's there for her-- for her as well.

- Great.

- But some heavy lifting. - Yeah.

- It's impossible to know what the--

the album looks like right now,

but for my contribution, there's no doubt it--it--

it's, uh, it rings heavily of a moment of my life.

I mean, there's--there's some specificity in--in the--

in some of these songs

that it just, I mean, you couldn't confuse

what the meaning is or what the--

what it's speaking to.

I mean, when you when you name a song

the "Divorce Separation Blues,"

there's really only one thing it could be about.

♪ I got to the tough... ♪

- Record that. - Seth, B major.

- Oh, yeah, I got it.

- It's such a weird thing that divorce is--

is so common and, uh, so rare in songs.

Isn't that a weird thing?

Breakup is-- is rampant in songwriting,

but divorce, uh, in particular is barely mentioned.

[playing "Divorce Separation Blues"]

♪ ♪

- ♪ I'm gonna keep on living ♪

♪ Even though I sometimes do ♪

♪ Fantasize about disappearing ♪

♪ Down in the ocean blue ♪

♪ Just to get some peace and quiet ♪

♪ From the warfare inside my heart ♪

♪ Well I've been under ear-splitting fire ♪

♪ Ever since we've been apart ♪

♪ Well I'm gonna wash the dishes ♪

♪ Pay the bills and watch the news ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Divorce separation blues ♪

♪ ♪

My divorce was about a two-year--

two-year-long process, less--

little less than two years,

and it started in late 2012.

But what-- I mean, what a time.

What a--what a-- what a time of just--

just horrifying feelings and--and--and--

and loneliness that you just can't even put into words.

- You know, I'd heard, "Oh, it's awful."

So I'm like "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

You know, it's a breakup.

I've broken up with girls before.

Man, forget about it.

It's, uh--it's a complete upheaval of--of everything.

It's like a death, you know.

I underestimated what that process could do.

- ♪ Well, I'll sign on ♪

♪ The line beneath my name ♪

♪ The road is gone ♪

♪ Can't go back the way we came ♪

♪ ♪

It was kind of something that I needed to do.

You know, couldn't get by without doing it.

Had--had to do it.

Had--had to write a song about it,

about--about divorce.

It's a, uh--it's a portrait of a time, you know.

Couldn't write it before, couldn't write it now.

♪ Well now I'm bound to break a promise ♪

♪ One I made to God and you ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Divorce separation blues ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Bad communication ♪

♪ Worse interpretation ♪

♪ Love deprivation ♪

♪ Pain allocation ♪

♪ Soul devastation ♪

♪ Cold desolation ♪

♪ Life complication ♪

♪ Resuscitation ♪

♪ Divorce separation ♪

♪ Blues ♪

♪ ♪

- No, thank you.

- I'm gonna do that before I work out today.

- You're not gonna want-- - Peanut butter.

- Let's eat some eggs.

- I always get up and I'm like,

"Ugh, I got to go over there and help Joe."

And I'm like, "I can't get up.

- "I can't do it." - "Can't help Joe."

- This is part of, uh... - This is part of--

- Joe's job description that...

- Part of paying the dues.

- Right.

Which will never be paid in full.

- Never be-- I keep messing up.

- Yeah. That's right. - I keep messing up.

- You're messing up right now, man.

You put peppers in these eggs.

It's gonna sabotage every vocal track I'm using.

- It's not spicy. They're--

It's not too spicy.

I was playing with another band.

The Avetts, they were recording "Emotionalism,"

and it just happened that they needed a cellist for a song.

Went in there, recorded on one song,

and ended up recording on, like, six songs.

- It--it just clicked. You know, it just worked.

We just got along great, and before we knew it, Joe--

Joe was--was on board and-- and much like me and Scott

and Bob, was, you know, came on doing multiple jobs.

You know, playing cello was just--was just one of them.

♪ ♪

- Part of to justify adding another guy

who just plays cello, he had to help out

with our merchandise and setting up and tearing down.

- I'm the IT guy for The Avett Brothers.

I'm the social media manager for the The Avett Brothers.

And I still do our-- our flights.

I--I try to do as many things as I can

to make it so that I can't be let go.

"Yes, I'll do that, uh-huh. Yeah, I'll do that too."

- Once we found out he could cook...

- Yeah. - It was over.

- Yeah.

- And that was the start of my official career

with The Avett Brothers.

[band playing "Satan Pulls the Strings"]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ Mama's in the bed ♪

♪ Sparrow's on the windowsill ♪

♪ And the devil's in my head ♪

- ♪ The devil's in my head ♪

♪ Mama, the devil's in my head ♪

♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ And the devil's in my head ♪

♪ ♪

- It was neat coming in at that point because it was

right before they were starting to grow quickly.

So, we went from playing for, like, couple hundred people

in Phoenix, Arizona, to the next time we went back,

it was like 600 people.

And then it was like 2,000 people,

and that you could just see, like, this gradual growth,

more and more and more people are coming out all over.

♪ ♪

- We started getting some attention from--

from some major labels

that were represented in and around Nashville.

- This lady at RCA,

she caught wind of the brothers.

We were driving back to Concord, and she called us

to come back and play on the RCA, like a boardroom.

- Like a full-on corporate boardroom.

Big, gigantic wooden table.

Probably like a dry-erase board.

You know, like a sterile, you know, carpeted boardroom.

- She sat at the end of the conference table,

and we just set up, full-on performed.

- And at this point, we're pretty well-oiled,

like, we can-- we can rattle our songs off.

We can do them well, our harmonies are there,

the power is there, the vocals are there.

And then she said, "How many of your songs--

"how many--how many songs, when you put a record out,

do you--do you plan to be originals?"

We were like, "Well, all of them.

All of the songs."

- And then she said, "Well, I don't really know

"what and where we would put anything like this on radio.

"And without that, I would have to ask,

"would you be willing to play other people's songs

that other people wrote?"

And we just flat-out said, "No, not really."

- And it was just like,

"Man, we drove all the way back to Nashville,

"and they-- this person's talking

"about other people writing songs for us.

We got to get home. We got to get home."

- And that pretty much sealed the fate of that deal,

but that was a blessing it didn't happen.

- That experience really turned me off to the idea of--

of--of a label or whatever.

That's why it took eight or nine years

to really consider it.

♪ ♪

- When Rick came to the-- to the table,

he was, like, inviting us into his home,

and he wanted talk about records,

he wanted to talk about our record

and how he thought it was great,

and didn't lead with, "I wanna do a deal with you."

He--he approached it like, "We might not work together.

"You know, that'd be kind of your call really,

and that's fine."

- And at the end of the--the--

the meeting there, he just said,

"Well, if we can work together, I'd love to,

if you guys want to."

- He was the main reason we agreed to sign

into a major label deal.

- I remember them talking about it and I--

and I was like, "Rick Rubin, really?"

You know, like I--

and they didn't even know, like, who he was, so...

- I can't imagine them ever making any choices creatively

with the idea of gaining more of an audience.

It's never been about that.

It's always been about pure expression of who they are,

and the label's job is just to allow people

to find out about them.

- I was losing an act on a record label,

but I was proud to lose the act to Rick,

to go to his label because I knew

he would help them with their art.

He could help further them down the road artistically,

help them create the albums they wanna create.

♪ ♪

- The plan has always been we come in here

with a seven-piece band

and plow through the songs

in a very colorful, natural way.

We get in here, we have-- we're forced to--

especially with Rick, we're forced to rethink that.

- ♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ Mama's in the bed ♪

♪ Sparrow's on the windowsill ♪

♪ And the devil's in my head ♪

- The bus is the-- the small studio

where they're doing a lot of the electronic sounds

based on the compositions that we're performing in here.

We'll do one pass where we're just practicing,

and then we'll do a real deal.

We are kind of at a crossroads

where we're in a fork in the road

where we could take one or the other.

Do we--do we just continue to document and that's fine,

that's great, if-- if this band is--is that,

then it is or do we--

do we turn and-- and explore and discover.

Hey, I saw a horse up the road with a broke leg.

Don't you all shoot a horse with a broke leg around here?

No, we shoot him with a shotgun.

♪ ♪

Say, you're not--

there's not much between you and a fool, is there?

- No. Just that fiddle.

- Ah.

- All right, sweetheart.

Okay, bye.

- The song-- the group of songs,

they cover a lot of things,

big things as well as intimate enough things

that are important here and now for our band

and for us as people.

- ♪ I was embarrassed ♪

♪ About how I got beat down ♪

♪ I was ashamed ♪

♪ But now I'm just plain proud ♪

♪ What's this connection we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

Yeah.

♪ Back and forth ♪

♪ We can't afford ♪

♪ Another change of plans ♪

♪ Bent and sold ♪

♪ Spent and torn like money, changing hands ♪

- Oh, straight in maybe. - Happening once.

- I think so. On that one, I think it does.

One more time. - So...

- There is, yeah. There is.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna be a dad.

Today, Jennifer's 15 weeks.

Yeah. Second trimester.

My--my Baby Phone app says it's the size of a pear now.

♪ We move together ♪

♪ Like a Coltrane song ♪

♪ If you embrace me ♪

♪ Well I'll try to hold on ♪

♪ What's this connection we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

Yeah.

♪ What's this connection we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

I was leaving for Portland that day.

- Mm-hmm.

- And we had a show the next day, I guess,

September 5th or whatever. So that was interesting.

Had this--this big moment and this big news,

and this excitement and it's like,

"Can you run me to the airport, babe?

"We really--I gotta get over there.

Like, yeah, security's gonna be bad at this time of day."

- Every second is an adjustment.

I mean, it's exactly what I want,

but, like, it's just so odd, you know.

I don't know. I haven't--

I have no idea what's happening.

What's gonna-- what's coming our way.

♪ ♪

Did he tell you You just gathered, yeah.

It'll be a--it will be an interesting spring.

Big time.

- I thought it would be, like, the regret of my--

my lifetime if I didn't do it,

and I've--I've never really wanted to like I do, so...

- Same.

- Really personal stuff to record.

It's okay.

- That's--that's how you get the quality, right?

- Forget sharing songs.

We're talking about why we're gonna be parents.

- "Your songs are so personal and--"

Yeah.

♪ ♪

Yeah, man. All that's feeling really cool.

- Cool.

Yeah, I need to write it out differently.

You guys excited? I'm so excited.

- This is incredible.

It's like the show got away from me by being too good.

Like, I book some friends and then people call up and go,

"Hey, I'm around."

And then suddenly, like, the show is so much better

than me that it's weird.

The--The Avett Brothers are here.

I mean, it's...

it's--it's crazy.

We're--we're working on a-- a documentary about them

and then I said, "Hey, you wanna come down?"

And they oddly said yes.

- Hey, we need about six or seven more people in here.

You know...

- Yeah, oh, there's some people back there.

Let's bring them in.

- Yeah, 10 or 11 more.

♪ ♪

- Initially, when you're 16 years old

and you wanna start playing music,

you do it because it just makes you feel good, right?

But then you get into doing it and it's--it's your job,

but whatever normalcy I had developed, or, you know,

taking it for granted before Hallie got sick,

and I took that time off, well, that's gone now.

You know, now I don't take it for granted at all.

Now I know that I--I-- I know of all of us,

I know what it's like when it's gone.

And I know how fragile it is.

Sam, remember when we made the snowmen?

Which one is your favorite one?

- Construction ones. - Yeah.

Construction worker snowman. He's my favorite too.

- And that construction worker,

and that other construction worker right there.

- For whatever reason, Bob kind of grew up swinging.

Like he's--he's that true Jersey attitude and spirit.

- Down to the ground, blue-collar spirit,

and he's--he's just got it.

- This is the play room,

but it's also-- it's a therapy room.

So we had a therapist come over and kind of consult.

This is a gait trainer, treadmill for Hallie

to try to help her learn how to walk.

Sam also enjoys it.

- I remember when Bob's daughter first got sick,

it was--it was tough, man.

- It's hard to even remember what it was like before that.

Everything changed forever.

♪ ♪

- I just remember his--

his face when he found out.

It was--

it was tough.

You just saw the life fall out of him, man.

- The whole world just kind of stopped spinning.

It just--that's what it felt like, and--

and then there's like a three-week period

that's just a blur for all of us

where we just kind of took shifts being in the hospital.

- I remember going there

and getting to the hospital the next day

and sleeping on the floor with him in the waiting room,

and it--and--and to this day, he's like that--

that meant so much to me,

and I was like, you would've done that for me.

You know, we all would have been there

for each other, so...

- There were doctors in the room.

They were a matter of fact that she's--

she's not gonna make it.

From that moment on...

well, we were all forced to-- to decide if--

if we believed in God or not.

You had to because that was the--the choice of hope or not.

- Do you want maybe look at some other horses

or something? - Yeah.

- Okay. Hey, buddy, let's get your shoes and your--

your socks and your jacket on.

- She's usually really cute when we pull up.

- She gets all excited.

♪ ♪

Hi, Hallie.

- Ahhh! - Hi.

How'd it go today?

- She had a great day. - Good.

- She found a lot of eggs.

- Yeah. They put some on the shelf.

We had another class help us hide them in the classroom.

She found them on the shelf. - Great, awesome.

- I have to be careful about my wording here, but there--

there has been a lot of joy since then

that has been born out of the event.

- Have a great Easter. See you in a couple weeks.

- There's so much that has changed

and so much that has happened because of--

of that, because of-- of Hallie having a brain tumor.

There are so many friendships that have--

that have developed and-- and relationships that have--

have--have occurred and seeds planted

for so many good things to happen

that it's impossible for me at this moment

to look back and think that it was all bad.

- Hi.

- It pushed all of us to--

to rise to the occasion as well as we could.

- There was not a day through the first 2 1/2 weeks

when Scott, Seth, Joe, Dolph, Dane,

there wasn't somebody there at all times

from the band and our organization.

- ♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To you ♪

♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To you ♪

- We were just forced to say,

"Are we gonna crumble or are we gonna have faith?"

Seth and I had to struggle because we had to keep going.

Do we get our buddy, Paul Defiglia,

to come and play bass for us and keep playing shows?

Like, are we betraying Bob?

Like--like, a lot of weird sort of questions came up

and, like, me, and Scott, and Bob had to have some

really hard conversations to figure out how to move forward.

- I initially got called to sub for Bob

when his son Sam was born because he wasn't--

I don't think he was there when Hallie was born.

And--and then I went home and I got married

and, like, a week after I got married,

I got a call back from them asking if I could come to,

I think it was Atlanta,

and play, and they told me the situation with Hallie.

I ended up subbing on bass for,

like, a year, a year and a half,

and Bob would come in and play whenever he could,

but it was real touch-and-go with her situation obviously.

- And as Bob moved back in,

and we're able to pull back

and see kind of what happened,

the struggle, this work and this pain

that Bob and Melanie had to go through firsthand

and that we all went through with them secondhand

made us all different men.

- It just--it just made us stronger.

The whole thing just made us stronger.

- ♪ To you ♪

- Life is short and it's temporary.

And no matter how long--

I mean, we can play until we're 90 years old, if--

and I hope we do.

But there will be a day, we could be 95 years old,

and that--that day will come when we put down

our instruments for the last time.

Like, this could be the last time we do it.

Tonight, this could be it. You don't know.

- This one's called "Morning Song."

♪ ♪

- ♪ Hurt so bad ♪

♪ You don't come around here anymore ♪

♪ Worse than that ♪

♪ Nothing's really helping ♪

♪ I've been thinking 'bout drinking again ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

♪ If you finally stop caring ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

- ♪ Just don't go and tell someone that does ♪

♪ Because even though I know there's hope ♪

♪ In every morning song ♪

♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ Now we can go ahead ♪

♪ If no one notices ♪

♪ What's the point of it ♪

♪ I have to ask ♪

♪ About how you learn to see ♪

♪ To hope eternally ♪

♪ When you're sure to be ♪

♪ Oh leave at last ♪

♪ Hurts so bad ♪

♪ More than I expected that it would ♪

♪ And worse than that ♪

♪ It seems to be lasting ♪

♪ Just a little longer than it should ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

♪ If you finally stop caring ♪

♪ Just don't go and tell someone that does ♪

- ♪ Because even though I know there's hope ♪

♪ In every morning song ♪

♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone.

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to sing ♪

- ♪ The melody alone ♪

- Thank you.

Thank you very much. We're the Avett Brothers.

- Thank you, Judd. Thanks for listening.

♪ ♪

- Shouldn't there be a little bit more movement in that?

- That's what I'm saying. I want you to move.

- Okay. - And I'll just do the chord.

And then "No Hard Feelings" is...

C-sharp minor. G-sharp minor.

Oh, my bad. G-sharp major.

- See, that's-- - That's the best one.

- Regardless of what we have become

in the last 13 years, one thing that we've become

professionals at is reading our diary on stage.

Singing about being alienated from myself

and worries and just desolation and pain

and all that stuff and just singing

that on stage seems completely reasonable to me.

- Let's try it.

- Ready. - Let's do it.

- One, two, three, four.

♪ ♪

- ♪ When my body won't hold me anymore ♪

♪ And it finally lets me free ♪

♪ Will I be ready ♪

♪ When my feet won't walk another mile ♪

♪ And my lips give their last kiss good-bye ♪

♪ Will my hands be steady ♪

♪ When I lay down my fears ♪

♪ My hopes and my doubts ♪

♪ The rings on my fingers ♪

♪ And the keys to my house ♪

- ♪ With no hard feelings ♪

- ♪ When the sun hangs low in the west ♪

♪ And the line in my chest ♪

♪ Won't be kept ♪

♪ Held at bay any longer ♪

♪ When the jealousy fades away ♪

♪ And it's ash and dust ♪

♪ For cash and lust ♪

♪ And it's just hallelujah ♪

- ♪ And love in thoughts ♪

♪ Love in the words ♪

♪ Love in the songs they sing in church ♪

♪ And no hard feelings ♪

♪ Lord knows they haven't done ♪

♪ Much good for anyone ♪

♪ Kept me afraid and cold ♪

♪ With so much to have and hold ♪

♪ ♪

♪ When my body won't hold me anymore ♪

♪ And it finally lets me free ♪

♪ Where will I go ♪

♪ Will the trade winds take me south ♪

♪ Through Georgia grain ♪

♪ Or tropical rain ♪

♪ Or snow from the heavens ♪

♪ Will I join with the ocean blue ♪

♪ Or run into the savior true ♪

♪ And shake hands laughing ♪

- ♪ And walk through the night ♪

♪ Straight to the light ♪

♪ Holding the love I've known in my life ♪

♪ And no hard feelings ♪

♪ Lord knows they haven't done ♪

♪ Much good for anyone ♪

♪ Kept me afraid and cold ♪

♪ With so much to have and hold ♪

♪ Under the curving sky ♪

♪ I'm finally learning why ♪

♪ It matters for me and you ♪

♪ To say it and mean it too ♪

♪ For life and its loveliness ♪

♪ And all of its ugliness ♪

♪ Good as it's been to me ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

- Excellent work, everybody.

Excellent. - Cool.

- Really good.

- Cool. - Really good.

It's a big one. - Yeah.

- You choose to let me. - Yeah.

Well, I'm burned out. A little burned out.

- Okay, take a little-- take a few minutes.

- Yeah.

Well done, Mike. - Well done.

♪ ♪

- Yeah!

That's weird to congratulate a--

You know?

To be congratulated on mining of the soul.

- Yeah, it's weird.

- Mm-hmm.

- Well...

I feel like we need some space, you know?

- Yeah, maybe five. - All right.

- Five, as we lead into the next one.

- All right. - It's shifting gears.

- I'm good. - Little fresh air--

- Okay. - I'll step outside then.

- Still a little bit of daylight left.

- Just--just a few minutes. We don't need...

- That one's a home run, boys.

That's a beautiful song you guys wrote.

It's just beautiful.

- A home run. - Fucking home run, man.

- Oh, man.

It's pretty out there.

- Yeah, but we maybe we ought to get away

from Scizzy before we talk about it.

- Geez. - Maybe you--

I thought maybe you had your fill of hearing about that one.

- No, no, no, no.

It's not about hearing about the song.

No, I'm--there's an elephant in the room, man.

The elephant in the room is that the song sells

and that I can't get away from that feeling for myself.

I can't get away--

It's not just that song; it's every single song.

And that it's congratulated upon achieving and it--

I'm deeply conflicted about it.

- From a mental state,

I think I compartmentalize the congratulatory vibe.

I relegate it to just the technical.

Like, all right, good job, you know?

We hit all the chords kind of thing, you know?

Like that's-- that's I think what I--

just as my go-to so I don't have to think

about what it means to be congratulated

on tapping into whatever the subject is, you know.

- And you're ignoring that then.

- Yeah.

- Because it's there.

- Yeah. I don't know if it's--

I don't know if that's a successful way of doing it,

but it seems to-- it's okay for me.

- There's--yeah, right.

- I get--I get what you're saying, 100%.

I mean, I--I get exactly what you mean.

- I mean to say, like, you can say, "Man,

that's the best song you brought to this whole thing."

It's like, Jesus Christ, why?

Why is it the best?

Because--

Not because of the technical ability of it, that's for sure.

- No.

- That's not-- that's not what it is.

It's about--it's--it's-- it's the best song

that's the most demanding because it's--

it's taken the most sacrifice to make probably.

It's taken the most living to make.

- Yeah.

- And so that-- it just makes me equate it

to congratulations, you've sacrificed

the shit out of yourself.

Excuse me, you've sacrificed deeply,

and the evidence of that struggle

came out in something beautiful.

That's a good way of looking at it, I guess.

- All right, we-- burning daylight.

["Fisher Road to Hollywood" begins]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Regret for every step I took ♪

♪ From Fisher Road to Hollywood ♪

♪ Feeling bad and acting good ♪

♪ Never was content ♪

♪ It was hostile ♪

- I never ask the guys what the songs are about,

'cause I can put the songs in my own context.

I like so many and sometimes

I like to listen to 'em with my kids.

Sometimes there's certain songs I just wanna listen to

in the dark with nobody.

- ♪ And do we even speak the same ♪

♪ Language anymore ♪

- For me, looking at songs from an outside point of view,

it's--it's like a growth, it's their age, you know?

It's just like a timeline. Each song is a timeline.

- ♪ I've done all I know to do ♪

♪ ♪

♪ They say stand up straight ♪

- We've been accused of being fatalist as a band,

but we've seen enough tragedy in our lives

and we know that tragedy comes from--from out of nowhere.

Come--just comes from out of nowhere.

- ♪ Still I have to go ♪

♪ ♪

- They have a job; this job happens to be making music,

and they happen to be fairly popular with it.

That--that ain't the end of the world.

It's nice to be successful at your job.

But I mean, if you were an accountant

or you were a plumber or whatever, it--

it's nice to be successful at it,

but you can't let that go to your head.

- All right.

- ♪ She's fighting with the sky ♪

- Wow.

- ♪ She thinks she can ♪

♪ Living within a lie ♪

♪ She thinks she can ♪

- ♪ But nobody knows what lies beyond the days ♪

♪ Before the day we die ♪

♪ Die, die, die, die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die, die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ She puts her hands against ♪

♪ The life she had ♪

♪ Living with ignorance ♪

♪ Blissful and sad ♪

- ♪ But nobody knows what lies beyond the days ♪

♪ Before the day we die ♪

♪ Die, die, die, die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die, die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ You can try to swim the sea ♪

♪ You can try to hold the breeze ♪

♪ You can try to hide the sun ♪

♪ But say good-bye to everyone ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ There ain't no man can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change the shape my soul is in ♪

- Oh!

- ♪ There ain't nobody here ♪

♪ Who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear ♪

♪ 'Cause I got only love to share ♪

- ♪ That's it ♪

- ♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find it there ♪

- ♪ You say you look funny, I say you're a star ♪

♪ I say you're whatever you think you are ♪

♪ Watch the naysayers fall right in line ♪

♪ If we believe it, they'll say ♪

- ♪ She's so pretty ♪

♪ He is so fine ♪

- ♪ Ain't no man can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change the shape my soul is in ♪

- ♪ Change the shape my soul is in ♪

- ♪ There ain't nobody here who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear ♪

♪ 'Cause I got only love to share ♪

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find it there ♪

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find it there ♪

♪ If you're looking for truth I'm proof ♪

♪ You'll find it ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- We love you, New York. Thank you so much.

- Bob kind of summed it up in, you know,

you put out a record

and everybody claps their hands and, voila,

here it is, and it's kind of like

this ending point where just for us,

it's really not that-- that way at all.

It just is this, this breakpoint where

just the stream keeps going.

- Like, put the record out and it's this,

tut we were doing something before this,

and we're already well into doing something else.

- Absolutely.

- So we kind of-- it just never stops.

- Well, maybe, kind of.

So I was still in the hospital

after Isaac was born, middle of the night.

It's called "C-Sections and Railway Trestles."

♪ ♪

♪ You're long and strong like a railway trestle ♪

♪ Dad's just a muscle and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ Meant to crawl, falling over nuzzle and nestle ♪

♪ But Dad's just a bear you can tackle down and wrestle ♪

♪ Son give me time ♪

♪ I'm a bona fide missile, if Mama says no ♪

♪ Maybe Dad will say yes-o, did you do wrong ♪

♪ Well go ahead confess-o ♪

♪ Dad just a muscle and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You all blue and your mama like a rattle ♪

♪ Came out looking like a Smurf in a battle ♪

♪ Me in the nosebleeds, mama in the saddle ♪

♪ Anesthesiologist fiddle and faddle ♪

♪ Emotion going like a stampede of cattle ♪

♪ Real like rain and coffee in Seattle ♪

♪ Brave like a Sioux brave going into battle ♪

♪ You all blue and your mama like a rattle ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, life's so clear like a Rivera mural ♪

♪ Lucifer's teeth introduced the epidural ♪

♪ Dr. Jones, do you need a heaven referral ♪

♪ God sent you down to me and my girl ♪

♪ She long and tall and healthy as hell ♪

♪ But the plan went to hell ♪

♪ When the little fella fell ♪

♪ Boy went headfirst into her pelvis ♪

♪ 1956 shaking like Elvis ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, yesterday born and already thinking ♪

♪ Body like a Ford and a mind like a Lincoln ♪

♪ Mama and papa in love ♪

♪ And sinking into a brand-new situation ♪

♪ Drinking up coffee like a fish ♪

♪ On the second and third shift ♪

♪ Loving every single ever-loving minute of this ♪

♪ Standing ovation for the OR specialist ♪

♪ Let me get close ♪

♪ Wanna give my son one kiss ♪

♪ On his head ♪

♪ Planning for the future, health and dental ♪

♪ Picking up my baby boy, easy and gentle ♪

♪ Soup for the family, sausage and lentil ♪

♪ Beans and greens, arugula and fentil ♪

♪ Don't never sleep, I'm about to go mental ♪

♪ But nothing so far has been accidental ♪

♪ Can't keep my life, so it's got to be a rental ♪

♪ Picking up my baby boy, easy and gentle ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, you're long and strong like a railway trestle ♪

♪ Dad's just a muscle and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ Meant to crawl, falling over nuzzle and nestle ♪

♪ But Dad's just a bear you can tackle down and wrestle ♪

♪ You can have a pop-tent or you can have a castle ♪

♪ Try to change people but it's gonna be a hassle ♪

♪ Don't have to be an astronaut for NASA ♪

♪ But it's always good to get a gown and a tassel ♪

♪ Son have fun with your life ♪

♪ It's a drama ♪

♪ Just one period and all kinds of commas ♪

♪ Now you got a onesie but then you get pajamas ♪

♪ You know you've got me ♪

♪ And you know you've got your mama ♪

♪ ♪

Thank you, thank you.

- That's great. - Thanks, Rick.

- Watch this. He likes this, watch.

All right, all right, all right .

♪ It's raining today ♪

♪ The house framing crew ♪

♪ They all can sleep in ♪

♪ The filmmakers too ♪

♪ It's raining today ♪

♪ Let's stay in our room ♪

♪ Be patient babe ♪

♪ The clouds will break soon ♪

♪ But I must confess ♪

♪ Glad if they stay ♪

♪ I don't want to leave ♪

♪ It's raining today ♪